Sexual Exploitation of Children in Africa - A Silent Emergency

Sexual Exploitation of
Children in Africa
A Silent Emergency
African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) &

OAK Foundation
2019
AFRICAN CHILD POLICY FORUM (ACPF)
African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) is an independent, not-for-profit, pan-
African institute of policy research and dialogue on the African child. ACPF
was established with the conviction that putting children first on the public
agenda is fundamental to realising their rights and wellbeing, and crucial
in order to bring about lasting social and economic progress in Africa.
ACPF’s work is rights-based, inspired by universal values and informed

by global experiences and knowledge. It is guided primarily by the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and The African Charter on
the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).
ACPF aims specifically to contribute to improved knowledge on children;

to monitor and report progress; to identify policy options; to provide a
platform for dialogue; and to promote the development and
implementation of effective pro-child policies and programmes.
African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

P.O. Box 1179, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Telephone: + 251 116 62 81 92/96/97/99
Fax: +251 116 62 82 00
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.africanchildforum.org
www.africanchildinfo.net
© 2019 African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)
This report is the property of African Child Policy Forum (ACPF).
Suggested citation:
ACPF (2019). Sexual Exploitation of Children in Africa: A Silent

Emergency. African Child Policy Forum (ACPF).
ISBN: 978-99944-77-41-8
OUR FUNDING PARTNER

______________________________________________________ Acknowledgements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report is the result of the technical and financial contributions of
various individuals and organizations. We would like to thank them all.
We would first of all like to acknowledge, with particular thanks, the

financial support of Oak Foundation. We would also like to express our
thanks to the governments of Burundi, Malawi and Sierra Leone for their
support of the country studies and the validation workshops which
proved to be extremely useful in enriching the technical content of this
report.
We would also like to thank all of the team involved in the preparation
of the report, and particularly the following individuals within and
outside ACPF.
Lead authors
• Shimelis Tsegaye
• Guy Lamb
Reviewers
• Assefa Bequele
• Retta Getachew
• Saba Lishan
• Yehualashet Mekonen
• Violet Odala
Editing
• Mark Nunn
Design
• Kidist Abebe
i
_________________________________________________________ List of Acronyms
LIST OF ACRONYMS
ACERWC African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of
the Child
ACPF African Child Policy Forum
ACRWC African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
AU African Union
CRC UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
DCI Defence for Children International
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
ECPAT End Child Prostitution and Trafficking
EIU Economist Intelligence Unit
FARDC Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo
HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune
deficiency syndrome
INTERPOL International Criminal Police Organization
LRA Lord’s Resistance Army
NCRC The National Crime Research Centre
NCSCR National Centre for Social and Criminological Research
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
OPSC Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the sale of children
PNC Congolese National Police
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................... i
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ................................................. ii
LIST OF BOXES, FIGURES AND TABLES ............................................ iii
PREFACE ............................................................................................ v
FOREWORD ..................................................................................... vi
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS .......................................................... viii
1. BACKGROUND .............................................................................. 1
2. THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM ..................................................... 6
2.1 Overview ................................................................................. 6
2.2 Sexual abuse in its various forms ........................................ 6
2.3 Child sexual exploitation through “transactional sex” .......... 9
2.4 Child trafficking for sexual purposes ................................... 13
2.5 Sexual exploitation online .................................................... 15
2.6 Child and forced marriage ................................................... 17
2.7 Child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism ................... 18
2.8 Sexual exploitation of especially vulnerable children ......... 19
2.9 Child sexual exploitation in the context of armed
conflict .................................................................................. 20
3. DRIVERS AND VULNERABILITY FACTORS .................................. 22

3.1 Overview ............................................................................... 22
3.2 Poverty, inequality and abuse of power ............................... 26
3.3 Unregulated online environment ......................................... 30
3.4 A predatory travel and tourism sector: keeping
up with a moving target ..................................................... 33
3.5 Armed conflicts and humanitarian emergencies ............. 35
3.6 Human trafficking, migration and internal
displacement ....................................................................... 38
3.7 Patriarchal attitudes and gender discrimination................ 40
3.8 Domestic work: hidden and unregulated .......................... 43
3.9 Disability-related barriers ................................................... 46
3.10 Children living on the street: exposed, defenceless
and vulnerable ................................................................... 48
4. ADDRESSING CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: PROGRESS .......... 50
5. THE LEGAL AND POLICY CONTEXT ................................................ 53
6. PREVENTION EFFORTS ................................................................. 64
6.1 Changing norms and attitudes ............................................ 64
6.2 Engagement with the private sector....................................... 67
7. IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT ...................................... 71

7.1 Enforcement of laws................................................................ 71
7.2 Response and support services ............................................ 75
8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................... 84

ENDNOTES ........................................................................................ 89
___________________________________________ LIist of Boxes, Fgures and Tables
LIST OF BOXES, FIGURES AND TABLES

Box 1.1: Methodology and data sources used in preparing this
report .......................................................................................... 3
Box 2.1: Sexual exploitation of girls in schools ..................................... 8
Box 2.2: Sexual exploitation of boys: a hidden tragedy ...................... 12
Box 3.1: Factors aggravating risks of child sexual exploitation .......... 23
Box 3.2: Sexual exploitation is economically costly ........................... 26
Box 3.3: The link between poverty and sexual exploitation ............... 28
Box 3.4: Girls’ education as a bulwark against sexual exploitation .... 29
Box 3.5: The darknet: a dangerous and impenetrable system ............ 32
Box 3.6: Peacekeeping missions and sexual exploitation:
an unholy alliance ................................................................... 37
Box 3.7: An emerging form of sexual slavery and human trafficking
in Nigeria ................................................................................... 39
Box 4.1: The African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage .............. 51
Box 6.1: Changing attitudes towards violence through
community-based approaches ............................................... 64
Box 6.2: Life skills training on gender based violence and partner
relationships ............................................................................. 65
Box 6.3: Protecting children in contact with peacekeeping missions ... 67
Box 6.4: The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from
Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism ............................ 69
Box 7.1: South Africa’s Sexual Offences Courts ................................... 73
Box 7.2: Stemming trafficking from the receiving end .......................... 74
Box 7.3: South Africa’s One-Stop Thuthuzela Care Centres:
Turning victims into survivors .................................................... 78
Box 7.4: Access to justice for sexual victims through the courts ......... 81
iii
Sexual Exploitation of Children in Africa: A Silent Emergency ______________________________
Figure 2.1: Percentage of females aged 18-24 whose first sexual

