Most child house-helps victims of child trafficking
Jun 15, 2007
On my way to and from work, I pass by a girl seated at the veranda of a bed-sitter in a slum near my home.
By Lydia Namubiru
On my way to and from work, I pass by a girl seated at the veranda of a bed-sitter in a slum near my home.
I have never heard her say a word although I always find her outside no matter how early or late it is. She works as a maid and a baby-sitter.
One evening I find her excitedly speaking to another child. Infected with her unusual excitement, I join the conversation.
Through her friend, I ask her name. She tells me (through the friend) that she is Akiror (not real name). I ask her to spell it. The friend laughs and tells me that she just came from the village in Soroti and is illiterate. There are many questions I want to ask this girl, but I cannot because of the language barrier.
Does this girl even know where her new home is? How old she is? Did she accept to come to this strange city where she cannot even communicate? Does she have parents? Do her employers know that they are abusing her by taking her away from her home to look after their baby?
Unfortunately, Akiror is just one of the many children, who have become victims of child trafficking because of their vulnerable circumstances. Orphaned, a school drop-out and living in poverty, they look at opportunities to leave home as a God-sent.
According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) done in 2002 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2.7 million children are working in Uganda and most of them have been trafficked.
A report on child labour done by the International Labour Organisation says 60% of the children working in Uganda’s informal urban sector have been trafficked, while 44% have been relocated.
Venansio Ahabwe, the programme officer at African Network for Prevention and Protection of against Child Abuse and Neglect in Uganda, says internal child trafficking is rampant in Uganda.
“It (child trafficking) is so rampant that society has come to accept it as normal. When a well-to-do person needs a house- help, they go to the village and pick a child from an impoverished family,†he says.
The traffickers mainly target children in vulnerable situations such as orphans and school drop-outs. The children and their unsuspecting parents are hoaxed with items such as sugar, money, employment opportunities and promise of a better life.
There, is limited effort to try and combat this evil, which has eaten up our country. This has been compounded by the lack of clear legislation governing domestic workers, and high poverty levels forcing parents or guardians to practically sell off their children.
Studies by the Platform for Labour Action on Adult Domestic Workers in Uganda indicate that about 54% of all adult domestic workers started working when they were below 18 years.
Many orphans and children who drop out of school join this type of work, which affects the literacy rates of 15-24-year-olds.
Quite often, these children are underpaid if paid at all. They are also forced to work for long hours, doing chores that are too strenuous for them and are exposed to the risks of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by their employers.
“All these are forms of abuse and exploitation,†say Ahabwe.
But as we join the rest of the continent to celebrate the Day of the African Child, families and communities should reflect on the challenges and threats that compromise the healthy growth and development of all children, and their health and acknowledge them as Africa’s most valuable assets.
The Day of the African Child is celebrated on June 16, in commemoration of hundreds of black children massacred during a march in Soweto, South Africa in 1976.
The march was to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. The day has been celebrated since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity.
The day also draws attention to the plight of African children today.
Additional reporting by
Paul Kimumwe
On my way to and from work, I pass by a girl seated at the veranda of a bed-sitter in a slum near my home.
I have never heard her say a word although I always find her outside no matter how early or late it is. She works as a maid and a baby-sitter.
One evening I find her excitedly speaking to another child. Infected with her unusual excitement, I join the conversation.
Through her friend, I ask her name. She tells me (through the friend) that she is Akiror (not real name). I ask her to spell it. The friend laughs and tells me that she just came from the village in Soroti and is illiterate. There are many questions I want to ask this girl, but I cannot because of the language barrier.
Does this girl even know where her new home is? How old she is? Did she accept to come to this strange city where she cannot even communicate? Does she have parents? Do her employers know that they are abusing her by taking her away from her home to look after their baby?
Unfortunately, Akiror is just one of the many children, who have become victims of child trafficking because of their vulnerable circumstances. Orphaned, a school drop-out and living in poverty, they look at opportunities to leave home as a God-sent.
According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) done in 2002 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2.7 million children are working in Uganda and most of them have been trafficked.
A report on child labour done by the International Labour Organisation says 60% of the children working in Uganda’s informal urban sector have been trafficked, while 44% have been relocated.
Venansio Ahabwe, the programme officer at African Network for Prevention and Protection of against Child Abuse and Neglect in Uganda, says internal child trafficking is rampant in Uganda.
“It (child trafficking) is so rampant that society has come to accept it as normal. When a well-to-do person needs a house- help, they go to the village and pick a child from an impoverished family,†he says.
The traffickers mainly target children in vulnerable situations such as orphans and school drop-outs. The children and their unsuspecting parents are hoaxed with items such as sugar, money, employment opportunities and promise of a better life.
There, is limited effort to try and combat this evil, which has eaten up our country. This has been compounded by the lack of clear legislation governing domestic workers, and high poverty levels forcing parents or guardians to practically sell off their children.
Studies by the Platform for Labour Action on Adult Domestic Workers in Uganda indicate that about 54% of all adult domestic workers started working when they were below 18 years.
Many orphans and children who drop out of school join this type of work, which affects the literacy rates of 15-24-year-olds.
Quite often, these children are underpaid if paid at all. They are also forced to work for long hours, doing chores that are too strenuous for them and are exposed to the risks of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by their employers.
“All these are forms of abuse and exploitation,†say Ahabwe.
But as we join the rest of the continent to celebrate the Day of the African Child, families and communities should reflect on the challenges and threats that compromise the healthy growth and development of all children, and their health and acknowledge them as Africa’s most valuable assets.
The Day of the African Child is celebrated on June 16, in commemoration of hundreds of black children massacred during a march in Soweto, South Africa in 1976.
The march was to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. The day has been celebrated since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity.
The day also draws attention to the plight of African children today.
Additional reporting by
Paul Kimumwe