An estimated 34% of children aged 5 to 17 in Sierra Leone’s Kambia District have experienced child trafficking and 40% have experienced child labor, according to new research from the African Programming & Research Initiative to End Slavery (APRIES) at the University of Georgia’s Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach (CenHTRO).
Trafficked children were commonly forced to work as domestic servants, in agriculture, or as street vendors, often for little or no pay, according to the study, “Child Trafficking and the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Kambia, Sierra Leone,” funded by the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Children were also made to engage in hazardous labor activities, like carrying heavy loads or being exposed to extreme heat, cold, or humidity.
Survivors described being exploited in informal foster care placements, known as menpikin, where they were made to perform domestic duties outside their home. They were forced to sell water on the street for lengthy hours and without compensation, while other children in the household were allowed to attend school. Some children were forced to work to pay for school fees.
“I was always the first to be woken up by 6 a.m. I was the one doing all the household chores while her children were still in bed. We started fish balls for sale, which was all for her benefit,” a female survivor said.
Household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions contributed to the research in Kambia, a district in the northwest of Sierra Leone that borders Guinea. This new report extends research published by APRIES in 2022 that measured child trafficking and child labor in Sierra Leone’s Eastern Province, demonstrating that both are prevalent across much of the country.
● Children aged 12-17, those who contributed to the expenses of the household, those who are not enrolled in a formal school, those who are enrolled in a Koranic school, and those who are orphans have higher odds of being trafficked.
● Male children had 34% higher odds of being trafficked than female children.
● Structural factors, such as a lack of secondary schools, lead to a family decision to send their child to a bigger town with a family friend or relative in order to attend school. However, when the child arrived, they were trafficked, rather than allowed to attend school as promised.
● Strengthen and expand developmental programs, especially in rural towns, through building more and improving access to secondary and primary schools, investing in qualified teachers, and expanding social and community centers for youth.
● Safeguard children through awareness raising and monitoring informal foster care placements.
● Encourage community members to speak up about child trafficking and child abuse by further expansion of the freedom hotline 134 and education of national and local antitrafficking laws.
● Increase effort into implementing laws that fight against trafficking, such as through supporting the enforcement of bylaws in local communities.
● Increase financial and resource support for families, including cash support for struggling families through microcredit and providing seeds to farmers.
