IJM Kenya Launches New Project to Address Child Sex Trafficking in Mombasa

International Justice Mission (IJM) has recently launched a project that aims at protecting children against sex trafficking in Kenya's coastal region, child survivors of trafficking in Ghana return to Côte d’Ivoire, and climate driven conflict forces people across the continent from their homes.

Photo credit: International Justice Mission.

Welcome to the March edition of Freedom Collaborative’s Africa newsletter.

We are delighted to share updates from Kenya, Ghana, and an analysis of the impact of climate change on conflicts across the region in this month's edition.

International Justice Mission (IJM) has recently launched a project that aims at protecting thousands of children living in poverty against sex trafficking that is rampant in Kenya, especially in the Coastal region. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Accra, Ghana, working in close collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) organized the safe return of 13 child survivors of trafficking to their home country, Côte d’Ivoire.

And in light of recent events, such as the mass kidnapping of the 343 schoolboys in Nigeria, the war in Tigray in the northernmost region of Ethiopia, as well as decades-long issues such as the Darfur war, an article discusses the link between climate change and conflict, and how that link is seen right across the African continent.

Thank you to all our partners for your continued support and partnership. A special thank you to the organizations contributing their updates this month. Please keep sharing your news with us via our Facebook group or by email to share them with the wider anti-trafficking community in the region and beyond.

IJM Kenya Launches New Project to Address Child Sex Trafficking in Mombasa

It is estimated there are up to 20,000 victims of child sex trafficking across Kenya, although only a fraction of cases are reported to the police. We believe, together with our partners, we will be able to protect many children who are trapped in this violence.

In 2019, IJM Kenya conducted an assessment of child sex trafficking in the southern parts of the Kenyan Coast, which indicated that the region remains a major child sex trafficking hotspot. The level of poverty in the Kenyan coastal communities reduces communal resilience to child sex trafficking, and a lack of adequate livelihood alternatives increases the risk of child sex trafficking. In the coastal communities, 40% of the population live on less than USD 2 per day and many children and their parents are forced into differing forms of exploitation in exchange for money and essential goods and services.

Initial assessments have indicated that the prevalence of child sex trafficking is still high on the coast. We also observed that the crime is facilitated by family, friends and community members, tourists as well as strangers, who act as recruiters, agents, pimps and transporters. While some customers are foreign visitors, the majority are local, and many engage with individual victims on a long-term basis.

In November 2020, IJM, in partnership with the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) launched a project to strengthen the government’s law enforcement response to child sex trafficking cases on the southern coast of Kenya - encompassing Kilifi, Kwale and Mombasa counties.

Through this project, IJM aims to strengthen the government of Kenya’s capacity to effectively investigate and prosecute child sex trafficking in the three counties by engaging victims and communities to increase reporting, and by providing training, mentoring, and technical assistance to justice sector and social services officials; this includes working closely with the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit, Mombasa office. The assistance will enable these actors to conduct more effective and victim-sensitive investigations, prosecutions and case management.

The project will not only seek to address gaps in reporting mechanisms and community-level response but will also focus on psychosocial support to victims and survivors, working through partner organizations to accompany survivors through the healing process.

Child Survivors of Trafficking Rescued in Ghana Return to Côte d’Ivoire

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Accra, Ghana, working in close collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) organized the safe return of 13 child survivors of trafficking to their home country, Côte d’Ivoire.

The youths, now reunited with their families on March 15, had been exploited by traffickers on farms in Ghana’s Volta Region after being brought to the country by traffickers.

“Irrespective of where someone comes from, victims are victims, and must be given the best support possible,” said Abena Annobea Asare, Head of the Human Trafficking Secretariat of the MoGCSP. “I am glad to see this day come to pass where all stakeholders have worked as a team to ensure the successful return. The most rewarding is to see success in the face of adversity."

The youths – all boys aged nine to 19 – were brought to Ghana from Cote d’Ivoire under the pretext of studying Quran. An Imam allegedly exploited the children as farm workers, some for up to ten years according to Ghanaian authorities. Exact timelines are difficult to trace, as children as young as three were trafficked and they do not know the day, month or year they came to Ghana.

Based on a tip, the Ghana Police Service (GPS) undertook a rescue in close partnership with Free the Slaves, an international NGO and one of the main partners of the Child Protection Compact (CPC) project. One alleged trafficker has been arrested and is being prosecuted.

Following the rescue mission, the boys were referred to a shelter for child victims under the auspices of the MoGCSP in Accra. They received counseling, medical screening, and further rehabilitation assistance. One boy who contracted COVID-19 has been quarantined in the government shelter and will go home once he tests negative.

IOM Ghana reports that strong coordination and collaboration between IOM, the Ivorian Consulate, the Burkinabé Embassy in Ghana, Free the Slaves and the Government of Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and MoGCSP enabled these children’s safe return.

Return flights – including purchase of tickets, clothing, medical screening and COVID-19 tests – were funded via the Child Protection Compact (CPC) project under the U.S. Department of State´s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Government of Ghana and IOM.

Upon arrival in Abidjan, the children were welcomed by their families, who had been traced by IOM Côte d’Ivoire and national authorities. The children and their families will continue to receive reintegration support in the framework of IOM prevention and protection activities.

How is climate change driving conflict in Africa?

According to a new article, climate change is widely recognised as a “threat multiplier” due to its role of exacerbating the traditional cause of conflict. Citing the authors of a research report: “When temperature increases, the number of terrorist attacks and deaths due to terrorist attacks tend to increase. Our results are consistent with a large body of research on the effect of climate on conflict and are of practical concern given increasing average global temperatures.”

Such research has paved the way, today, for reduction in the growth of climate change being recognised as an essential prerequisite to achieving peace in many parts of the world. Alongside the cultivation of economic and political stability, increased peace as a product of addressing climate change efforts at that heart of much environmental protection and restoration work.

Across Africa, communities are affected by climate-driven conflict. Drought impacts over 13 million people in The Horn of Africa alone, encouraging induced migration and ultimately ethnic tensions and terrorism. Refugee camps can become hotspots for criminal activities such as human trafficking and child exploitation, and a recruitment ground for Al Shabaab.