Human Trafficking in [Djibouti] [other countries]
Street Children in [Djibouti] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Djibouti] [other countries]
 

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

In the first ten years of the 21^st Century - 2000 to 2009

Republic of Djibouti Djibouti has few natural resources and little industry. The nation is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An unemployment rate of nearly 60% in urban areas continues to be a major problem. While inflation is not a concern, due to the fixed tie of the Djiboutian franc to the US dollar, the artificially high value of the Djiboutian franc adversely affects Djibouti's balance of payments. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% between 1999 and 2006 because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Djibouti. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated, misleading or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

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Protection Project - Djibouti [DOC]

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Displaced women and children fleeing conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia have ended up in prostitution in Djibouti. Some of them have also been trafficked to wealthy Arab states to work as domestic servants.

Child prostitution is on the rise in Djibouti. A government study, conducted in conjunction with UNICEF, found that 73.3 percent of street children were Ethiopian and that over a quarter of these children were exploited in the commercial sex industry. Most are girls from the Dire-Dawa region of Ethiopia. They are often brought by other girls to brothels, where they are forced into prostitution. In Djibouti’s most famous sex venue, Rue d’Ethiopie, children age 11 to 16 are forced to engage in prostitution. - htsccp

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UNICEF - The Big Picture

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In urban areas, children often work in the informal sector in small-scale family businesses, trade, catering, crafts, or as domestic servants. Children displaced from Ethiopia and Somalia also seek work in the informal sector in Djibouti’s cities, working as shoe polishers, car washers, khat-sellers, street peddlers, moneychangers, beggars, and in commercial sexual exploitation. Commercial sexual exploitation of children is reportedly increasing, particularly among refugee street children in the capital city.  A report by the Ministry of Youth and UNICEF found numerous girls between the ages of 8 and 17 years, many from Ethiopia, leaving work as domestic servants to become involved in commercial sex exploitation.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

CHILDREN – Child prostitution existed. Some children that immigrated to the country for economic reasons engaged in prostitution to survive. There was no known system of organized pimps who exploited children; however, older children sometimes acted as "protectors" and took a portion of other children's earnings as a fee."

Concluding Observations Of The Committee On The Rights Of The Child (CRC) - 2000

[45] The Committee is concerned about the exposure of older children in the State party, particularly those living on the street or working in port areas and along truck routes, to sexual exploitation and to sexually transmitted diseases, including the risk of HIV infection. The Committee is also concerned that girls married at a young age may not have sufficient access to family planning services and counseling.

[57] The Committee is concerned about the high and apparently increasing incidence of prostitution involving children, in particular girls, and about the lack of facilities to provide services to sexually exploited children.

[58] In the light of article 34 and other related articles of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party undertake studies with a view to designing and implementing appropriate policies and measures, including to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims of sexual exploitation, and to preventing and combating the sexual exploitation of children while avoiding the criminalization of child victims. In this regard, the Committee encourages the State party to take into account the recommendations formulated in the Agenda for Action adopted at the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm in 1996.

Protection Project - Djibouti [DOC]

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Displaced women and children fleeing conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia have ended up in prostitution in Djibouti. Some of them have also been trafficked to wealthy Arab states to work as domestic servants.

Child prostitution is on the rise in Djibouti. A government study, conducted in conjunction with UNICEF, found that 73.3 percent of street children were Ethiopian and that over a quarter of these children were exploited in the commercial sex industry. Most are girls from the Dire-Dawa region of Ethiopia. They are often brought by other girls to brothels, where they are forced into prostitution. In Djibouti’s most famous sex venue, Rue d’Ethiopie, children age 11 to 16 are forced to engage in prostitution. - htsccp

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children - Middle East/North Africa Region

These countries also have in common, however, a number of constraints that have hindered preparation of national plans of action. In all the countries of the region, there is cultural resistance to addressing the problem because the subject is largely taboo.

Five Years After Stockholm [DOC]

www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/publication/other/english/Doc_page/ecpat_5th_a4a_2001_full.doc

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

DJIBOUTI - The Horn of Africa region has had a long history of conflict. This has led to an influx of foreign children into Djibouti and especially the capital, and has thus increased the number of street children. The civil war in Djibouti has also led to problems like economic instability, poverty, family displacement and a loss of traditional values, all of which have contributed to the increase in CSEC. Street boys, the majority of whom are from neighboring countries, are also exposed to the danger of sexual exploitation. In addition, the presence of affluent French soldiers provides easy income to poor girls. 

Djibouti has not yet developed a national plan on CSEC. The laws on CSEC in the country are inadequate and no support systems or intervention strategies have been developed due to the limited knowledge of the problem.

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Human Trafficking in [Djibouti] [other countries]
Street Children in [Djibouti] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Djibouti] [other countries]