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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

In the early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/childprostitution/Namibia.htm

Republic of Namibia The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. The mining sector employs only about 3% of the population while about half of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides one of the world's most unequal income distributions. [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 Namibia. 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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The Department of Labor’s 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor [PDF]

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2007

www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2006OCFTreport.pdf

[accessed 9 December 2010]

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In 1999, approximately 15.5 percent of boys and 13.9 percent of girls ages 5 to 14 were working in Namibia. The majority of working children were found in the agricultural sector (91.4 percent), followed by services (8.2 percent), manufacturing (0.4 percent), and other sectors (0.1 percent). Children work in commercial and subsistence agriculture, the informal sector, and domestic service. Children find self-employment in basket weaving, traditional beer making, selling fruits and vegetables, barbering, milking cows, and farming communal land. To support their households, children also tend livestock, hunt, fish, and gather wild foods. Children from Angola, Zambia, and other countries neighboring Namibia reportedly enter the country illegally and work on communal farms. Children from poor rural households frequently assist extended family in urban centers with house cleaning, cooking, and child care, in exchange for food, shelter, and sometimes clothes and money. Numerous HIV/AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children are reportedly engaged in commercial sexual exploitation.

Human Rights Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 6, 2007

www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78749.htm

[accessed 23 February 2011]

CHILDREN - Child prostitution occurred, and parents as well as perpetrators were liable in such cases. The growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans increased the vulnerability of children to sexual abuse and exploitation. Numerous children orphaned by HIV/AIDS engaged in prostitution as a means of survival.

The Protection Project - Namibia [DOC]

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University

www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/namibia.doc

[accessed 2009]

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - A recent study by the University of Namibia indicated that young girls in Namibia engage in commercial sex or relationships with older married men in return for cash or gifts. Poverty is usually the main driving force behind such relationships. Reportedly, the number of women and girls working in prostitution in Oshikango, a city on the border to Angola, has increased. There, young Namibian girls engage in commercial sex with foreign truck drivers.

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