Human Trafficking in [Ghana] [other countries]Street Children in [Ghana] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Ghana |
Child Prostitution The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children In the early years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/childprostitution/Ghana.htm
|
||
|
CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** MPs Condemn Baby Prostitutes Sylvanus Nana Kumi, Daily Guide, 14 Mar 2008 www.modernghana.com/news/160195/1/mps-condemn-baby-prostitutes.html [accessed 16 May 2011] “Some of these young people, aged
between 15 and 24 and mostly illiterates, engage in unprotected sex with
different sexual partners for money to, among others, fend for
themselves. “Among them are children
as young as 10 to 14 years old. A number of these vulnerable children end up
being raped and becoming teenage mothers or acquiring sexually transmitted
diseases such as HIV/AIDS,” said Ms. Dansua. The MP, a former journalist, was worried
that Ghana was gradually gaining notoriety as a destination for child
prostitution, a dent in the country’s international image, and condemned in
no uncertain terms the proliferation of brothels in most parts of the
country. *** ARCHIVES
*** ECPAT Global Monitoring Report on the status of action
against commercial exploitation of children - GHANA [PDF] ECPAT International, 2008 www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/AF/Global_Monitoring_Report-GHANA.pdf [accessed 16 May 2011] In addition to Kayayes,
the ILO study found girls, some as young as 11, exploited through
prostitution in Accra brothels as well as on streets, beaches, bars, market
areas, restaurants and nightclubs. They sometimes organise
themselves into groups and select a “queen mother” – who could be as young as
16 – to facilitate their prostitution for a commission. If the group operates
from a bar, restaurant or nightclub, employees at these establishments also
act as agents and receive a commission. Not only Ghanaian children are found
in prostitution, as the study identified approximately 200 girls, some aged
as young as nine, from all over West Africa in Accra brothels. The ILO study also looked into
child sex tourism, which takes place predominantly in coastal areas in Accra.
Boys and girls are affected, and it was discovered that staff in certain
hotels receive a commission for recommending “rent boys”, some as young as
12, to hotel residents. Another study, undertaken in 2006
by the Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC), the ECPAT
group in the country, further indicated that Ghana is earning a reputation on
paedophile websites as a ‘safe’ destination for
child sex. It pointed to high rates of sexual exploitation of boys in
tourism, particularly in the central region of Ghana. The situation seems to
have worsened dramatically, as formerly the children (mainly boys) were
enticed into sexual acts, while local boys deliberately hang around hotels
and guesthouses soliciting foreign tourists. Members of the Coalition
witnessed boys in Cape Coast handing out ‘business cards’ to tourists looking
for sex. Apparently, 70 per cent of their clients were males, while 30 per cent
were females. These include locals and Africans (from the sub-region);
mention was made of Ghanaians, Nigerians and Liberians. Those outside the
sub-region were cited as coming from China, the Americas and Europe. The
sexual exploitation of boys by tourists and locals is often overlooked due to
Ghanaian society’s deep aversion to homosexuality, and child victims usually
refuse to make reports to the authorities due to fear of stigmatisation.
