Children

The sacrifice that some children make at such young age is hard for most to imagine, but across the world many young people sacrifice their education and future to support that of their families. War, natural disasters and poverty have left many families and children seeing little options for survival and prosperity, causing many to remove children from school to enter the workforce, or even worse literally selling a child, in order to support the family.

May Thet, a teenager in Myanmar, has become the only hope to earn enough money to provide food for the family and send her younger sister to school. The sacrifice for May Thet is her education, her future;

“I feel like crying when I see my friends going to school, but, I have to console myself. It’s my destiny. There are a lot of us who can’t go to school because we have to help our parents. …Earning the family income is much more important right now than going to school.”

May Thet is lucky in some ways, as her mother has made sure that she stays close to home, despite the lure of additional income by going to work in Yangon (Rangoon), the country’s capital.

“My mother said no [to my going to Yangon to look for work as a housemaid], because she was afraid I would be sexually assaulted or trafficked into the sex industry. I’m also afraid of being sold or raped. But my mother told me I cannot go there. I have to listen to my mother’s orders.” (IRIN)

Almost three years after an earthquake devastated the communities in Pakistan, many stories mirror that of May Thet’s, as child labor on the rise in quake-hit north. The issue of child labor in Pakistan is nothing new, however following the earthquakes devastation a substantial rise in the number of children out of school and forced to work has caused grave concern to NGO’s and local authorities. NGO’s estimate that some 30% of children in the region are working and the last known estimate of child labor in Pakistan in 1996 put some 3.3 million children in the labor force, while now those in the field say the problem has only increased.

Endless cycles of debt bondage, one of the widest used forms of modern slavery, leave children forced to work towards the families debt, such as in Afghanistan’s brick factories. A local NGO in Sorkhrod District of the Nangarhar Province, estimated that some 2,298 children, mostly under the ages of 15, work in the 38 brick-making factories, 90% of which are not in school (IRIN).

However child labor and low school attendance levels are not the only concern for many countries, as abuse, violence and trafficking are also at the heart of the problem. As seen after a shocking case of abuse emerged from Pakistan last month as a father of 6, clubbed 4 of his children to death. Abdul Salam, an out of work laborer, stated that he had killed the children who ranged in age from 18 months to 11 years old , as he could no longer feed them. Salam had attempted to kill all 6 of the children; however 2 of the children survived the vicious attacks. Salam told the local press that he had killed the children because he was “unemployed for 10 days and could not meet their demands”, and that there was insufficient food in the house and when he killed them they had gone to sleep hungry, he said (Lack of food prompting extreme actions by parents).

The stories of children denied an education and a future are endless, they cover the globe and while the names may change, the stories themselves remain much the same. The issue of child labor only bringing a global magnifying glass to a local issue, uncovering the root causes for the worlds some 27 million slaves. Looking through the glass one can see that sustainable solutions must be immediately put into place in communities hit by disaster to ensure that children are able to remain in school while the families are able to rebuild and recover, as well as to those communities which continue to struggle with poverty and economic hardship. Education and awareness must also be brought to both the short and long-term effects of child labor and debt bondage, in order to begin to break the cycle and see a development of sustainable and viable solutions in each community.

Ex-Oprah school matron pleads not guilty in South Africa on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. Virginia Mokgobo, 27, arrested in November and out on bail, is facing charges relating to common assault, harassment and soliciting a minor to perform indecent acts and verbal abuse.

Pillay confirmed as human rights chief
The UN General Assembly unanimously confirmed the nomination of South African judge Navanethem Pillay as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Chinese teacher heads for re-education over earthquake efforts
A Chinese teacher has been sentenced to one year in a labor re-education camp for taking photos of schools that collapsed in May’s devastating earthquake, Human Rights in China said Wednesday. Liu Shaokun was charged with “inciting a disturbance” after posting his photographs on the Internet.

