In 1999, Anti-Slavery drew the Working Group's attention to the issue of child trafficking in West and Central Africa. Today we would like to take this opportunity to share the findings of research into the trafficking of children between Benin and Gabon with you which we commissioned from Enfants Solidaires d¹Afrique et du Monde (ESAM), a non-governmental organisation in Benin.

The research is based on interviews with 884 people, 654 in Benin and 230 in Gabon, and includes interviews with children who have been trafficked; children who are preparing to be trafficked; families of the children; and recipients of the children after they have been trafficked.

The research project's findings: information on the children who are trafficked

Many of the families interviewed said that they had more than one child living abroad. Most significantly, 63 of the 170 parents interviewed (37 per cent) said that they could not earn enough to satisfy the essential needs of their family and, therefore, were prepared to hand their children over to traffickers.

Interviews with children in Benin who were at risk of being trafficked or preparing to be trafficked, revealed that their parents were extremely influencial in persuading the child to co-operate with the trafficker. Of the 281 children interviewed in Benin, 212 (75 per cent) said they would go if their parents told them to.

Interviews with the families of trafficked children showed that the vast majority of children, 149 out of 170 (88 per cent), were coming from three departments in Benin: Ouémé, Mono and Atlantique. This was confirmed by interviews carried out in Gabon with the 101 children who confirmed that they came from Benin. All of these children came from the regions identified above, with Ouémé accounting for 51 per cent of the total.

Of the 91 children who had been trafficked and were interviewed back in Benin, 61 (67 per cent) were girls and the children's ages, at the time of being trafficked, varied from between seven and 18. Of the 138 trafficked children who were interviewed in Gabon 137 (99 per cent) were girls. While the ages of this group also varied significantly, 80 (58 per cent) were under 16 years old at the time they were interviewed.

Of the 229 children who were interviewed, a total of 198 (86 per cent) were girls. This reflects the fact that girls are in greater demand for work as domestics and as market traders. Interviews would also suggest that girls are preferred as they are less likely than boys to rebel as they get older. The cost of preparing daughters for weddings may also be significant in terms of why more girls are sent with traffickers than boys. Of the trafficked boys interviewed, nearly two thirds were working in the agricultural or fishing sectors.

The other important piece of information that came out of the research is that many of the children intercepted trying to cross borders or who were sent back from countries to which they were being trafficked, do not return to their homes. The sample of children in Benin was gathered from a list of 150 trafficked children that had been documented by the special police department for the protection of minors. However, the researcher could only locate 91 of the 150 children listed (61 per cent), suggesting that many of the children who are returned home are subsequently trafficked again. Interviews also suggest that more parents are accompanying their children across the initial border before entrusting them to traffickers in Togo or Nigeria.

The research project's findings: conditions in which trafficked children travelled, lived and worked

The actual process of trafficking children often involves considerable hardship and has resulted in the deaths of some children. One testimony taken in Gabon told of how two people had died during the trip and their bodies were thrown over the side of the boat. A separate testimony from a child in Gabon explained how a group of children had begun their trip in February, but had then been forced to wait in transit as the trafficker tried to find other passengers for the trip. The journey by canoe to Gabon was only resumed in April, by which time the children had used up all of their food. During the voyage the children were forced to drink seawater and became progressively weak, one child died shortly after arriving in Libreville.

Interviews conducted with 49 families who were receiving trafficked children from Benin showed that 37 families (76 per cent) were of West African origin (Togolese and Beninois). Girls placed in these families were needed as cheap labour to help their sponsors who were almost all market traders. The girls referred to their sponsors as "aunties" so people would assume that they were family members and not trafficked from other countries. The 12 remaining families (24 per cent) were Gabonese and primarily used the trafficked girls as domestic servants. Almost all employers (95 per cent) were women.

The sample of 91 children in Benin were asked about the conditions in which they lived and worked when they were trafficked to Gabon. With regard to their living conditions, 61 (67 per cent) described their treatment as bad. In describing what they meant by bad treatment they mentioned being shouted out, being deprived of food and being beaten.

With regard to their working conditions, 54 (59 per cent) described their treatment as very bad, while 25 (27 per cent) described their treatment as good. The minority of girls who are placed in Gabonese families tend to be treated well by their employers (receiving food, medical care, wages and being given free time). However, those working for traders, who themselves are often from Benin and other West African countries, have to work between 14 and 18 hours a day ­ this includes both domestic work and commercial activities. They often have to carry heavy loads (10 to 30 kilograms) and walk long distances to sell the goods (as much as 25 kilometers a day).

If the girls do not earn enough money they risk being beaten. This means they are often frightened about going back to their employer¹s house if they have had a bad day or if their earnings have been stolen. This makes the girls vulnerable to exploitation by people who offer to pay the money which they must give to their "aunties", but sexually abuse them or force them into prostitution in return for their "help".

Given this and other evidence that trafficking in people, especially women and children, is a growing international problem we hope that the Working Group will adopt a recommendation which urges governments to:

1. Ratify the International Labour Organisation's Convention No.182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour which specifically prohibits the trafficking of children. National laws should, where appropriate, be amended to criminalise trafficking in human beings in all its forms and to allow the prosecution in one country of an individual who has committed a crime of trafficking in another.

2. Work with local communities and non-governmental organisations in order to research and analyse the problem of trafficking and to develop national and regional plans of action against it. These plans should include education and information campaigns to prevent trafficking. Programmes which give children effective access to education, health services and employment prospects also need to be developed as they will reduce the incentive to co-operate with traffickers.

3. Ensure that children who have been the victims of trafficking are never penalised and that policies are adopted which encourage them to testify against traffickers. Programmes also need to be developed to ensure the rehabilitation of children who have been trafficked.

4. Ensure that a human rights perspective is fully incorporated into the draft convention against organized transnational crime and the draft protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, which are currently being discussed by a UN committee in Vienna.

5. Report to the Working Group's 26th session on progress made in implementing the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women in her report on trafficking in women (E/CN.4/2000/68). Anti-Slavery would particularly urge states to comply with the recommendations which call on governments to:

• Focus on the promotion of the human rights of the victims when taking measures to address trafficking and not adopt policies which will further marginalise, criminalise or stigmatise them.
• Collect and publish data on their efforts to address instances of trafficking; the effects of legal and administrative measure in terms of reducing trafficking; the services provided to trafficking victims; and the status of trafficking cases in the criminal justice system.
• Consult with non-governmental organsations in order to: develop awareness and education campaigns regarding trafficking and its potential risks; take measures to ensure that women in particular have viable economic opportunites which allow them to support themselves and their families; ensure that the 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families is ratified and enforced.
• Take all necessary steps to ensure that victims can press criminal charges and/or take civil action for compensation, if they choose to do so.

6. Support the adoption of a specific year as the UN International Year Against Trafficking of Human Beings. This would focus attention on the issue and provide an impetus for governments to introduce national and regional programmes of action against trafficking.