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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Republic of Liberia [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Liberia [map] is located on the west coast of Africa. It fronts on the Atlantic Ocean for 350 mi (560 km) on the southwest and is bordered by Sierra Leone (NW), by Guinea (N), and by Côte d'Ivoire (E). Monrovia is the capital and largest city. Years of conflict have led to the multiple, internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, disrupted delivery of basic social services, increased vulnerability of women and children to extreme poverty, hunger, disease and HIV/AIDS.

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Liberia. 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.

National Plan of Action

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

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – NGO estimates of the number of persons trafficked to the country during the year ranged between 20 and several hundred. Victims were trafficked within the country and from neighboring countries for prostitution and labor. Young children were at a particularly high risk for trafficking, especially orphans or children from extremely poor families.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004

[62] The Committee shares the State party’s concern about the prevalence of child prostitution, particularly in urban areas, and is further concerned at the lack of data thereon.

ECPAT: Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for Action [DOC]

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – LIBERIA – Liberia has not developed a national plan due to the instability in the country as well as the fact that CSEC is not regarded as a priority. There is very little cooperation in actions relating to combating CSEC. The NGO FOCUS Fore-Runners of Children’s Universal Rights for Survival, Growth and Development) reports that it has contacted child rights NGOs and is currently working on modalities for better cooperation.

When ‘Peacekeeping’ Equals Rape

The litany of this sex horror goes on. Refugees International reports that in Liberia peacekeepers patronize a club called Little Lagos, where they have sex with girls as young as 12 and also take porn photos of them. The poor children do all this for a few bucks, or food. Sex with the vulnerable and the exploited is routine for these men all over Africa, and the world.

Aid staff abusing Liberian children, charity says

Liberia is facing an epidemic of child prostitution, with more than half of children engaged in selling sex in some parts of the country, a children's charity warned today.

The Save the Children report found that girls as young as eight were selling sex for items such as food, beer, clothing, perfume or mobile phones.

Others were reported as having sex with adults in return for good school grades, video screenings or rides in cars.

Study Finds Many Girls Selling Bodies to Pay for School

As many as four out of five schoolgirls in war-scarred Liberia are resorting to having sex for cash so they can pay for their education, a study by British-based charity Save the Children has found. With unemployment at 85 percent, sending a child to school costs half the average annual income of around US $115.

Reports That Child Refugees Sexually Exploited Shock Annan

Refugee children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, reportedly by employees of national and international NGOs, UNHCR and other UN bodies, fellow refugees, security forces of host countries and other persons, according to a joint assessment by UNHCR and Save the Children-UK. The exchange of sex for money or gifts appeared widespread. The victims were mostly girls aged 13 to 18, while the most vulnerable group comprised orphans and children separated from one or both parents. The perpetrators "are often men in positions of relative power and influence who either control access to goods and services or who have wealth and/or income".

The Experience of Refugee Children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

This assessment was initiated by UNHCR and Save the Children-UK (SC-UK) due to growing concerns, based on their field experience, about the nature and extent of sexual violence and exploitation of refugee children and other children of concern to UNHCR in the countries of the Mano River Sub Region in West Africa.

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