experience was forced ..................................................... 7
Figure 2.2: Prevalence of “transactional sex” in selected
countries, 2012-2017 ...................................................
10
Figure 2.3: Prevalence of unwanted pregnancy among
women aged 18-24 resulting from forced sex .............. 11
Figure 2.4: Prevalence of sexual violence among boys .................. 12
Figure 2.5: Share of detected victims of trafficking in
sub-Saharan Africa, by forms of exploitation, 2016 ...... 14
Figure 2.6: Countries with highest prevalence of
child marriage ................................................................. 18
Figure 3.1: The PACT (Power, Authority, Control and Trust)
Breach Triangle ............................................................... 22
Figure 3.2: Manifestations of child sexual exploitation .................. 23
Figure 5.1: African countries with minimum age of marriage
below 18 years ............................................................. 60
Figure 7.1: Countries with highest and lowest birth registration
coverage (per cent) ........................................................ 80
Figure 7.2: Funding allocated to address violence against
children .......................................................................... 83
Table 4.1: EIU CSE prevention aggregate scores for 19 African

countries ........................................................................... 52
Table 5.1: Minimum age of sexual consent ..................................... 61
vii
_______________________________________________________________ Preface
PREFACE
2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights

of the Child (CRC). 2020 will be the 30th anniversary of the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). This is,
therefore, an important historic moment that offers us the opportunity
to take stock of the progress we have made in protecting children from
violence and exploitation, and to renew our commitment to even greater
and more accelerated action.
And action necessitates evidence.
Even though there has been commendable progress in tackling the

sexual exploitation of children, globally and in Africa, including through
the adoption of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), there have
nonetheless been only limited attempts to document and measure the
sexual exploitation of children. As a result, there is a lack of evidence
on its extent, its key drivers and the ways in which it manifests itself in
different settings—a lack that limits informed policy making on the issue
at both global and African levels.
We congratulate ACPF for this continental report, Child sexual

exploitation in Africa: a silent emergency, which is the culmination of
an extensive review of current knowledge on the issue. Coming at an
important junction, the report takes stock of where we stand and urges
us to make greater commitments to fast-track progress towards
eliminating violence against children in all its forms.
v
The report is a first attempt to document child sexual exploitation in its

various manifestations. It provides evidence on the scale of the problem
and on what works in preventing and responding to child sexual
exploitation, and signals the areas where greater commitment is required.
The evidence presented in the report provides African governments and
their partners with useful information that they can use for law and
policy reform, programme development, and advocacy for a world free
from violence.
Ms Najat Maalla M’jid Ms Graça Machel,

Special Representative of the Founder, Graça Machel Trust
Secretary-General on Violence Chair, International Board of Trustees,
against Children ACPF
ix
______________________________________________________________ Foreword
FOREWORD
Violence against children is a “silent emergency" of our time, as UN

Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez has said;1 and sexual exploitation
is one of its most egregious manifestations.
A large proportion of women and children are victims of sexual

exploitation, and continue to be subjected to sexual servitude by rich and
powerful men who use manipulative tactics involving money and coercion
and, more often than not, breach positions of trust in order to do so.
Worryingly, sexual violence has become a fast evolving crime, taking on

more sophisticated and technology-facilitated tactics. New opportunities
and breakthroughs that advance human progress and facilitate human
interconnectedness have brought with them intractable child protection
concerns. A new, virtual world, highly unfettered and predatory, has made
our children unsafe even within the confines of their homes. Explosive
leaps in technological advances and travel have made it possible for
offenders on the move to sexually exploit children travelling across
continents with little detection.
As a result, traditional forms of sexual exploitation are becoming

concordant with modern day practices—evident in, for instance,
“tourism marriage” and the increasing commercialization of child
marriage.
In the midst of this growing scourge, African countries have begun to

introduce legislation and policies with the potential to deter child sexual
exploitation. The efforts and progress made over the years are laudable,
vi
especially in light of where we started, but still leave much to be desired.

The Out of the Shadows Index, developed by The Economist Intelligence
Unit, revealed that only five out of 19 documented African countries
scored above 50% on their overall national efforts to prevent child
sexual exploitation. It is, therefore, fair to say that rhetoric has not led
to action that is appropriate, inclusive and consistent. Examples:
• We have criminalized child marriage, but we have continued

creating millions of child brides because we have failed to change
people’s hearts and minds.
• While we have targeted girls in most efforts to tackle sexual
exploitation, we have not properly recognised boys as victims of
sexual exploitation – in both law and practice, as pointed out by
Together For Girls.2
• While we have allowed girls access to school, we have failed to
make the schools safe for them.
• While we condemn certain practices, we condone others.
• While we try to punish the perpetrators, we ignore the victims.
• While we profess protection for all, so many more have fallen
through the cracks in our efforts.
In short, sexual exploitation has become a serious problem that is
growing fast and taking on new forms. It is a practice that dehumanises
children, deprives them of their dignity, and robs societies of productive
futures. Child sexual exploitation has never been and will never be an
inevitable human condition. It is preventable, and it can and should be
eliminated. And we have the means to make that happen.
Assefa Bequele, PhD Brigette De Lay, JD, MSW

Executive Director, ACPF Director, Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
Programme Oak Foundation
vii
__________________________________________________ Summary of key findings
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