Ambitious family planning goals
Madagascar, has doubled in the last 25 years, reaching 19.6 million in 2007, according to the UN, and is expected to hit 43.5 million by 2050. In some parts of the country 70% of 16-year-old girls have already given birth to their first child. The Madagascar Action Plan (MAP), has set two ambitious goals: reducing the average size of the Malagasy family and comprehensively meeting the demand for contraceptives and family planning, by making contraceptives more widely available, providing educational programs and reducing unwanted teenage pregnancies.

More education equals less teen pregnancy and HIV
Keeping Kenyan girls in school and ensuring they have access to HIV and sex education has a dramatic effect on lowering future levels of HIV, according to experts.

Women, non-Lebanese children get raw deal
Thousands of children in Lebanon are denied full access to education, healthcare and residency because they do not have Lebanese citizenship. Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to their children and in the event of separation, it is the father who gains automatic custody, according to Lebanese nationality law.

A child in prison surely sounds like a superfluous statement, for unquestionably children do not belong in prison. The word prison is often synonymous with adult, yet sadly around the globe there are some 1 million children languishing in prisons, and most of these are not some special child prison or version of juvenile detention, but adult prisons.

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child the imprisonment of a child to be used “only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time” and that the child “shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age”.

Poverty and war often lead children to the streets and they therefore often find themselves embattled in a life of petty crime, sex trafficking, begging, etc. Life on the streets for many children quickly leads them to be placed behind bars, such as in the Philippines.

In many countries, women who are placed in prisons who have children for which they cannot find relatives to care for, are often forced to take their children with them. Children are then imprisoned along with their mothers, where they often lack access to any form of education. The lack of education on a child can be devastating and in turn create a cycle of poverty. Such a case reached the media in May when in Zambia, Kabwe Social Workers Rescue Five Children From Prison. The five children, who’s ages ranged from 5 months to 4 years old, where placed in the care of local social services after they where discovered in the dire conditions of the maximum security prison. However the case in Zambia mirrors that of many other countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan and many other countries.

The issue of children in prison, or detention centers, does not even escape western nations such as the US. As discussed in the post Child Detainees, An International Crime?, children detained at the Hutto, Texas, center. Hutto was again brought to light again only today in The New Yorker article, The Lost Children: What do tougher detention policies mean for illegal immigrant families?,

Children who are either placed in prison for their own perceived crimes and those who are placed in prison along side their mothers, are not the only children affected by what many see as systems failing families, including in the US as was brought to light this month in the article, Women, children suffer from harsh prison policies, on women in detention. Many states in the US are now looking at alternative solutions including prison nurseries, halfway houses, and other programs which help mothers and children foster healthier and more substantial relationships, in order to brake the cycle of prison life in the family.

The issue of children in prisons and detention centers is complex and varied, but one thing is clear, all of these children are being denied a fundamental right to childhood! The denial of freedom has led these children to be denied the rights to education, the right to play and thus the right to a healthy and happy existence.
See former posts on children in prison and search for other countries and recent articles, including;

• Brazil’s Penal System Shows It’s Lawlessness as A Young Girl is Raped For Weeks
• Child Detainees, An International Crime?
• Haiti’s Children’s Prison - 2005
• INSIDE THE CHILDREN’S PRISON IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA - 2002
• SUDAN: Women and children in prison
• Children in Conflict With the Law: What is Done, But Rarely Told - 2006
• DRC: Children “languishing in Ituri prisons”
• CAMEROON: Two months after riots, children remain in prison
• IRAQ: Child prisoners abused and tortured, say activists

When one in the US thinks of sex trafficking and exploitation, they tend to think of girls from lands with mostly unpronounceable names. Images of Russian “Natasha’s”, young Thai girls, girls on the streets of India, etc., however those images are not the only picture one must see in order to see the harsh reality of sexual exploitation and child sex trafficking.

While it is true that sex trafficking exists in every corner of the globe, young American girls are not immune form this demand driven plague of the flesh. Young vulnerable girls who are quite literally hunted, like animals in forest the girls are scoped out lured in by the weakness and naivety of innocence, the hunter the pimps who know how to infiltrate their minds with promises of love, affection and the attention they miss and crave.

