Submitted by crinadmin on
[28 July 2008] - Child trafficking will continue to increase unless the government, the judiciary and civil society organisations take serious measures to combat the menace, a campaigner against child abuse has warned. Executive director of African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) Tanzania Chapter Peter Mwangosi said in Dar es Salaam that the number of children being trafficked to other countries has increased dramatically. Mwangosi told journalists that research carried out by his organisation in different regions has attributed child trafficking to poverty, ignorance, cheap labour and lack of national policy for guiding children. He said that data collected from the research, indicated that a number of children were trafficked to Kikumbaa and Nairobi, in Kenya, and others to Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Dodoma and Moshi. "Poverty contributes a lot to child trafficking. Many parents allow their children to cities and other countries in exchange for money, small gifts and other promises from the traffickers. On the other hand, children leave their homes to look for better life in the cities," he explained. He added that ignorance, cheap labour and lack of clear national policy and laws to prevent trafficking were among major causes. Mwangosi explained that ANPPCAN worked with individual children to educate them on their rights and responsibilities. It provided uniforms, books and clothes for those in need, he added. ANPPCAN`s National Coordinator, Christine Kyaruzi, concurring with the executive director said ignorance was the key factor contributing to child trafficking in the country as well as other African states. Kyaruzi said that most people in the community did not report such cases to responsible authorities because they do not know child trafficking was a crime. She said the report shows children taken to cities were used as cheap labour in businesses and also as domestic servants at low wages. Liaison Officer of KULEANA, a non-governmental organisation in the country, Abdallah Ibrahim, said that training of journalists was necessary for them to educate people on child trafficking and assist the government in combating the illegal practice. "We have decided to embark on training because the majority of journalists in both rural and urban areas are not aware of child trafficking," he said. Child trafficking is defined as a process of transportation, transfer, recruitment, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat, or use of force, or other forms of coercion. It is also a process of abduction, fraud and deception of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability. The practice, according to experts, involves giving or receiving payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another for the purpose of exploitation. ANPPCAN Tanzania Chapter is a not for profit organisation under the umbrella of Pan African Organisation with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and is concerned with the status of children especially those in need of protection from various forms of maltreatment. Further information
pdf: http://ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2008/07/28/119360.html