SCALE OF THE PROBLEM
Child sexual abuse: some indicators
• Globally, more than half of all children aged 2–17 years, about
one billion children in total, experience some form of violence,
including sexual exploitation.
• In Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, lifetime
prevalence for experiencing sexual violence varies between
22% and 38% for girls, and between 9% and 17% for boys.
• In Malawi, about 22% of women reported having experienced
child sexual abuse in one form or another.
• In Ghana, 39.4% of child respondents reported having
experienced indecent assault, and 18 % reported having
experienced defilement.
• In South Africa in 2016, one in three people, male or female,
was at risk of sexual abuse before reaching the age of 17.
Child exploitation through “transactional sex”
• In Uganda and Zimbabwe, about 19% of females surveyed
reported having received material support or other help in
exchange for sex during childhood.
• In Egypt, 36% of street children have suffered sexual abuse,
violence and other coercive practices, such as exploitation
through “transactional sex”.
• A 2010 report in Zambia showed that there were 580 children
involved in “transactional sex” per 100 000 people.
Victims of trafficking for sexual purposes
• Globally, children currently account for 30% of those who are
trafficked, including for purposes of sexual exploitation.
• It is estimated that four million women and girls worldwide are
bought and sold each year either into marriage, prostitution or
slavery.
viii
• Although current figures are difficult to come by, 103 cases of

trafficking in minors (including 74 girls and 29 boys) were
registered in Benin during the first half of 2013 alone. In
Burkina Faso, 280 child victims of trafficking were identified in
2014, of whom 211 were trafficked domestically and 69 were
trafficked across the border.
Child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism
• Globally, each year 3 million people take a trip in order to have
sex with minors.
• Women currently represent about 10% of the world’s travelling
sex offenders.
• Child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism is growing fast:
35% of travelling sex offenders worldwide are regular customers,
and 65% are occasional customers.
Online sexual exploitation
• Globally, every seven minutes a web page displays an image or
images of children being sexually abused.
• Some 55% of the worldwide victims of online sexual exploitation
are less than 10 years old.
• In 2017, 78 589 URLs were identified worldwide that contained
images of sexual abuse. 86% of these contained images of girls.
• In 2016 there were approximately 8.5 million reports to internet
hotlines, across 45 countries, concerning online video/
photographic material showing child sexual abuse.
• In February 2018, analysis of a random selection of videos and
images from the INTERPOL database found that 84% of the
material contained explicit sexual activity; more than 60% of
unidentified victims were prepubescent; 65% of unidentified
victims were girls; and 92% of visible offenders were male.
• In Kenya, 53% of children living in urban slums and 51% of
children of single parents are exposed to pornographic movies,
and hence are highly vulnerable to online sexual exploitation.
• It is estimated that almost 1 800 children are exploited every
week in Kampala, Uganda, through child abuse materials
ix
including films, photos and videos. This is linked to strip dancing

known as “ekimansulo”.
• In Senegal, recent evidence indicates that young girls are being
recruited for pornographic films and bestiality.
• In Cameroon, boys and girls aged 14 to 18 can be found posing
and working in strip clubs, where they are filmed.
Child and forced marriage

• In 2017, eleven African countries had over 40% prevalence of
child and forced marriage.
• According to 2017 figures, three out of four children in Niger

and seven out of ten in Central African Republic and Chad are
married before the age of 18.
• One in four girls in West and Central Africa is currently married
or in a union.
Sexual exploitation of especially vulnerable children

• Based on a 2010 sample survey, sexual violence against
children with disabilities ranged from about two incidents per
child in Senegal to about four incidents per child in Cameroon.
• Children with speech and language difficulties are at three

times greater risk of sexual exploitation than other children.
• More than 74% of girls living and/or working on the street surveyed
in Uganda were subjected to at least some form of sexual
exploitation. In Kenya the figure was 70% and in Malawi it was 62%.
VULNERABILITIES AND DRIVERS

• Abuse by adults of positions of power, authority, trust and control
• In almost all cases, adults sexually exploit children
through abusing their positions of power, authority,
control and trust vis-à-vis children.
• Very few laws exist that explicitly criminalise breaches
of positions of power, authority, control and trust to
sexually exploit children.
x
• Poverty and inequality

• Many children are reportedly forced into “transactional
sex” with older men to support their families, at times
with the knowledge of their parents, in what is sometimes
called “survival sex.”
• The links between poverty and child sexual exploitation
are evident in the reduction of child sexual exploitation
in countries where social cash transfers have been
successfully implemented.
• Patriarchal attitudes and gender discrimination
• Attitudes that glorify predatory sexual behaviour and
objectify women’s sexuality have aggravated the sexual
exploitation of girls.
• The traditional categorisation of boys and men as
perpetrators of sexual violence has led to gross neglect
of them as victims of sexual exploitation, hampering
progress in providing the necessary protections for boys.
• Unregulated online environment
• The online environment in Africa remains largely
unregulated, with very few laws criminalising online
sexual crimes. This gives free rein to cybersex criminals,
including those intent on sexually exploiting children.
• Perpetrators of online sexual exploitation use
sophisticated stratagems, techniques and technology
such as encryption methods, hidden online platforms and
other tools to evade detection, often putting themselves
ahead of current cyber law enforcement practices.
• A predatory travel and tourism sector
• Laws regulating sexual exploitation in travel and tourism
in Africa are weak or non-existent, making the continent
the new frontier for child sexual exploitation in travel and
tourism.
• Profiteering tendencies on the part of operators within
the travel and tourism sector provide the pathway for the
practice, often through embedding children’s “sexual
services” within their recreational amenities.
xi
• Armed conflict and displacement