The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/ghana.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There are reports of children being given away, leased, or sold by
their parents to work in various sectors. Children were also reportedly sold
into involuntary servitude for either labor or sexual exploitation. Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61572.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS - Child
prostitution was a problem. The ILO/IPEC organized workshops throughout the
year on the problem of increased child prostitution in the tourism industry
and to combat the problem. During the year a government minister told hotel
administrators to prevent adults from bringing children to hotels for sexual
exploitation. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 6 June 1997 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/ghana1997.html [accessed 6 February 2011] [26] The Committee is concerned by
the absence of information and data concerning sexual abuse and exploitation,
including in the family. In this regard, it is also worried about the fact
that children aged between 14 and 18 years do not benefit from appropriate
legal and social protection measures. MOWAC to ensure implementation of laws on women and
children www.modernghana.com/news/216811/1/mowac-to-ensure-implementation-of-laws-on-women-an.html [accessed 16 May 2011] She noted that parenting must be
taken seriously in the country to help curb the involvement of children and
the youth in social vices which include child prostitution, armed robbery and
cyber fraud. Nana Konadu
Agyeman Rawlings, President and Founder of the 31st
December Women's Movement complained about the increase in immorality among
the youth and called on women to properly take up the task of morally
educating their children. She said
instead of cautioning their children against such acts, some mothers rather
encourage their children, especially girls into child prostitution as they
compare them to others who they regarded as being successful. Child Sex Market in Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot, www.ghanadot.com/social_scene.feature.kunateh.sextrade.012209.html [accessed 16 May 2011] Abena (real name withheld) is fourteen
years old and lives with her mother in a kiosk around Adabraka,
a suburb of the capital of They also added that they do not
like repeating the act because they believe it sometimes leads to familiarity
and the tendency for the client to ask for free sex. Abena
says she got into the business because her mother could not pay for her
school fees and other expenses which led her to drop-out from the school. Indeed, life has not been smooth
sailing for the family. She therefore though it's prudent to engage in the
'night life' to make things easier for the family. Abena
points out that sometimes she make about GH¢100.00 per night, but this not
adequate to share with her mother and five siblings and also save part for
rainy days. Also, she needs to keep her appearances beautifully to attract
more customers. Commentary: Child Prostitution Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, July 26, 2008 [access information unavailable] Dozens alleged child prostitutes
in A factbook
on Global Sexual Exploitation in The dignity of a woman Helena Selby - Ghanaian Chronicle, 22 Jul 2008 www.modernghana.com/lifestyle/384/16/the-dignity-of-a-woman.html [accessed 16 May 2011] Child prostitution, in most
instances, takes place among teenage girls engaged in businesses such as the
sale secondhand clothing, kayayos, hairdressing and
petty trading as a means of survival. Some of them, due to their not getting
sufficient money from their businesses at the end of the day, resort to
prostitution at night, to supplement their meager incomes. They mostly live
in ramshackle structures. According Rebecca, a hairdresser
who refused to mention her second name, since she had nobody to support her,
during her apprenticeship, prostitution was the only alternative. According
to her, she was only 16 years, and fortunately for her, her clients do not
realize it due to her developed body. Intense business really begins at 10:00
p.m. and she charges between GH¢3 and GH¢5, when she really works well,
however she reduces the price to GH¢2 when business is not going well. For Mary, a secondhand clothes
seller, who also withheld her second name, since she was still in the
business, she sometimes goes in for gang sex. Gang sex occurs when one
decides to go to bed with two or more men at a time. According to her, this
process pays more, and that though she suffers terribly, she prefers it than
taking one at a time, which pays very little. According to both Rebecca and
Mary, the use of contraceptives is out of the question, as apart from they wanting
it that way, their clients most times prefer it that way. MPs: AMA must demolish ‘soldier bar’, other brothels Cynthia Boakye , The Statesman,
18/06/2008 www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=6546§ion=1 [accessed 16 May 2011] The Greater Accra Region alone is
said to be housing about 125 brothels in which girl prostitutes who fall
within the ages of 12 and 16 conduct brisk businesses at night. These girls are said to be servicing about
20 male clients per night at a charge of GH¢3.00 for every three minutes
spent at one of the most notorious brothels known as the 'Soldier Bar'. A
similar practice is also going on at other places in the capital city of
