On the West Coast of Africa, thousands of children are sold by their families, often for as little as $30.
In exchange, they are offered the vague promise of a better life for their child. But what actually awaits is a life of slavery.
The children endure physical and psychological abuse as they work from dawn until dusk far from their homes.
As part of its child protection programmes, UNICEF develops strategies to prevent trafficking, as well as working with local organisations to identify and care for those children who have already been trafficked. Alongside governments, civil society and NGOs, it provides medical, psychological and social care to rescued children, as well as facilitating access to education, vocational training and job opportunities.
NGOs Mensajeros de la Paz in Cotonou, Benin, and Carmelitas Vedruna in the Togo capital Lome, and Misioneros Salesianos in Kara and Lome, Togo, have cared for hundreds of child victims of slavery. By February 2017, these organisations between them had successfully reintergrated 1,527 children into communities.
Eight-year-old Justin walks alone over a bridge near Grand-Popo, in Benin. His mother gave him to a shoemaker in her village, where for months he worked as a cobbler.
When he stole some money, the shoemaker threw him out. Justin lived on the streets until the police took him to the Centro de Alegria Infantil.
The centre is now talking to his family to try to persuade them to take Justin back and to send him to school.
Staff at the centre are looking for a relative Justin can live with, however distant, because his stepfather does not want to take him in.
Noir has been at the Foyer Immaculee in Kara, Togo for a few months.
The centre cares for children who have been abandoned or accused of witchcraft. Noir was brought here after a neighbour reported his family to police.
Blaming him for the death of his mother and brother, his family had accused him of witchcraft. During an exorcism ritual, he was made to drink animal blood.
For weeks after, his family fed him only once a day and beat him, claiming it was to banish evil spirits. Neighbours reported them to police when they beat Noir unconscious. Noir was taken to the centre for protection.
Fletche’s grandfather took him to Nigeria to wash dishes in a restaurant when he was seven. He would often run away, and his grandfather would beat him and tie his hands and feet together with steel cables. When he was 10, he had to have four fingers amputated to save his hands. When he left hospital, he ended up living on the streets. A mechanic took him to work in his workshop in exchange for a place to sleep and food. A night patrol from Foyer Immaculee rescued him and brought him to the home.
NGOs use night patrols to identify abused youngsters. As night falls, many street children gather together to sleep. It is a time when the children can talk more freely. The children get to know the NGO workers and trust is developed. Many of the children have escaped domestic violence and exploitation to live on the streets, and are often suspicious, rarely believing anyone wants to help them.
Allo 1011 call centre is a free helpline that was launched in 2009 and is funded by the Togo government. It receives calls about sexual and physical abuse, neglect, forced marriage and children being accused of witchcraft among other things. Three people manage the call centre from 6am until 12pm. In 2016 alone, it received more than 40,000 calls.
Christian is being interviewed at the processing centre in Cotonu after the police found him wandering the streets. It can be difficult to identify abused children. Sometimes they do not know where they come from so information has to be coaxed out of them. If they have marks on their faces this can make it easier as these are used to identify families. If they don’t, the workers will listen to their language and accents.
Rouge is the result of his mother’s on-off relationship with a Chinese man. His father never acknowledged him and his mother died when he was a year old. For a while, He lived with his grandmother, but she was destitute and could not feed him, so he moved on to the streets. A primary school head found him starving and naked, and took him to the Foyer Immaculee. He is now being educated, but nobody has come forward to claim him, so it is unlikely he will go back to his family.
It is 1pm, which is nap time at the Centro de la Alegria in Cotonu, Benin, but these boys would rather play at super heroes than sleep. Thirty children live in the shelter. They have fallen into the hands of human traffickers, or have been abandoned, beaten, orphaned or are vulnerable for other reasons. Many suffer from night terrors.
Courts, in the Togo capital Lome, have prosecuted 101 human traffickers and found 60 of them guilty in the past year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Justice. In 2007, the government enacted a National Action Plan that focuses on preventing human trafficking, bringing its perpetrators to justice and rehabilitating its victims.
Nine-year-old Bleu is going home to live with his grandmother. He cannot live with his mother as his stepfather doesn’t want him. After years on the streets, he was taken to the Centro de la Alegria Infantil, which gave him a temporary home and tracked down his family.
Ten-year-old Grenat’s arrival in Gbeko, his village, is a major event. Everyone knows he was sold to work in Nigeria, and he is returning a hero. After a spell in a shelter, where he received physical and psychological care, they found his family and today he will be reunited with them.
Grenat sits alongside his mother, listening to the authorities in his village, as he is returned to his family. When he was eight, his father sold him to a human trafficker, who took him to Nigeria, where he was put to work in a grocery store. After being repeatedly beaten by his owner, he escaped. He is being returned to his family on the condition that they will not sell him again.
Grenat’s father signs an agreement to reintegrate his son back into the family, with villagers, the village chief and a Mensajeros de la Paz social worker as witnesses. The hope is that with the whole village aware of the situation, villagers will be able to ensure that Grenat’s father does not sell him again.
It’s the first day of school for Grenat after he was returned to his family. Mensajeros de la Paz will monitor his progress over the next two years, conducting unannounced visits with his family and checking that he is attending school. They will also receive reports from the village chief. The NGO organises summer camps for children who have returned home. The hope is that they will talk more freely during the camps than during NGO visits to their home.
Marron has just been returned to his father by the authorities in a ceremony, after being brought back from Nigeria, where he was a victim of human trafficking. Marron, who was born in Sedje Denou, Benin, was taken to Nigeria by a neighbour, who promised him a better life. When he was eight, he was sold to a biscuit shop owner. One day, he got lost in a market, and, after a spell at the Centro de la Alegria Infantil, his family was found and they were reunited.