• Fragility of protection services and the breakdown of law
and order in situations of armed conflict give carte
blanche to sexual predators and aggravate risks of sexual
exploitation.
• The proliferation of armed groups in conflict situations,
some of whom use sexual violence as a weapon of war,
exposes children to egregious forms of sexual
exploitation, almost always perpetrated with impunity.
• Limited reporting of incidents of CSE and weak legal and

support services for victims
• One out of three child victims of sexual exploitation tells
no one about her/his experiences.
• Fear of being disbelieved or blamed, fear of reprisal by
the perpetrator, fear of public exposure/lack of
anonymity, lack of faith in the police and courts, and
absence of child-friendly remedial and response services
are all factors that adversely impact on reporting.
• Gross neglect of boys as victims of sexual exploitation, a hidden

tragedy
• boys are almost always considered as perpetrators of
sexual exploitation, and their circumstance as victims is
grossly ignored in laws and policies and programmatic
action
• boys are far less likely to report their experiences of
sexual violence than girls, hence remain hidden from
crime and violence statistics
• the neglect of boy-victims of sexual exploitation has
negatively affected current efforts to disrupting
intergenerational cycle of violence: two out three boys
who experienced sexual violence in childhood are more
likely to perpetrate sexual violence against a partner in
adulthood
xii
• Lack of adequate protection for especially vulnerable children
• The near-total absence of sexual and reproductive health

services and institutions in disability-accessible formats
exposes adolescents with disabilities to risks of sexual
exploitation, including casual, “transactional” sex.
• Limited access to justice for adolescents who are victims
of sexual exploitation has created a situation where sexual
exploitation is perpetrated against them with impunity.
• Children living and/or working on the street are frequently
sexually exploited by their own peers, night-time shop
watchers, security personnel and the police, among
others.
• Children living and/or working on the street almost always
resort to “survival sex,” including unprotected sex.
• The hidden nature of domestic work and the limited
legislation to regulate such employment exposes millions
of girl domestic workers to sexual exploitation at the hands
of their employment brokers and employers.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

Sexual exploitation is a vicious and egregious form of violence that is,
unfortunately, growing fast and taking on new forms. It dehumanises
children, deprives them of their dignity, and robs societies of productive
futures.
Child sexual exploitation has never been and will never be an inevitable
human condition. It is preventable and can and should be eliminated.
Governments, civil society organisations and other relevant bodies are

therefore urged to take the following measures:
Law and policy reform
• Adopt national legislation that explicitly defines sexual

exploitation and which prohibits, prevents and responds to
sexual exploitation in all its manifestations, including by
imposing the maximum penalties on the perpetrators.
xiii
• Adopt laws and policies that fully recognise boys as victims of

sexual exploitation and provide adequate legal protection and
access to justice
• Bring the laws that prohibit child sexual exploitation in travel
and tourism and in the online environment up to speed with the
level of sophistication with which these crimes are perpetrated.
• Develop and enforce laws that improve the protection of
children who are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation
such as children with disabilities; child-headed households;
children living and/or working on the street; child domestic
workers; children living in poor, urban slums; refugees and
displaced children; and migrant and trafficked children.
Preventative interventions
• Develop and implement poverty alleviation programmes,
including targeted cash transfers to poor, urban slum dwellers
and female- and child-headed households, and ensure
improved access to food, social services and education.
• Break the silence and start a sustained public conversation

about sexual exploitation, including by teaching about it in
schools, community gatherings and other economic and
cultural assembly points.
• Ensure greater action-oriented engagement with the private
sector, notably those parts of it that provide the means for
sexual exploitation of children, such as the travel and tourism
sectors and telecommunications and internet service providers.
• Build the life skills and capacity of children and adolescents to
enhance their resilience to sexual harm, their readiness to
report incidents, and their ability to protect themselves from
potential predators and exploiters. Means by which this is done
should include the school curriculum and school and youth clubs.
• Combat prevalent gender-discriminatory attitudes and practices
surrounding sexual exploitation, including those that
underestimate, objectify, commercialise or trivialise girls’
sexuality and their dignity, human worth and integrity.
xiv
Appropriate response services

• Ensure better enforcement of laws and more effective policing,
including by undertaking capacity building measures.
• Ensure the availability of care and support services for all child
victims of sexual exploitation, in an integrated manner, including
through one-stop centres.
• Address the various barriers facing children, especially
vulnerable children, within the justice system, by introducing
inclusive, child-friendly justice mechanisms.
• Develop internal child protection policies and procedures (e.g.
codes of conduct) within peacekeeping missions and
humanitarian agencies, and promote their implementation at
all organisational levels.
• Recognise that sexual exploitation is a multi-sectoral
predicament that requires a multi-sectoral and systemic
response.
• Ensure that adolescents with disabilities get access to sexual
and reproductive health services in accessible formats.
• Nurture more effective collaboration with countries that receive
trafficked children, including by signing agreements to extradite
perpetrators.
• Strengthen routine national data collection, research and
surveillance systems for child sexual exploitation that are
anchored in community structures and better positioned to
watch and to act. This includes universalising access to child
helplines and hotlines and toll free call centres.
xv
1. BACKGROUND
Child sexual exploitation, or CSE, is a form of abuse that involves
children and young people being forced or manipulated into sexual
activity in exchange for something—money, gifts, accommodation or less
tangible things such as affection or status. The sexual activity and
exchange may be seen as consensual, but in reality they are based on
an imbalance of power that severely limits victims’ options.3 Child
sexual exploitation is often shrouded in social and cultural taboos, and
incidents are therefore rarely reported to the authorities. The result is
that there is very limited evidence on its occurrence, determinants and
pathways, or on the outcomes of such abuse for its victims.
While numerous studies, both qualitative and quantitative, have been

conducted in relation to sexual violence against children, very few have
focused specifically on CSE. Often there is an implicit assumption that
sexual exploitation is synonymous with sexual violence. However, even
though there are some common risk factors for CSE and sexual violence
against children, available evidence shows that CSE is a distinct
phenomenon with its own specific constellation of determinants and
dynamics, especially in relation to its transactional nature. For instance,
more acutely than sexual violence, sexual exploitation of children thrives
in conditions of extreme poverty, inequality and societal instability.
So far, there has not been a systematic audit or review of knowledge of