Accra. Child Prostitutes are Children First Shira Rubin, Public Agenda, allafrica.com/stories/200805090743.html [partially accessed 17 May 2011 - access restricted] In January of this year the
popular brothel known as "Soldier Bar," at Kwame
Nkrumah Circle in Accra, was raided, followed by the arrest of more than 160
mostly teenage prostitutes. Although the women taken into custody were
registered into rehabilitation programs, today they are now back on the
streets. 60 of the 160 confessed to being younger than 16; evidence of the
need to end an activity that has been traditionally regarded with heavy
silence. In battles against the hypocritical stigmas and medical dangers
suffered by these young girls, legalization and unionization have been
proposed in intellectual and political circles as a possible solution. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=77389 [accessed 16 May 2011] The targets of the raid, which
took place in February, were the 60 girls among them who were aged under 16 who had been recruited according to brothel
manager Matthew Abanga to service the brothel's
teenage clients. "We drove the [young boys]
away initially and did not allow them to come here, but after a while we realised we could make more money if we can meet their
demands by supplying them with younger prostitutes of the same age, so we
started recruiting child prostitutes as well," he said. With an estimated 20, 000 children on the
streets of Accra, many already engaged in child labour, Abanga
and the owners of the brothel did not find it difficult recruiting child sex
workers. "We knew it was wrong but the money was good," Abanga told IRIN. MPs Condemn Baby Prostitutes Sylvanus Nana Kumi, Daily Guide, 14 Mar 2008 www.modernghana.com/news/160195/1/mps-condemn-baby-prostitutes.html [accessed 16 May 2011] “Some of these young people, aged between
15 and 24 and mostly illiterates, engage in unprotected sex with different
sexual partners for money to, among others, fend for themselves. “Among them are children as young as 10 to
14 years old. A number of these vulnerable children end up being raped and
becoming teenage mothers or acquiring sexually transmitted diseases such as
HIV/AIDS,” said Ms. Dansua. The MP, a former journalist, was worried
that Ghana was gradually gaining notoriety as a destination for child
prostitution, a dent in the country’s international image, and condemned in
no uncertain terms the proliferation of brothels in most parts of the
country. CHRAJ says child prostitution is a threat to the nation Ghana Broadcasting Corporation February 7, 2008 [access information unavailable] The Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has expressed concern over the spate of child
prostitution, saying that, the alarming situation where Teenage girls recruited for sex in Kumasi? Network Herald, 11 December 2007 news.myjoyonline.com/news/200712/11226.asp [accessed 16 May 2011] The Garden city Ghanaian minister is on a mission The Commonwealth Times, November 5th, 2007 www.commonwealthtimes.org/?p=7887 [accessed 16 May 2011] Ama, 15, lives in Wisdom Dzidedi Donkor, Public Agenda, allafrica.com/stories/200711051563.html [partially accessed 15 August 2011 - access restricted] GHANA SITUATION - Eventhough
Iam not aware of any current figure of the above in
Ghana, the Ghanaian situation seems to be of no difference to the US and
other countries as it is no secret at all to find hundreds of children
ranging between the ages of 12 and 18 converging at places like Kwame Nkrumah Circle (Kotobabi trotro station, near Freddies
Corner), Soldier bar, Abeka Lapaz
(Double man spot) Kasoa (Behind the public toilet
off the Obom road), Newtown, Cantonments several
other places by 7.30pm invloved in Child
prostitution. Committee on child labour, trafficking inaugurated mobile.ghanaweb.com/wap/article.php?ID=130307 [accessed 6 February 2011] A 21-member steering committee for
an International Labour Organisation (ILO) project on combating child labour
and trafficking was inaugurated in Dr. Slyvester
Sakyiamah, Executive Director of the Social
Research Associates, said the Kumasi Metropolis had
become the destination for most of the children trafficked from the Upper
West, Upper East, Northern regions and other parts the country. He said the
children were found to be cart pushers, bar-keepers, head porters, hawkers
and domestic servants among other exploitative jobs. Dr. Sakyiamah
said due to the nature of the work they engaged in, the lack of shelter and
better conditions of life, some of them become street children, who were
easily lured into robbery, drug peddling, child prostitution resulting in socio-economic problems. Northern, Upper East & West Are the Suppliers of
Street Kids in Oppong Baah,
Public Agenda, This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 May 2011] On a good day a porter can earn
between ¢ 30, 000 and ¢ 50, 000. On bad days, however, a porter has to fall
on a colleague to have something to eat. The girls are compelled to satisfy
the sexual desires of their male counterparts to get food to eat. Due to such
instances a number of young girls become pregnant and have to go back home. Poverty in Reporter: Prue Clarke,
Transcript from PM, Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC, 13 October 2005 www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1481873.htm [accessed 16 May 2011] In the West African nation of Ama's story is typical. Children are
driven from home by the effects of poverty.
