Human Trafficking in [Zambia] [other countries]Street Children in [Zambia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Zambia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Republic
of Zambia [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The Republic of
Zambia is located in central Africa [map] and is bordered by Congo (Kinshasa) (N), by Tanzania (NE),
by Malawi and Mozambique (E), by Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia (S), and by
Angola (W). Lusaka is its capital and
largest city. Without immediate
actions to prevent and respond to HIV/AIDS through targeted programs, the
premature deaths of adults infected by HIV will result in massive effects on
families, communities and institutions. Zambia is a
source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked
for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Child prostitution
exists in Zambia’s urban centers, often encouraged or facilitated by
relatives or acquaintances of the victim. Many Zambian child laborers,
particularly those in the agriculture, domestic service, and fishing sectors,
are also victims of human trafficking. Zambian women, lured by false
employment or marriage offers, are trafficked to South Africa via Zimbabwe
for sexual exploitation, and to Europe via Malawi. Zambia is a transit point
for regional trafficking of women and children, particularly from Angola to
Namibia for agricultural labor and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
to South Africa. Malawian and Mozambican adults and children are occasionally
trafficked to Zambia for forced agricultural labor. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008
[full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Zambia. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their
authenticity or to verify their content. ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Zambia
should save its own children... When Tomaida Tembo received news
of her impending trip to Lusaka, she was 500 km away in Katete’s Kathumba
village in the Eastern Province. The
11-year-old did not know how to react.
Lusaka to her, has been a mythical place and according to those that
had been to the city, it was a place of “agebenga” (bandits) and the
“akapenta” (prostitutes) who patrolled and patronised the streets of the city
of ‘lights’. What had been a mythical
place to Tomaida was soon to become reality. To make her travelling easy, the
distant cousin had sent enough money to cover her travelling expenses and a
lot more to help her mother settle down after her departure. That was five years ago since the morning
Tomaida left the sanctuary of her mother on a journey that changed her life
forever. Wondering on the cold streets
of Lusaka, Tomaida awaits her next client on Addis Ababa drive. Activists
Urge Zambian Government to Crack Down on Human Trafficking Kafukanya says Zambia is also one
of the most vulnerable countries to human and child trafficking: "What
they do in this recruitment, they use deception, they entice somebody.
And when they go there [the destination country] the ball changes. They
are forced into hard labor jobs. And for the girl Childs is forced into
prostitution while the boys into criminal activities." ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Street children are especially vulnerable to commercial sexual
exploitation, and the problem of child prostitution is widespread in
Zambia. Zambia is a source and transit
country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Women from
the country were trafficked within the country and to other parts of Africa
and to Europe, and the country was used as a transit point for regional
trafficking of women for prostitution. Traffickers fraudulently obtained
Zambian travel documents for their victims before proceeding to other
destinations. During the year there were reliable reports that women were
trafficked to the country for commercial sex work. The government did not keep data
on trafficking cases and the law did not define the crime of trafficking,
making it difficult to profile the typical trafficker. A 2004 survey of
service providers, community members, and children located in four cities
indicated that traffickers come from a variety of backgrounds and include
family members, truck drivers, prostitutes, and business persons. Foreign
traffickers were said to have come from Asia, Europe, and North America as
well as from countries in the region. Traffickers often use promises of
employment to entice young girls and women to leave their homes and families
and then force them into prostitution. Zambian's
plight highlights Texas human trafficking problem At age 11, Kechepa lived in
Zambia, which is a country with no running water in many locations. He
roasted mice for food. But with dreams of a better life, he put his trust
into Keith Grimes. Grimes was a
missionary for TTT: Partners and Education, which was a non-profit
organization based in Sherman. He brought the Zambian Acapella Choir to
America with big promises. "They
are like my children," Grimes said while in Africa. In exchange for touring the choir, the boys
would get an education, pay and even monthly salaries for loved ones at home.
There was also a promise to build schools in Zambia. With Grimes' promises, the boys sang,
sometimes performing eight times in one day. "We noticed that all the
things they promised in Zambia were not being fulfilled," he said. Money from churchgoers was coming in by the
hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile, the boys felt like prisoners. They were not
allowed phone calls, pay and sometimes were denied food. "We didn't eat for two-and-a-half
days," Kechepa said. But Kechepa
said they were threatened deportation if they complained, which Kechepa said
would turn them into outcasts in Zambia. "And if you're deported, your family is
going to disown you, saying you shamed our name," Kechepa said. Director Amy
Allais pours her soul into human trafficking ad A gripping commercial for The
International Organisation for Migration on human trafficking is definitely a
commercial Director Amy Allais, from Fresh Eye Film Productions, poured her
soul into. The commercial focuses on a young
girl, in Zambia, being lured into a trafficking ring under the false promise
of becoming a model in South Africa. Messages like: “you will be raped” and
“you will be a sex slave” become part of the dusty township landscape as the
ad unfolds. “The call centre is now receiving
about 100 calls a day. We usually only receive no more than 50 calls a week.