CSE in Africa, and as a result key officials and policy-makers have had
to devise strategies and guidelines to prevent child sexual exploitation
on the basis of piecemeal understanding. Furthermore, although many
countries have made progress on legislative frameworks to combat and
prevent sexual violence in broad terms, there appears to be very limited
legislation to address emerging and hidden forms of violence such as
child trafficking for sexual purposes, online child sexual exploitation,
sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, and sexual
exploitation of child domestic workers.
1
This report is one of the first attempts to take stock of existing

knowledge of child sexual exploitation with a view to identifying key
knowledge gaps, challenges, and promising and good practices. This
report:
• Assesses the extent and determinants of child sexual
exploitation in Africa, including its cultural, social and economic
aspects
• Examines the dimensions of child sexual exploitation in different
contexts, including: migration and conflict; humanitarian
disasters; domestic work; disability; orphanhood; and living
and/or working on the street.
• Considers the policies, laws, measures, institutional
arrangements, capacities and interventions that states, civil
society and the private sector have established to prevent and
combat child sexual exploitation in Africa
2
____________________________________________________________ Background
Box 1.1 Methodology and data sources used in preparing this report
• An extensive review of the global and African literature on sexual

exploitation
• Country case studies on sexual exploitation in Sierra Leone, Malawi
and Burundi (African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) (2019)
• African Child Law Resources, a unique database of child-focused
laws and policies covering all countries in Africa (ACPF 2019)
• The African Report on Child Wellbeing (ACPF) (2018)
• The African Report on Violence against Children (ACPF) (2014)
• The African Report on Children with Disabilities (ACPF) (2014)
• Out of the Shadows (Economist Intelligence Unit 2019)
• Regional desk reviews by researchers commissioned by ECPAT
International
• Global monitoring report on the status of action against commercial
sexual exploitation of children (ECPAT International 2010)
• Country case studies on sexual exploitation of children in travel and
tourism in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia, commissioned
by ECPAT International (ECPAT International 2015)
• Peer-reviewed journals on sexual exploitation and sexual violence
• Universal Periodic Review Reports
• State Party Reports to the African Committee of Experts on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• Reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography
• Reports of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions
and Recommendations related to Worst Forms of Child Labour
Convention, 1999 (No. 182).
3
4
DDefinition
Definition
efinition of key
ofconcepts
key concepts4
Forms of CSE Def
D
Definition
efinition
inition
A state of affairs when a child takes part in a sexual
Child exploitation
activity in exchange for something of value such as
through
money, objects, shelter, food, drugs, etc. (or the promise
“transactional sex”
of such).
An overall term encompassing but not limited to:

• Sexual exploitation that is carried out while the
victim is online (such as
enticing/manipulating/threatening a child into
performing sexual acts in front of a webcam)
• Identifying and/or grooming potential child victims

Online child sexual online with a view to exploiting them sexually
exploitation (whether the acts that follow are then carried out
online or offline)
• Distribution, dissemination, import, export, offering,

selling, possession of, or knowingly obtaining
access to child sexual exploitation material online
(even if the sexual abuse that is depicted in the
material was carried out offline).
Recruitment and/or transport, transfer, harbouring, and

receipt of a child by others with the intent to exploit the
Trafficking of children child through various means (such as prostitution).
for sexual purposes Children trafficked for other purposes, such as child
labour, can also be sexually abused, even when this
was not the initial purpose of their trafficking.
Sexual chatting with a child with the intentional

Solicitation of
proposal to meet the child for the purposes of
children for sexual
committing a sexual offence and subsequent material
purposes
acts leading to such a meeting.
The self-production of sexual images, or the exchange

of sexual messages or images and the creation, sharing
Unwanted sexting and forwarding of sexually suggestive nude or nearly
nude images through mobile devices and/or the
internet.
The blackmailing of a person with the help of self-

generated images of that person in order to extort
Sexual sexual favours, money, or other benefits from her/him
extortion/sextortion under the threat of sharing the material beyond the
consent of the depicted person (e.g. posting images on
social media).
continued to next page...
4
____________________________________________________________ Background
Corruption of children Acts causing a child to witness sexual abuse or sexual

for sexual purposes activities.
A practice by means of which an adult “befriends” a

Online grooming child online with the intention of sexually abusing
her/him.
A situation where a child is coerced to participate in

Live online child
sexual activities, alone or with other persons, and when
sexual abuse/live
that act is transmitted live through information
streaming of sexual
communication technology and watched by others
abuse
remotely.
Sexual exploitation of
The sexual exploitation of children that takes place in the
children in the context of
context of the travel/tourism sector.
travel and tourism
2. THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM

2.
2.1 Overview
2.1
5
2. THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM
2.1 Overview
A study indicated that in 2015, over a period of one year, more than
half of all children in the world aged between two and 17—about one
billion children in total—had experienced some form of violence,
including sexual abuse and exploitation.5
It is estimated that the global prevalence of sexual abuse of children

varies between 8% and 31% for girls, and between 3% and 17% for
boys.6 Studies on CSE in Africa suggest that girls between the ages of
12 and 15 are the most victimised demographic, but that younger girls
and boys also experience CSE.7
Data on child sexual exploitation in Africa is particularly poor, a problem

compounded by inadequate and antiquated crime data collection
systems.8
Globally, of the 40 countries reviewed by the Economist Intelligence

Unit’s 2019 Out of the Shadows report on child sexual abuse and
exploitation, 9 only 20 collected prevalence data on child sexual abuse,
and only five were reported to have collected CSE prevalence data.
2.2 Sexual abuse in its various forms

