Combating Child Trafficking

BACKGROUND:

Child trafficking remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the Mano River Union (MRU) countries—Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea—where children, especially girls, are trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced domestic labour, and other forms of abuse. Socioeconomic challenges, harmful traditional practices like child marriage and informal fosterage, and the porous nature of regional borders all contribute to children’s vulnerability. Many children are deceived by traffickers with false promises of education, jobs, or a better life, often ending up exploited within or across national borders. Despite domestic laws and action plans, victims often go unidentified, unsupported, and unprotected due to limited state resources and weak enforcement mechanisms.

Recognising these cross-border challenges, Defence for Children International-Sierra Leone (DCI-SL), DCI-Liberia, and Sabou Guinea launched a joint anti-trafficking initiative in 2013, with support from the Fund for Global Human Rights. The programme seeks to strengthen child protection systems at border communities and improve prevention and response to trafficking. Key interventions include training border officials, CSOs, and community members; rescuing and reuniting trafficked children; and developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for identifying and supporting victims. These efforts are grounded in the shared realities of the MRU region—interconnected communities, languages, and cultures, and a common pattern of internal and cross-border child exploitation.

Intervention:

Over the years, we have supported frontline child protection actors, built strong referral pathways, and advanced advocacy for better anti-trafficking laws and practices. Their work has not only improved victim identification and support but also fostered greater regional collaboration and accountability in combating child trafficking. As the Ministry of Social Welfare in Sierra Leone acknowledged, DCI's advocacy, training, and development of clear SOPs have been instrumental in ensuring trafficked children are identified, protected, and reconnected with their families.

Achievements:

o The training of 93 stakeholders, including journalists and CSOs, on trafficking in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia has increased awareness and interception of traffic victims, reaching 46 border communities;
o 52 suspected cases of child trafficking were arrested in communities, discouraging traffickers. In 2023, DCI secured funding from the Legal Empowerment Fund to build youth capacity for legal transformation in their communities;
o 117 youths from the Mano River Youths Network and the ECOWAS Youths Council trained on child trafficking prevention and responses, developing campaign messages and a youth-friendly case management tool. These groups have gained recognition and are invited to attend important interagency meetings, such as the District Trafficking Taskforce meeting in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia;
o 158 border security officials, community leaders, and trafficking taskforce members trained on Standard Operating Procedures for preventing and responding to cross-border child trafficking between Mano River Union countries and Sierra Leone and Guinea, and 60 judges, prosecutors, and investigators in 2023;
o We held four cross-border meetings to strengthen collaboration and address cross-border child trafficking. We supported 4 border communities in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, providing temporary care and transit shelters;
o 368 actors, including journalists, CSOs, security officials, community leaders, and youths, trained on child trafficking issues, increasing their interest in fighting child trafficking, leading to more radio panel discussions;
o 18,154 people in 46 border communities in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, reached with child/youths trafficking messages, and contributed to drafting a MoU;
o We contributed to the passage of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Act of Sierra Leone in 2023

Lessons Learnt:

o There is no continuity in the training sessions: once the employees who benefitted from training are transferred, new staff will not be trained. For this project to be successful when replicated, it should find a way to engage the governments of the three countries to provide a child trafficking guidance as part of the training they provide to their police;
o Some children voluntarily migrate to escape the abuse suffered at home. Those children need to receive support and should not be treated as criminals. The project should be replicated in a way that ensures that the communities who are helping identify victims of child trafficking know the difference between children on the move and victims of child trafficking and do not stop children who are trying to escape and return them to an abusive household;
o Law enforcement agents lack very basic resources such as office phones, motorbikes and funding. Since bikes can bypass the border complex, child traffickers are steps ahead of the underfunded police forces. For this project to be successful when replicated, it should be carried out in parallel with advocacy of the three governments for the provision of these basic resources;
o It is important that project design is developed in parallel with a plan for the monitoring and evaluation component. This would ensure that the project is efficiently monitored and adjusted accordingly but also that rigorous data collection is carried out;
o Communities are an important resource in the fight against child trafficking. Future project design should focus on exploiting the potential of the communities in advocacy and sensitisation of their peers so as to also ensure the sustainability of the project.