The average age of entry into prostitution in the United States is 12 years old, 90% of those in the commercial sex industry have histories of abuse, thus making them easy prey in the jungle of demand and exploitation.

The film Very Young Girls, which follows the girls of NYC’s GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, takes you into this harsh reality of the life of so many young All American girls. The film opens with a gritty intro into the mind of two pimps, Anthony and Chris Griffin shoot their own footage in an attempt to see their names in lights, or on MTV at the very least. Hoping for fame and fortune they used the camera to show the raw life of the very girls they exploit and essentially enslave, thankfully the same footage later put both behind bars.

“Ho Daddy”, as he likes to be affectionately called, has been pimping for 6 years and when asked how many girls he had, he responded with; “I’ve pimped over 100 Ho’s”. Then his brother asked what they were going to do, he responded with; “Gona find me a Bitch, find you a Bitch, we could split a Bitch in half.”

The graphic nature of the pimp languages is nothing compared to the actual life these young girls find themselves in on the streets. Insults are only the beginning of the mental breakdown and torture that these girls will face daily on the cold hard streets under the watchful eyes of their pimps.

How does it all begin, how do these girls get lured onto the streets? Youth makes one easy prey , and girls are targeted for their naivety and vulnerability. Like hunters the pimps look for the perfect target…they stake the girls out and woo them, learn their weaknesses and then when they have fully infiltrated they fire. Girls are lured in under the guise of girlfriends, pimps often act like the absent Father figure, caring for, protecting and buying the girls things until manipulation is second nature.

“I thought it was cool to be 12 and an old dude to be into me.”

When it is all you know temptation is the chain that holds these girls innocence. Girls are often lured back by their pimps with promises of love and affection, other times its pure threats, regardless it never leads to anything better than before. Girls are overwhelmed with confusion; an emotional cocktail of fear, shame, devotion, uncertainty…lead many back to life on the streets.

The word love can become a mental shackle on a girl…you often hear the girls mention the word “dating” when speaking of pimps. When you see the everyday face of these girls you are not just struck by their stories of life on the streets, but you watch them slip into stories and banter like school girls going over the daily gossip. The girls in the film are real, their stories are shocking, but they are sadly not uncommon and they are all innocent victims who need protection, guidance and hope, thankfully they have found it in GEMS.

345 suspects, of which an estimated 290 where adult women charged as prostitutes, have been arrested in a child-sex sting.  How many of the women arrested where actually victims of trafficking is unknown.  In addition some 21 children where rescued as a result of the raids. Over a period of five days, in 16 cities, the FBI,  have been conducting sting operations to catch the those involved with these criminal networks, which prey on young and vulnerable children. The cities targeted in the sting operation where: Atlanta; Boston; Dallas; Detroit; Houston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, MD.; Oakland; Phoenix; Reno.; Sacramento; Tampa; Toledo and Washington.

The stings which are dubbed, “Operation Cross Country”, is part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative, which combines efforts with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is now in it’s 5th year. This is the largest operation of this type in the initiatives history, however some 308 individuals have been convicted and more importantly the initiative’s efforts has see the recovery of 433 children. The Innocence Lost Initiative was established in 2003 in an effort to tackle the increasing problem of child sex trafficking and prostitution in the United States.

“Child trafficking for the purposes of prostitution is organized criminal activity using kids as commodities for sale or trade,” said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “These kids are victims. They lack the ability to walk away. This is 21st Century slavery. We are proud to have worked hand-in-hand with the FBI and Justice Department in a partnership that is unprecedented, historic, and working” (FBI press release).

In an FBI statement Our Criminal Investigative Division partnered with the Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice and with the nonprofit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to bring together state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers. The initiative’s 24 task forces and working groups have recovered 433 children to date and seized over $3 million in assets.