National prevalence studies indicate that the sexual abuse of children,
especially girls, is a serious problem throughout Africa.
• In Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, lifetime
prevalence of sexual violence against children varied between
22% and 37.6%, and between 8.8% and 17% for boys.10
• In Malawi, about 22% of females reported having experienced
child sexual abuse in one form or another.11
• According to a 2016 study in Ghana, child respondents reported
having experienced at least one of the following forms of sexual
6
violence: indecent assault (39.4%); defilement (17.9%); rape

(8%); and incest (5.4%). Most of these were in the school or
home settings.12
• In South Africa, a 2016 study revealed that one out of three
South Africans, male or female, is at risk of sexual abuse before
the age of 17.13
Existing evidence on young women whose first sexual experience was
coerced or forced shows that coercion of children into sexual acts, an
important aspect of sexual exploitation, is a widespread problem (Figure
2.1).
In Zimbabwe and Malawi, for instance, four out of ten females aged 18-
24 years reported that their first sexual experience was forced.
Figure 2.1: Percentage of females aged 18-24 whose first sexual

experience was forced
Source: Together for Girls (2019).14
7
_________________________________________________ The Scale of the problem
Box 2.1 Sexual exploitation of girls in schools
• In South Africa, 35.4% of school students sampled in a study

reported some form of sexual abuse in school.15
• In Burkina Faso, according to a 2009 study, about 13% of
secondary school pupil respondents stated that there had been
attempts of rape against their fellow female pupils. About 45% of
respondents reported that teachers approached girls sexually, or
texted them (37.1% of respondents).16
• In Cameroon, groping was the most frequent form of sexual abuse
in schools (54.6%), followed by rape (38.7%). Of the 274
perpetrators in the study, 86.5% were men. In nearly 15% of
cases the sexual abuse occurred in the school environment
(campus, gymnasium, boarding house, classroom, lavatories,
etc.), and 30% of it was committed by fellow pupils.17
• In Côte d’Ivoire, according to the findings of a 2009 survey in
seven schools in Abidjan district, 2.2% of pupil respondents had
been raped at least once, of whom about 16% reported rape at
secondary school and 10.5% at primary school; 14.2% had been
groped, of whom 35.5% were groped at school/in class, 33.3%
by a pupil, and 7% by a teacher. 19% said they had received
sexual remarks or comments, of whom 39.3% had received them
in school/in class.18
• In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a 2009 report by the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) showed that 46% of
female pupils surveyed confirmed that they had been victims of
sexual harassment, abuse and violence from their teachers or
other school staff.19
• In Senegal, a 2008 study showed that 37.2% of girls were victims
of sexual harassment, mostly by teachers (42% of respondents)
and other pupils (20%). 13.8% had been victims of rape, mostly
by teachers (37% of respondents).20
• A survey on school-based violence in Rwanda showed that 50.5%
of respondents had experienced sexual violence in and around
schools.21
• A study involving 300 students of three senior secondary schools
in Botswana showed that 83% of them had experienced sexual
abuse by teachers.22
8
2.3 Child sexual exploitation through “transactional

sex”
Child exploitation through “transactional sex” refers to the performance
of sexual act by a child in exchange for something of value - money,
objects, shelter, food, drugs, etc.- or a promise thereof.
Available figures indicate that the percentage of children exploited
sexually in exchange for food, or for material gifts in some countries,
can be significant.
• In Tanzania, a survey of 1 116 school-going adolescents found
the prevalence of child sexual exploitation to be to as high as
21%.23
• According to a 2012 study in Burundi, 30% of persons
interviewed said they had been victims of such exploitation and
70% said they had witnessed it. The perpetrators were mainly
persons offering financial or material reward, particularly
shopkeepers, mine operators, foreigners in transit and
soldiers.24
• In Uganda and Zimbabwe, among 18-24 year olds who had sex
before the age of 18, about 19% of females had received
material support or other help in exchange for sex during
childhood.25
• In Nigeria, among 18 to 24 year olds 8.3% of females had been
asked to exchange sex for goods or favours during childhood.26
• In Kenya, among females aged 18 to 24 who experienced
sexual violence as children, more than 7% reported having
received money for sex.27
9
Figure 2.2 Prevalence of “transactional sex” in selected countries,

2012-2017
Kenya 18
Malawi 15
Tanzania 12
Nigeria 11
Zambia 10
Zimbabwe 9
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Source: VAC Country Surveys in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda and
Zimbabwe (2012-2017)
• In Eswatini, approximately 8% of children reported that

someone had offered them money, gifts, food or shelter in
exchange for sex.
• In Egypt, the Centre for Egyptian Social and Criminal Research
recently reported that 36% of street children had suffered
sexual abuse, violence and other coercive practices such as
exploitation through “transactional sex”.28
• According to a 2010 study, in Zambia, 580 children per 100 000
people were involved in exploitation through “transactional sex”.29
• In Uganda, a 2011 study indicated that the age of sexual debut
was declining; many children stated that they were 10 years old
when they first engaged in “transactional sex”.30
• Exploitation of children through “transactional sex” was found
to be growing in, among other places, Lomé, the capital of Togo;
Liberia; Sierra Leone; Burkina Faso; Angola;31 Mozambique
(primarily in Maputo, Beira, Chimoio and Nacala);32 South Africa;
and Zambia.
10
The high prevalence of sexual exploitation through transactional sex in

Africa is also evinced by the high prevalence of teenage pregnancy on
the continent. In 2013, Africa had the highest prevalence of teenage
pregnancy in the world.33 Births to teenage mothers in the region were
almost double the global average,34, 35 accounting for more than half of
all the births in the region, or an estimated 101 births per 1 000 women
aged 15 to 19. Teenage pregnancy was especially found to be higher in
neighbourhoods characterised by high levels of poverty, as teens in
those communities are more likely to become victims of exploitation
through “transactional sex”.36
Figure 2.3: Prevalence of unwanted pregnancy among women aged 18-

