RAINS

Child Exploitation

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Reducing Child Exploitation

Through our work on girls’ education, we have increased our understanding of the tradition of child fostering, and how it has become abusive overtime. Foster children fall prey to traffickers who assist them to migrate to cities in Southern Ghana. There, children become domestic servants or head porters (Kayayo), and could be lured into commercial sex work.

Given the growing prevalence of trafficking, RAINS began to work on this issue in 2005. With funding support from the ILO, RAINS was able to set up district level community surveillance committees (CSTs) to protect the rights of children and begin awareness campaigns on the abusive effects of child trafficking. This work was expanded in 2007 with support from Hope for Children and Comic Relief.

Achievements since the start of this work include:

The establishment and support of CSTs in 20 communities across the districts of Savelugu Naton and West Mamprusi.
The facilitation of 4 workshops on child trafficking, child labour and education with different stakeholders at district level as well as women’s groups and fostered girls.
The identification of 1600 fostered girls who will now be able to attend school with the support of the CSTs.
Production and broadcasting of public radio announcements and programs on these issues every fortnight, raising the profile of trafficking, fostering and child education.
The creation of community children clubs in 20 communities where members discuss and are educated on child rights issues.
The establishment of vocational training centres in 3 locations including Tamale, to train kayaye returnees and school drop outs. 200 of such students have graduated from these centres since it began, and are now self employed.

The practice of fostering is embedded in Ghanaian culture. Historically the intent was to maintain strong links across the extended family. However, in recent times many of these children are abused. Current estimates are that in Northern Ghana 60% of households foster a child and 80% of fostered children are girls. Of these fostered girls, 90% are required to work, and of these children, around 50% are trafficked to the South.

Fostering and the treatment of children within the household are sensitive issues to discuss. We have learnt that local people are more willing to explore the advantages and disadvantages of such practices when discussions are led by local groups such as the CST or even the children clubs.

Within 2010-2013, RAINS plans to build the capacity of the 20 CSTs to prevent, rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate children who are trafficked. We will provide training and support to the CSTs and CCCs so that we can continue to identify and support fostered girls to find education. Additionally, we will continue to lobby local government authorities to pass by-laws and support cases that benefit the well being of children. We will also continue the media awareness campaign on these issues and complete research to better document the current situation.

The expected outcome from this work is that by 2013 communities themselves will be effectively tackling child trafficking, child labour and child fostering practices that exploit children.

[Our allies in this work include the Ministry of Women and Children, local government authorities, Traditional Authorities and district level social welfare and education officials and the committees we work with at community level. Other allies include Hope for Children, the ILO, UNICEF, the Population Council of Ghana, Plan Ghana, and Comic Relief who either fund this work or raise awareness about these issues at local and more global levels.]

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