At a press conference, an excerpt of which can be seen in the video below, FBI Director Robert Mueller said ;

“The sex trafficking of children remains one of the most violent and unforgivable crimes. What is different as we stand here today is that we are faced with the increasing use of social network sites and other advances in technology to carry out these crimes and facilitate these criminal enterprises.”

While the efforts and scale of the Innocence Lost Initiative are grand, the full scale of the problem remains even more imposing than one could imagine. The US government has stated that there are some 17,500 victims of sex trafficking in the United States each year, more than half of which are children. Just how many more have been funneled through this high commodities market over the years is unknown, and each child is one child too many. Please see my previous article,Trafficking and Slavery in the US, for more information.

Please see my other posts on Child Trafficking. Please also see my pages on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Links, Human Trafficking and Slavery Related Movies and Documentaries, and Slavery and Trafficking Related Books for more information.


In other US news the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, that child rape doesn’t merit capital punishment . In a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision, which overturned death penalty laws in Louisiana and five other states. See more in the NY Times article, Justices Bar Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child.

Countries which are involved in conflict and strife are seeing an increasing use of violence against children, including kidnapping, torture and even murder. UNICEF issued a statement on the continued abduction, torture and rape of children around the world, saying;

“It is everyone’s duty to ensure children are safe from harm, and governments have a responsibility to enact and enforce measures that provide a protective environment for all children”.

Countries for which UNICEF has reported similar ochering incident in a number of countries including Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Iraq and Haiti.

In CAR armed gangs have profited from the conflict ridden countries vitality and instability, focusing on rural communities for which their terrorizing often includes kidnapping children and holding them for ransom. Earlier this month both CAR and Chad had agreed to the Release of Child Soldiers , however a number of armed groups continue to increase their ranks of child soldiers.

The DRC has seen thousands of children forcibly recruited by armed militant groups to be used as child soldiers, porters and sex slaves. UNICEF has estimated that some 30,000 child soldiers are in place in the DRC, many are girls and the situation has been noticeably on the increase as seen in my post, Child Soldiers in the Congo are Increasing

In Iraq the number of reports of children recruited and used by militias and insurgent groups are increasing, as is the abduction of girls who “are increasingly subject to murder, kidnapping and rape, or are being abducted and trafficked within or outside Iraq for sexual exploitation”.

UNICEF has paid particular attention to the Impoverished of Haiti, where kidnappings have become all too common. Since the beginning of 2008 alone more than 50 children have been abducted, more than half of which where girls. Earlier this month on June 4th UNICEF made a nation wide call to halt the kidnappings of Haitian children, the call came after a recent incident where a 16-year-old hostage was murdered and other hostages, including infants, where lynched and rape. The call from UNICEF was joined by Haitians demonstrating against the kidnappings in the streets of Port-au-Prince. UNICEF estimates that some 2,000 children are trafficked each year to the Dominican Republic, and another 1,000 are working as spies, messengers or soldiers for armed gangs in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

According to the Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 issued by the Secretary General of the United Nations, the number of armed groups and government forces using child soldiers increased from 40 in 2006 to 57 in 2007. The issues, such as poverty, disease and economic destabilization that face children in conflict countries are only compounded by the increasing violence against children. As the use of rape as a weapon of war, conscription of child soldiers, and other violence, including gender based violence, that directly targets children, not only exacerbates the conflict itself, but impedes the post conflict recovery for not only the children, but their entire community and the country on the whole. Therefore it is essential that individual states and the international community on the whole end the long running impunity of these violent crimes, and take greater steps to see that children are no longer used as the weapons and pawns of war.

“Any woman or girl who falls victim to this sort of violence, especially rape, is really having her possibilities for contributing to society greatly diminished.” -Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Liberia, Ellen Margrethe Løj (UN News Service).

One of the biggest obstacles in the support and rehabilitation of survivors of sexual violence is finding them adequate shelter. However in Liberia they are looking to ease that burden, as The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has built a new safe house for survivors of sexual violence in the capital, Monrovia. In addition to the safe house UNMIL has also worked to refurbish a former jail in an effort to ease overcrowding in country’s strained prison system. The safe house, who’s operations where handed over to a local NGO, was built as part of a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) supported project, costing $24,000. The safe house is more than just a house for the survivors of sexual violence, as they also receive psychosocial support, basic literacy skills development, vocational training and information about reproductive health and HIV/AIDS awareness.