24 resulting from forced sex37
11
Box 2.2 Sexual exploitation of boys: a hidden tragedy
Numerous national-level surveys have found that boys experience

sexual violence and sexual exploitation at rates lower than girls, but
at rates that merit greater attention than they currently receive.
Research conducted by End Child Prostitution and Trafficking

International (ECPAT) on CSE in three towns in Madagascar
confirmed the existence of exploitation of boys through paid sex.
Figure 2.4: Prevalence of sexual violence among boys38
In Uganda, a 2011 study identified a growing trend of boys engaging

in “transactional sex” with older and wealthier women, locally
known as “sugar mummies.”39 In Niger, research identified that
boys who had been involved in “transactional sex” had often been
motivated by the need to acquire cash for food and other essentials;
to pay for school fees and supplies; and to buy trendy electronics.40
Data from six countries from the International Men and Gender
Equality Survey41 (IMAGES) found that as high a proportion as 21%
of men experienced sexual violence growing up, with the highest
rates in Rwanda and India. Men and boys are sexually exploited
commonly in conflict situations and in heavily male environments
such as prisons and juvenile detention centres.42
continued to next page...
12
Numerous studies have also found that boys are less likely to seek
help, in particular from formal services, when they experience
sexual violence. Boys’ experiences of sexual violence are bound up
in feelings of shame, uncertainty and confusion, and homophobic
attitudes on the part of parents, service providers and justice/police
officials.43 These feelings are exacerbated particularly because of
victims’ concerns about their masculinity; their sexuality; the
opinions of other people (fear that others will think they are
homosexual); and the fact that they were unable to prevent the
rape. The misconceptions that only homosexual men are sexually
abused and that heterosexual men would never sexually abuse
other heterosexual men also underlie these concerns about
masculinity and sexuality.44
Boys are, therefore, given very little or no legal protection and have
continued becoming victims of a growing and hidden tragedy of
sexual violence. Besides, this failure to consider boys as victims of
sexual exploitation has negatively affected current efforts to
disrupting the intergenerational cycle of violence: two out three boys
who experienced sexual violence in childhood are more likely to
perpetrate sexual violence against a partner in adulthood.45
2.4 Child trafficking for sexual purposes

Most human trafficking flows originating in Sub-Saharan Africa are intra-
regional (nearly 58%) or domestic (about 40%, mainly from rural to
urban areas). In North Africa and the Middle East, over two-thirds of
victims (70%) are from outside the region.
Some flows link Africa to other regions: trafficking of West African

victims accounts for a significant share of human trafficking in Europe,
while East Africans constitute a significant portion of victims found in
the Middle East.46 Some African countries are also reported to be
destinations for women and children trafficked from other continents
(e.g. women and girls from Thailand and China trafficked to South Africa
or Kenya for sexual exploitation).47
13
• Children currently account for 30% of those who are trafficked,

with sexual exploitation being the main driver.48
• Globally, about 70% of the victims of sex trafficking are female,
about 50% of whom are under 18. 49
• 33% of victims of sexual exploitation in travel and tourism
reported that they had been trafficked into sexual exploitation.50
• The Central Office for the Protection of Minors in Benin
registered 103 cases of trafficking in minors (including 74 girls
and 29 boys) during the first half of 2013.51
• In 2017 alone, a total of 312 girls from Burundi were
transported to Oman and Saudi Arabia.52
• Children from refugee camps in Rwanda are trafficked to Kigali,
as well as to Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda, by other
refugees, or by Rwandan and Ugandan “sugar daddies,” for use
in the sex trade.53
Figure 2.5: Share of detected victims of trafficking in sub-Saharan

Africa, by forms of exploitation, 2016
• Trafficked for forced labour

• Trafficked for sexual exploitation
• Trafficked for other purposes
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: Global Report on Trafficking in
Persons 2018
In West Africa, trafficking activities take place along clearly recognised

routes that traverse Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte
d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. Other routes
include those along Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.54
14
A major route for trafficking children for sexual exploitation goes from
Southern Africa, and to a lesser extent Central Africa55 (e.g. DRC), to
South Africa. According to a 2010 government-commissioned study,
trafficking of children and young people to South Africa takes place
predominantly from neighbouring countries across land borders, with
the main countries of origin being Mozambique and Zimbabwe, followed
by Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho.56
Trafficking flows in East Africa are intra- and inter-regional, but also
increasingly directed towards the Gulf States.57 Children and young
women from the Horn of Africa countries like Eritrea, Ethiopia and
Somalia are moving to the Arabian Peninsula to take poorly paid jobs,
and many children from Madagascar and Comoros end up in the Middle
East as domestic servants. Girls and women make up a large portion
of the migrant population and are particularly vulnerable to severe
human rights violations—including sexual violence and exploitation,
labour exploitation, and physical and emotional abuse—during the
entire migration process.58
2.5 Sexual exploitation online

Online sexual exploitation refers to:
• Sexual exploitation that is carried out while the victim is online (such
as enticing, manipulating or threatening a child into performing
sexual acts in front of a webcam)
• Identifying and/or grooming potential child victims online with a
view to exploiting them sexually (whether the acts that follow are
then carried out online or offline)
• The distribution, dissemination, import, export, offering, selling,
possession of, or knowingly obtaining access to, child sexual
exploitation material online (even if the sexual abuse that is
depicted in the material was carried out offline).
There is considerably more global data on online sexual exploitation
relative to other forms of child sexual exploitation, given the number of
15
specialised agencies working in this area and the availability of web-

based tools that can identify and locate CSE material posted online.
• A Kenyan study showed that 53% of children living in urban

