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How can such atrocities persist today? Traffickers, of course, are motivated by greed. They may sell children for $30 to $35, then return at the end of the harvest season and collect the young workers' wages. These agents, some of whom work for international crime networks, "recruit" hundreds of children a year. For unscrupulous employers seeking cheap labor, children are particularly attractive because they are powerless, easily manipulated, and unaware of their rights. But the reasons that child trafficking continues to flourish are complex and deeply rooted in the economy and culture of the region. In West African society, it is surprisingly easy for traffickers to acquire children for trade. Some victims are kidnapped or tricked into accompanying their captors, but many go willingly, lured by the promise of adventure and a new life beyond their village. In the majority of cases, however, parents readily sell or turn over their children to traffickers, who frequently are distant relatives or people with connections in the village. In a World Bank-sponsored survey of 500 children from Benin who left home to work in other countries, only one in five had gone with a complete stranger. According to the British organization Anti-Slavery International, it is not unusual for parents to defend a trafficker caught by police, saying that he had permission to take their child across the border for work. Overwhelming poverty, combined with lack of educational and job opportunities in rural areas, fuels much of the trafficking in children. With 40 percent of Africans living in poverty — and as many as 72 percent in some countries — children easily become commodities. Selling a child for $30 (a typical sum), plus having one less mouth to feed, can make a huge difference for a family on the brink of survival. It is not surprising, as the International Labour Organization (ILO) reports, that the majority of trafficked children come from rural, poorly educated families with more than five children. But poverty alone is not to blame. The Benin study found that even more well-off parents often send their children away to work, sometimes to help pay off a family debt. The motivation is not just economic. Parents desperately want to offer their children an opportunity for a better life and readily believe that their prospects are better elsewhere. Both parents and children are easy prey for traffickers who promise training and a well-paying job. The reality is that sending children to work at an early age denies them the chance for an education and perpetuates the cycle of poverty and child labor for yet another generation. Parents' willingness to relinquish their children is rooted also in the African tradition of "confiding," or placing children in another household. While most children in the United States and Western Europe live with and remain dependent on their parents until at least age 18, the age of independence for African youngsters is much less defined. Moving in and out of home and staying temporarily with other families are a normal part of growing up. Unfortunately, the expectations on either end of this confiding arrangement can be very different. Parents may assume that their child will be well cared for and will receive schooling in exchange for some household work. The host family, however, may regard the child merely as a servant, expected to perform all household chores while the family's own children attend school. Confided children are easily exploited and often abused. Separated from their families and forced to spend their days serving others, many are emotionally deprived and fail to develop a healthy self-image. While traditions such as confiding may stem from the best of intentions, parents and communities need to realize that children who are sent away from home are at risk of the most serious forms of maltreatment, including rape, torture, and exposure to HIV, as well as psychological damage caused by isolation and separation from their families. "Sadly, our world in the 21st century is far less friendly and hospitable than we would like," says Dr. Rima Salah, UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa. "It is an increasingly dangerous and threatening place for children. But for many parents — especially those from culturally insulated families and traditional communities — the idea of harming a child is alien to their reality and frame of reference." Governments, too, are at fault. Officials may lack the commitment to fight child trafficking or may claim they are unaware of its existence. Few countries have laws specifically prohibiting the practice. Or, if they have declared it illegal, they lack the law enforcement or judicial systems capable of apprehending and punishing traffickers. Open border policies established by the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) to promote free trade have actually made it easier for international traffickers to ply their trade. |