Liberia’s long running civil war, saw an all too common use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war. Since the end of the conflict in 2003, peace has not erased the scars of violence from the girls and women who where raped and assaulted, due to both the nature of the crimes, for which one never truly recovers and the standing impunity to prosecute the perpetrators of such horrific crimes. It has been estimated that more than half of all women and girls where victims of gender based sexual violence during the 14 year conflict.

The battle against sexual violence is far from over, but the new safe haven is a ray of hope in a dark world which plagues millions of women in Liberia and across the globe. Gender based discrimination and violence remains prevalent in many countries worldwide, especially in West Africa, and the building of a safe house and the establishment of support services in conjunction with sustainable life skills training programs is an example one hopes to see springing up in all countries of conflict. However safe havens and support programs alone should not be seen as the key to end sexual violence, as the roots of gender violence and discrimination must be tackled and overcome before we are to see true progress and advancement of the women of the world. Therefore it is vital that education and awareness programs be put into place, especially in rural communities, to educate families and communities on the realities and long term effects of gender discrimination. Additionally the long standing impunity over gender based crimes, especially the use of rape as a weapon of war, must come to an end.

In my post on August 1, 2007, UN Peacekeepers and the Abuse of Children, I reported on the failings of UN peacekeepers in the wake of recently emerging and wide spread abused in Liberia. However as I reported then then these abuses where not new in the world of the blue helmets, and nor are they isolated. In 2006 the Security Council states that Problem of sexual abuse by peacekeepers now openly recognized, Broad strategy in place to address it, stating that;

“We dishonour these brave men and women when we fail to prevent or punish those from within their ranks who victimize the very people peacekeepers are meant to protect and serve.”

The issues has once again re-emerged in the press and as before one of the issues has been the delay in both reporting and action taken to both prevent and prosecute perpetrators. However in the re-emerging reports of abuse it is not just peacekeepers who have been thrust into the spotlight as abusers, but civilian aid staff. As this past week abuses by UN peacekeepers and aid workers have been brought to light after a report, No One to Turn To: The under-reporting of child sexual exploitation and abuse by aid workers and peacekeepers, by Save the Children UK.

The report was composed of research done over the past year in Haiti, Southern Sudan and Ivory Coast, where the group conducted 38 focus groups with 250 children and 90 adults. Following the focus groups in-depth interviews and other research where conducted to compile the findings which included: children trading sex for food, forced sex, verbal sexual abuse, child prostitution, child pornography, sexual slavery, sexual assault and child trafficking. The age of the victims identified in the report where as young as six years old, however the majority of victims ranged in age between 14 and 15.

The report has made national and international headlines, as the news has left many dismayed and confused by the actions of those sent to protect those most vulnerable by the tragedies of armed conflict. In the recent spotlight individual stories of peacekeepers turned predictors have emerged, such as, Didier Bourguet, a U.N. official from France, who was found to have thousands of photos of him having sex with hundreds of young girls on his computers hard drive.

In a press conference Jane Holl Lute, Assistant-Secretary-General for Field Support, addressed the issue of punishing troops, who must be tried by their home countries, responsible for the sexual abuse of children, stating that the UN was working to increase dialogue and that “We can’t let up. We need to be vigilant.”, until all Member States are seeing the same picture and solution. Lute also made the following statement in response to the report;

“Save the Children has been an effective partner with us in bringing their perspective — which is different from our own — to this problem,” she said, voicing agreement with its call for a better reporting mechanism for victims. “We need to work with community leaders so that children and those who are abused can come forward in safety.”

In response the UN will investigate the sex abuse report, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters he had “zero tolerance” for such behavior and said, “On all these cases which have been raised, we will very carefully investigate” and that the UN would take “necessary measures” where findings warrant.