Who says advertising doesn't work?” Activists
Urge Zambian Government to Crack Down on Human Trafficking Kafukanya says Zambia is also one
of the most vulnerable countries to human and child trafficking: "What
they do in this recruitment, they use deception, they entice somebody.
And when they go there [the destination country] the ball changes. They
are forced into hard labor jobs. And for the girl Childs is forced into
prostitution while the boys into criminal activities." Human Trafficking
- Danger to Social , Economic Growth Many of these children whose
parents have died from HIV/AIDS or related diseases lack parental care and
guidance, cultural, social and family ties and life skills that are usually
passed on from generation to generation. They are deprived of their childhood
love and care and many of them lose the opportunity to go to school. They
become victims of human trafficking because they tend to be attracted to big
cities and towns, with the view of earning a living. Child
Trafficking: Does It Exist In Zambia? When 16-year-old Fridah
Bwalya (not real name) visited a local restaurant on what had started as a
normal day, little did she know that her life would change forever. AIDS
Now Compels Africa to Challenge Widows' 'Cleansing' In Malawi and in a
number of nearby nations including Zambia and Kenya, a husband's funeral has
long concluded with a final ritual: sex between the widow and one of her
husband's relatives, to break the bond with his spirit and, it is said, save
her and the rest of the village from insanity or disease. Widows have long
tolerated it, and traditional leaders have endorsed it, as an unchallenged
tradition of rural African life. Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Twelve
suspected human traffickers arrested She said the group had also used
fake passports and the department was making arrangements for one-way travel
documents to send them back. She said
the ring had set up several command posts where agents were being paid
handsomely for facilitating the exit from Zambia of people to go and offer
cheap labour and engage in other dubious acts in other parts of the world. The
Invisible people - Africa feeds new slavery [scroll down] The African Gender Institute has launched a new report based on a study of human trafficking and prostitution in Zambia. Some of the findings: In Zambia women and children are trafficked by road, rail and throughout Africa to Europe, Australia and the US. Attached to prostitution and trafficking are violence and sexual abuse. The Protection Project - Zambia [DOC] FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE
TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - HIV/AIDS, coupled with poverty, has contributed to the proliferation
of street children and child labor in Zambia. About 80 percent of Zambia’s
population lives in degrading conditions. Poverty pervades both rural and
urban areas, pushing most women, adolescents, and children into the informal
sector of the economy, where they sell a variety of goods, their labor, or
their bodies. Prostitution is rife in major towns and smaller urban areas.
Nearly 1 million children are reportedly orphaned in the country, and 75,000
live on the streets. Nearly half of Zambian children, regardless of orphan
status, are not enrolled in primary s.
- htsccp Zambia
should save its own children... To make her travelling easy, the
distant cousin had sent enough money to cover her travelling expenses and a
lot more to help her mother settle down after her departure. That was five years ago since the morning
Tomaida left the sanctuary of her mother on a journey that changed her life
forever. Wondering on the cold streets
of Lusaka, Tomaida awaits her next client on Addis Ababa drive. Massive child
labour in Zambia denounced With children working in dangerous
occupations including portering, street begging and domestic labour, child
labour is a widespread problem in Zambia, ICFTU says. "In contravention
of the ILO's two core conventions on child labour, children are still toiling
in even the worst forms of child labour such as small scale mining
operations, agriculture and stone crushing." The UN labour agency, ILO, has
published figures that estimate that over 550,000 children were working in
2001. 85 percent of these were involved in the so-called "worst forms of
child labour." According to the ICFTU report, "as the number of
Zambians dying of HIV-AIDS continues to increase, the numbers of orphans, and
the number of households headed by a child, increases as well. Nearly all of
these children are working." Neither were children safe from
the perils of prostitution. The report states that "there are reports of
forced prostitution [in Zambia], particularly of children, of the trafficking
of women and children to neighbouring countries for the purposes of
prostitution, and of combatants from neighbouring Angola kidnapping Zambians
and taking them back to Angola to perform various forms of forced
labour." - htcp All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Zambia] [other countries]Street Children in [Zambia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Zambia] [other countries]