WINDHOEK – Former Ombudsperson, Advocate Bience Gawanas, says that children of minority groups, such as those from San and Zemba communities are more vulnerable to child trafficking from region to region in Namibia where they are used as domestic workers and labourers, while also sexually abused in many instances.
Gawanas, who is also the special advisor to Minister of Health and Social Services, Richard Kamwi, said the country remains largely complacent when young children are sent to other regions to become labourers instead of remaining in school.
She added that there are legal protective measures in place to stop all forms of child trafficking, such as Article 3, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traffickers Persons, Especially Women and Children, but there is no official reports on the magnitude of child trafficking in Namibia.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), one in six children (158 million children) aged between five and 14 are in child trafficking globally, while in Sub-Saharan Africa, one in three children (60 million children) are engaged in child labour.
Child trafficking is considered as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion.
According to Gawanas, Namibia is experiencing an increase of child labour incidences and commercial sexual exploitation of children in the form of ‘sugar daddy’ syndrome, while others are being used in the agricultural sector, voluntary herding and domestic work.
She said that the Ministry of Labour estimates that about 72 000 children are engaged in work (8 percent of the population), while about 55 percent of these children are between the ages of 6-14 years old and about 95 percent live in rural areas.
The former Ombudsperson said that according to a Labour Resource and Research Institute study done in Caprivi, Kavango, Oshikoto and Ohangwena Regions, children as young as 10-17 years old are working on average 11 hours a day as herd boys, field de-bushers, ploughers, weeders and harvesters for little money or payment in kind.
Furthermore, she indicated that a 2013 Food and Agriculture Organisation report revealed that livestock herding was prevalent in Namibia and caused hazards for children, such as “disrupted physical, mental, moral and social development”, which are aggravated by dangers of being bitten by wild animals, extreme weather conditions and infection from animal-borne diseases.
A committee on the Rights of the Child (20112) headed by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) emphasised the need to implement provisions in the Labour Act that would criminalise child labour and enforce the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act.
On the international front, Gawanas said that people are generally enticed to migrate and women and children would always be vulnerable as they are at times subjected to sex slavery.
“Many traffickers go to villages where they say they tell the parents they will take their children for education opportunities, only to stop any contact with the parents once the children leave,” she explained.
Gawanas said that Namibia did not feature as a problem country when it comes to international human trafficking, but it is being used as a transit point, while children in Angola and Zambia are at higher risk of trafficking and abuse.
“Child trafficking is a human right violation. We should curb it by awareness, education and legislation,” she pointed out, saying that child traffickers are very well groomed and have a way of enticing the vulnerable with false promises.
The Advocate was the Commissioner for Social Affairs in the African Union and has served on various international taskforces and commissions.