Mozambican public prosecutor fights child trafficking in Inhambane

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Mozambican public prosecutor fights child trafficking in Inhambane

6:50 CAT | 08 Dec 2016

DW / Grand Hotel da Beira (Oliver Ramme)

More children are leaving the Mozambican province of Inhambane in search of better opportunities than any other, but many end up falling into the hands of human traffickers according to Mozambique’s Attorney General’s Office.

The Attorney General’s Office is now promoting a campaign to raise community awareness about trafficking and the sexual abuse of minors in Inhambane.

Many children in the southern province are subjected to sexual exploitation and abuse, especially in rural areas, their families often deceived with false promises of employment and access to education and healthcare.

According to the Deputy Attorney General of Mozambique, Amabelia Chuquela, “they are children who go out looking for [better] living conditions, especially in the city of Maputo.” However, she adds, they are often “sexually exploited, exploited as child labour and even forced into prostitution.”

To try to combat the problem, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Mozambique has a campaign against trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, launched about a year ago. So far, 34 adolescents have been recovered in the city of Maputo. They left Inhambane lured by false promises of employment and ended up being victims of child prostitution.

The Women’s Forum in Inhambane is fighting the same battle, activist Esmeralda Eugénio explains, and has run workshops “in communities, schools and markets.”

Esmeralda Eugenio (DW/L. da Conceicao) — Esmeralda Eugénio, Fórum Mulher activist

“We explain the law so that women know their rights and how to protect themselves if they find themselves in situations of this kind. Our girls needs protection and information counts for a lot. Something happens to us and we don’t know who to turn to,” she says.

Deputy Attorney General Amabelia Chuquela emphasises the need to raise awareness among communities “not only at the level of prevention and sensitisation” in schools, but also “to conduct operative work at the police level” so as to “strengthen their ability to detect possible cases of trafficking in persons, especially children.”

Source: Deutsche Welle