The recent abuses and the longstanding impunity of those members of peacekeeping forces leave many to wonder who to trust and if there is any real safety from abuse. However the emergence of media and public outrage have once again thrust the issue into the spotlight and hope that the acknowledgment and punishment of those who have committed such grave crimes against vulnerable children will continue and we can brake the silence and impunity of abuse. Both the UN and International community must continues to take further steps to see that children, the most vulnerable victims of armed conflict, are adequately protected, which includes the prosecution of all predators, regardless of affiliation.

The gang world has always been viewed through a predominately male lens, however the gang culture seems to be in the midst of a feminine revival. Many Central America countries have spent decades fighting gang wars on their streets, leaving most with the view that it is boys who make up this violent subculture and that girls are merely victims to the violence. However girls are not only the victims, but they are increasingly becoming the predators. Gangs today are ruling many of Central America’s streets, especially in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, and increasingly the members are female.

In Guatemala’s gang girls give and take abuse, including those girls joining the Mara Salvatrucha or other criminalized gangs. Girls in the gangs are increasingly committing acts of violence, however girls continue to experience high levels of abuse, including sexual attacks from fellow gang members. Beatings are also not uncommon in the the gang underworld and those do not stay in line with the gang soon find themselves in a world of abuse.

Many girls join the gangs to fill the void of love and acceptance that they do not receive in their own families, looking to the gangs to essentially replace them. Sadly the gangs bring little love, and only inflict more abuse and brutality on already vulnerable girls;

“I thought it would be like my family,” Benky said of her reason for joining the gang, asking that her full name not be used. “I thought I’d get the love I was missing. But they’d hit me. They ordered me around. They told me I had to rob someone or kill someone, and I did it.” (Abuse Trails Central American Girls Into Gangs)

For now it looks like Central America’s girl gang culture will continue to rise, as girls search for acceptance from abusive homes and lives. The girls of the street need acceptance, but the gangs look to only bring more heartache and abuse, thus much needs to be done to increase gender focused youth outreach on the streets to see that girls issues are addressed. Prevention and support programs for domestic abuse may look to help limit the numbers of girls joining gangs, however it is not enough as the gang culture is deeply rooted in many communities, leaving many young people to see it as their only option and way out.

In the Online Africa Policy Forum, the NGO Women for Women International explains why ending sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should be a global priority. Patricia Morris, the Director of Program Development for the NGO, went on to explain not only the horrors of gender based violence in times of conflict, but how the effects stretch beyond the victim and effect all of civil society:

“Women’s status in conflict and post conflict countries is a leading indicator of a state’s strength or fragility. Countries in the world where women are the most marginalized, oppressed, and victimized are the ones that are the most fragile; they are the weakest of states. The overwhelming majority of the productive, reproductive and community work that builds strong nations is done by women. When women are destroyed, societies are destroyed and when women are uplifted, societies are uplifted – weak women, weak states, strong women, strong nations. Women must be brought from the background to the foreground of discussions on peace, security and development.”

The epidemic of the use of rape as a weapon of war, I want to point out that while the DRC has one of the highest levels of use of rape in combat, they are far from alone. The use of rape as a weapon of war is rooted deep in our history, however in it’s modern form it has become more violent and more destructive to both the victim and society. The long-term reaches of rape as a tool of warfare go beyond victim and state, they are global and their impact will continue to be felt time and time again. Therefore it is imperative that we make gender inequality a global priority, and see that the use of rape as a weapon ends it’s long run of impunity.

To see the unspeakable horrors of rape as a weapon of war, and it’s effects first hand, you can tune into HBO this month. HBO is airing the documentary The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo.

Countries where rape has been used as a weapon of war in recent conflicts include:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Chechnya, Congo, Cyprus, East Timor, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Liberia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Turkey, Uganda, Vietnam, The Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia), Zimbabwe.

Countries currently engaging in the use of rape as a weapon of war include:
the Sudan, Chechnya, the Central African Republic (CAR,) Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).