With no education, no money and no protection from violence, almost
all of Ghana's street girls, and a growing number of boys, are left no choice
but to sell themselves. -
sccp Who is to Blame for Our Youth On the Streets? Joe Kingsley Eyiah, www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=41059 [accessed 16 May 2011] TYPES OF STREET YOUTH - 2. About ninety-five percent
(95%) of street youth come under the category of homeless. In Five Years After ECPAT: Fifth Report on
implementation of the Agenda for Action ECPAT International, November 2001 www.no-trafficking.org/content/web/05reading_rooms/five_years_after_stockholm.pdf [accessed 13 September 2011] [B]
COUNTRY UPDATES – ECPAT: What Makes Children Vulnerable to Sexual
Exploitation? ECPAT International At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14 September 2011] HARMFUL
TRADITIONS OR CUSTOMS
- In some countries, sexual exploitation of children is thinly disguised as
religious practice. In Child labor prevails in afrol News (African News Agency), 31
October 2001 www.afrol.com/News2001/gha007_child_labour.htm [accessed 16 May 2011] Child prostitution also exists,
although prohibited by law, according to the IFCTU report. "Young Ghanaian
girls are lured into prostitution by promises of work as domestic servants. GAMBIA-GHANA: Sex slave children
trafficked by Ghanaian fishermen UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=48765 [accessed 16 May 2011] Gambian authorities said this week
they were questioning a group of 63 Ghanaian children, most of whom were girls
who had been trafficked into the country for use as “sex slaves” and unpaid
domestic servants. Immigration officials said on Wednesday that they had
cracked a child trafficking ring that was bringing in the teenagers into the
country illegally to work for a community of Ghanaian fishermen living on the
coast. Information about Street Children - This report is taken from “A Civil Society Forum for
Anglophone West Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street
Children”, 21-24 October 2003, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 May 2011] CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES - Girls are less likely than boys
to have any form of education, are known to be less aware than boys about
sexually transmitted diseases, despite their increasing involvement in commercial
sex work. This puts them at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and of unwanted
pregnancy, which helps to explain the large numbers of second-generation
babies born on the street to parents who are themselves street children The Alternative Africa: Street
Children in The International Child And Youth Care Network CYC, Issue
25, • February 2001 www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0201-shanahan2.html [accessed 16 May 2011] SURVIVAL - The girl children have to adopt
extra survival strategies. Once the age of puberty has been reached many of
them will have boy minders who will demand sexual favors as payment for
protection. Many small girls will use sex for survival in terms of
supplementing their income. It is too easy to call them prostitutes. A
prostitute is for me a professional sex worker. A 14-year old who offers sex
for food and a few shillings to buy a length of cloth is not a prostitute. The www.waafweb.org/about_us.htm [Last access date unavailable] Preliminary research studies has been conducted by WAAF on the
most recent phenomenon of Child Sex Tourism which understudies child and
youth exposure to HIV/AIDS through labor participation (i.e. Child
Prostitution) in the Tourism industry. Findings confirmed our suspicions that
STI’s are a common occurrence among sexually active
children. Continuous research will be undertaken to ascertain the underlying
causes, in order to find tangible solutions to protect the health interest of
children exposed to early commercial sexual exploitation All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Child Prostitution - |
Human Trafficking in [Ghana] [other countries]Street Children in [Ghana] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Ghana