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
first ten years of the 21st
Century - 2000 to 2009
|
||
|
CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** mobile.modernghana.com/mobile/160195/1/mps-condemn-baby-prostitutes.html www.modernghana.com/news2/160195/1/mps-condemn-baby-prostitutes.mgl “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 *** www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/AF/Global_Monitoring_Report-GHANA.pdf 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. U.S. Dept
of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs 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. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 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) - 1997 [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
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 Ghana-A cruel Crime www.ghanadot.com/social_scene.feature.kunateh.sextrade.012209.html
Abena (real name withheld) is
fourteen years old and lives with her mother in a kiosk around Adabraka, a
suburb of the capital of Ghana, Accra. Her mother sells foodstuff during the
day. According to Abena, she began going out with some of her friends in the
evenings in 2004 to entertainment spots around Adabraka and Circle vicinities
at that tender age [nine]. 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 gbcghana.com/news/21558detail.html Dozens alleged child prostitutes
in Accra were recently arrested in a police raid from a brothel called
“Soldier Bar.” The brothel was reportedly shut down early this year for
sexually exploiting children. What baffles most people is how a brothel
closed down could easily resurrect and be in brisk business. This shows
how orders are defied with impunity in our society. Aside that, the
arrest of these juveniles or minors demonstrates the extent to which children
of today are getting corrupted and perverted. The innocence of the
child seems to be fading away as they are exposed daily to nudity, immorality
and pornography. A factbook on Global Sexual
Exploitation in Ghana indicates that in Accra alone, there are about 125
brothels where young girls are forced into prostitution. 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 www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=6546§ion=1 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. Ghana:
Child Prostitutes are Children First 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. Ghana:
Response to 'Thriving' Child Sex Industry Too Weak 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. mobile.modernghana.com/mobile/160195/1/mps-condemn-baby-prostitutes.html www.modernghana.com/news2/160195/1/mps-condemn-baby-prostitutes.mgl “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 The Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has expressed concern over the spate of child
prostitution, saying that, the alarming situation where Ghana's children are
being exploited for commercial sex, posed a great threat to the nation. Teenage girls recruited for sex in Kumasi? www.myjoyonline.com/news/200712/11226.asp At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
The Garden city Ghanaian
minister is on a mission Ama, 15, lives in Accra, Ghana.
She has no money, food or shelter. She dropped out of school five years ago.
Her mother died from AIDS-related complications two years ago. She never knew
her father. Ama's tired, hungry and
alone. She walks up to a man and asks him for $4 for food. In return, he
wants sex. She obliges and takes the money. She repeats this ritual
throughout the day. It's her only means of survival. In the United States, prostitution is
illegal and punishable by law. But in Ghana, said the Rev. Eric Kwasi Annan,
scenarios like this happen every day, often involving girls younger than Ana,
a fictional example. Why? Because it's legal, and it pays well. - sccp allafrica.com/stories/200711051563.html 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 A 21-member steering committee for
an International Labour Organisation (ILO) project on combating child labour
and trafficking was inaugurated in Kumasi on Thursday. 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 Kumasi 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 Ghana
driving children into prostitution In the West African nation of
Ghana poverty is driving a growing number of children onto the streets to
live. Without money or a job most of those
children are eventually forced into prostitution. That influx of desperate children is
earning Ghana a reputation on paedophile websites as a safe destination for
child sex. 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 ECPAT: Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for
Action [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] [B]
COUNTRY UPDATES – GHANA
– Ghana has not yet developed a plan on CSEC and is only beginning to engage
in activities to combat CSEC. CSEC is growing in ECPAT: What Makes Children Vulnerable to Sexual Exploitation? www.ecpat.net/eng/CSEC/faq/faq9.asp At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
HARMFUL
TRADITIONS OR CUSTOMS
- In some countries, sexual exploitation of children is thinly disguised as
religious practice. In 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 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 - Ghana [DOC] www.streetchildren.org.uk/reports/Ghana%20Child.doc At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 Ghana - part 2 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 West Africa Aids Foundation
(WAAF) 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