10 March 2005

(Ambassador Shirley Barnes testifies on human trafficking in Africa)

By Matthew Pritchard
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington – Africa needs to establish stronger laws against the trafficking of women and children on and from the continent as well as better child-labor laws, a former U.S. ambassador to Madagascar told members of the newly reconstituted Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations Subcommittee on Capitol Hill March 9.

Giving testimony with five other witnesses to the House of Representatives International Relations subcommittee on improving the "Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005," Ambassador Shirley Barnes also recommended the creation of a U.S. institute to research and develop data on the trafficking of women and children in Africa.

The reauthorization bill builds upon two previous laws that were enacted to help stop human trafficking throughout the world.  Barnes' testimony focused on the plight of African women and children, and the horrors they face every day.

"The issue of trafficking in African women and children has, in general, received less attention and, as a result, less corresponding development of programs to combat the activity and assist the victims," Barnes said.

Human trafficking, the modern euphemism for slavery, is a major problem in Africa, Barnes said, citing a recent study by the United Nations Children's Fund.  "Trafficking in African women and children is a cheap, easy access to child labor and exploitation of children and women for prostitution," she said.

Barnes wants the United States to work with African countries to create better anti-trafficking laws and place greater emphasis on women's groups.  Rehabilitation and education are crucial to help curb the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation and labor, and create a better environment in Africa, she said.

She also thinks the United States should create a research center to coordinate comprehensive data on trafficking in women and children to help better understand the full scope of the problem.  Barnes suggested opening it at a historically black college with a link to a university in Africa.

Women and children become victims of trafficking in many ways and for many reasons, Barnes said.  Poverty, social disruption and family pressures and even natural disasters sow the seeds for the practice, while armed conflict, corrupt governments and a universal demand for cheap labor help reap the crops of new victims.

It is estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 women, children and men are trafficked across international borders every year, said John Miller, director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in his testimony to the subcommittee.  These figures do not include those trafficked within their own countries, he added.

Barnes said the United Nations reports that "at least 200,000 children are trafficked annually out of West and Central Africa."  She also said the State Department estimates that "as many as 400,000 children are involved in child labor across West Africa."

But West African countries aren't the only ones trafficking in women and children, she said.  Countries in central and southern Africa like "Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia are considered 'source' countries for trafficking activities," she added, and many more are "transit" countries for the practice.

Many of the women and children who are trafficked end up in the sex industry, Barnes said, referring to a report of the International Organization for Migration that stated, "As many as 30,000 teen-aged Ethiopian girls arrive in Lebanon and are then trafficked worldwide," and most are used for "sexual exploitation."  However, the Ethiopian government and the U.S. Agency for International Development, who have opened a trafficking rehabilitation center, are trying to combat this problem, she added.

Recently, younger girls are being trafficked in Africa because of the fear of HIV/AIDS infection.  These girls are "erroneously perceived by customers to be too young to be infected," the former U.S. ambassador said.