A stop to child slavery

Taking a stand against child trafficking and modern slavery

On Lake Volta in Ghana, it’s only 6:00 a.m. but the boys have already been working several hours on the wooden fishing boats. They’re tired and hungry. But that doesn’t stop them from plunging into the murky waters, paddling the boat and hauling in the heavy net. The oldest is 15 and has been working on the boats for six years. The other children on the boat are six and eight years old. They live in a room with five other children brought to the lake to work.

The trafficking of children

You might have thought slavery was still not a big problem in the 21st century. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong. The International Labor Office (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation estimate that 40 million people are enslaved around the globe. And one in four of those are children. The buying and selling of people for the purpose of exploitation is, next to arms dealing, among the largest criminal enterprises that exist today, second only to drug trafficking. And it’s the fastest-growing, generating an estimated USD 150 billion annually, according to the ILO.

This lucrative trade of human misery operates on the same principles as the rest of the market: supply and demand. And there is currently an incredibly high demand for exploited children, both for labor and the worst abuses. The victims are boys like those on Lake Volta. Or young girls raped in brothels. Or children forced to work in blisteringly hot and unsafe factories to produce cheap goods – barely sleeping, eating or drinking.

The organizations making a difference

There is hope to break the cycle. Governments in hotspot areas for trafficking have shown increasing will to tackle this issue. And many non-profit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are working today with investigative, policing and social care groups to combat its root causes and bring perpetrators to justice. But systems and resources are stretched by the sheer scale of the problem.

The UBS Optimus Foundation is working with organizations that are making headway in putting a stop to child trafficking and modern slavery. Two such organizations are Challenging Heights and Justice and Care.

Challenging Heights

Ghanaian grassroots NGO Challenging Heights is working to prevent child trafficking, reduce child slavery and promote children's rights in Ghana. Their main focus is on addressing the trafficking of children to Lake Volta, where they are forced to work in the fishing industry.

Challenging Heights’ founder, James Kofi Annan, knows all too well about the problem:

I worked as a child fisherman in more than 20 villages between the ages of six and 13, when I finally escaped. I was tortured and abused in various forms. On a daily basis, my working day started at 3:00 a.m., and ended at 8:00 p.m., and was full of physically demanding work. I was usually fed once a day and would regularly contract painful diseases which were never treated. I was first trafficked with five other children. Out of the six of us, three lived and three did not. I saw many children die from either abuse or the rigorous work they were forced to do.

Challenging Heights is making headway in Ghana, pushing child slavery onto the government agenda and doing vital work to rehabilitate child victims and work within their families and communities to prevent future trafficking. Since they started in 2005, Challenging Heights has:

• rescued 1,600 children from slavery
• supported 1,500 caregivers with economic strengthening work to reduce trafficking in families
• supported 782 vulnerable youth with an empowerment program

Justice and Care

Globally active Justice and Care has partnered with governments including India, Bangladesh and the UK to fight child trafficking by mapping criminal networks, identifying perpetrators, freeing enslaved individuals and closing brothels.

Asia is the global hub of trafficking. Under false pretenses, girls and women are moved to cities in India, where they are held in captivity in brothels.

In 2009, 17-year-old Nisha went missing. Her father sold everything he owned to try and find her. After being put in touch with Justice and Care by a partner organization, Nisha was located in a brothel 1,000 miles away. She’d been drugged, abducted and forced to have sex with up to 20 customers a day. Justice and Care worked with the police to rescue her and bring her home, providing ongoing support for her to start a small business to support her family.

Justice and Care is playing a critical role in reducing child trafficking. Since 2008, Justice and Care has:

• rescued 4,533 children from slavery
• handled 339 prosecution cases
• trained 3,345 police officers, public prosecutors and community leaders

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Challenging Heights, Justice and Care and UBS Financial Services Inc. are not affiliated.

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