slums and 51% of children of single parents had been exposed
to pornographic movies, and hence were highly vulnerable to
online sexual exploitation.59
• Globally, a web page displays images of children being sexually
abused every seven minutes.60
• In 2016 there were approximately 8.5 million reports to internet
hotlines across 45 countries of video/photographic online
material showing child sexual abuse.61
• It is estimated that almost 1 800 children are exploited every
week in Kampala, Uganda, through child abuse materials
including films, photos and videos. This is linked to strip dancing
known as “ekimansulo”.62
• In 2017, 78 589 URLs were identified that contained images
of sexual abuse, concentrated particularly in the Netherlands,
followed by the United States, Canada, France and Russia.
Around 86% of them contained images of girls, and 7% of boys.
55% of the victims were less than 10 years old.63
• In Senegal, recent evidence indicates that young girls are being
recruited for pornographic films and bestiality.
• In Cameroon, boys and girls aged 14 to 18 can be found posing
and working in strip clubs, where they are filmed.64
• WeProtect Global Alliance’s 2018 Global Threat Assessment
Report on the sexual exploitation of children online outlines the
existence of “hidden [online] services sites with over one million
persistent profiles, where victims are re-victimised many
hundreds of times a day”.65
• INTERPOL has established an International Child Sexual
Exploitation database that contains contributions from 54
countries. The database includes in excess of 1.5 million
images and videos and has led to the identification of some
17 500 victims and more than 8 000 offenders worldwide.66
16
• A February 2018 report by INTERPOL, based on analysing a

random selection of videos and images from its database,
found that some 84% of the material contained explicit sexual
activity; more than 60% of unidentified victims were
prepubescent; around 65% of unidentified victims were girls;
and some 92% of visible offenders were male.67A UNICEF study
in South Africa revealed that every day, 42% of young people
talk to strangers on Mxit (a type of mobile social network
application for chatting and networking).68 Another survey in the
Nelson Mandela Bay area found that 40% of students
interviewed had met someone in person after having chatted
to them online. The media have reported cases of girls who met
with strangers online and were later sexually abused and
exploited.69
• Cases where tourists sexually abused children for the purpose
of producing child pornography were reported in, among other
places, the Gambia,70 South Africa71 and Uganda.72
• Online sexual exploitation is a fast-growing phenomenon
affecting many countries in Africa, particularly in those
countries with higher levels of internet coverage. It is
exacerbated by the fact that very few African countries have
legislation that provides adequate protection to children in
cyberspace.
2.6 Child and forced marriage

Child marriage is a huge and grave problem, particularly in Africa. The
highest prevalence of child marriage is found in sub-Saharan Africa,
where around one in four adolescent girls in West and Central Africa is
currently married or in a union, compared to one in 17 in East Asia and
the Pacific.73 These regional averages, however, hide sharp country
variations in the prevalence of child marriage: three out of four children
in Niger, and seven out of ten children in the Central African Republic
and Chad, are married before the age of 18. Eleven African countries
have prevalence rates for child marriage that are above 40%.
17
Figure 2.6 Countries with highest prevalence of child marriage
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Source: UNICEF (2017).74
2.7 Child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism

The travel and tourism sector has long been associated with adults
engaging in sex and romance with other adults in foreign lands. The use
of the sector as a vehicle for the sexual exploitation of children, however,
is a relatively recent phenomenon, especially in Africa.
• Worldwide, regular customers of the travel and tourism sector
account for 35% of sex offenders. Occasional customers
account for 65% of sex offenders.75
• According to 2017 data from the World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO), each year three million persons take a trip in order
to have sexual relations with minors.76
• A growing number of women are traveling to developing
countries seeking paid sex with minors, currently representing
about 10% of the world’s travelling sex offenders.77
A 2019 ACPF case study on Malawi showed that some foreign tourists
visit the country to engage in sexual exploitation of children in holiday
resorts, especially along Lake Malawi. Children are also trafficked for
sexual exploitation along the lakeshore in tourism districts such as
18
Chilumba (Karonga) and Chintheche (Nkhata Bay). The Committee on

the Rights of the Child has expressed concern about reported cases of
child sexual exploitation at the holiday resorts along Lake Malawi. The
same observation was acknowledged by the Malawi State party report
to the OPSC.78
A 2011 media report, citing the International Peace Institute, claimed

that in Kenya at least 50 girls are sold every week into exploitation
through “transactional sex” to tour operators and hotels at KSh 60,000
each and to star in pornographic movies.79 The girls are trafficked or
smuggled to Nairobi from North Eastern Province and Somalia. The
report says they are taken to massage parlours or beauty shops, where
contacts from tour operators and hotels come to select the ones they
wish to take as their partners in “transactional sex.” There are also
reports of children being sexually exploited by travelling sex offenders
along the Kenya-Tanzania border and in tourist areas.
2.8 Sexual exploitation of especially vulnerable

children
Although sexual exploitation affects children of all ages, sexes and
social or economic backgrounds, it has been especially acute among
certain groups of children, such as children with disabilities and
children deprived of parental care.
Children with disabilities

In South Africa, children with physical disabilities are three to four times
more likely to be abused than non-disabled children.80 Intellectual
disabilities are three to eight times more common among abused
children than among non-abused children.81
According to ACPF research, sexual violence inflicted on children with
disabilities is high in many countries, ranging from two incidents of
sexual violence per child in Senegal to about four incidents per child in
Cameroon. These include rape (52%), forced involvement in
“transactional sex” (30%), and indecent touching (43%).82
19
Another study shows that children with speech and language difficulties
are at three times greater risk of sexual abuse than other children. For
those children with behavioural disorders, the risk is between five and
seven times higher than for children without disabilities.83
Children living and/or working on the street

Life in the street is another factor that exacerbates children’s
vulnerability to sexual abuse and exploitation. According to ACPF
studies, the prevalence of sexual violence against children, especially
girls on the streets, is extremely high. More than 74% of girls living
and/or working on the street surveyed in Uganda, 70% in Kenya and
62% in Malawi were subjected to at least one form of sexual
harassment or violence. Twenty five per cent of girls living on the street
in Kenya reported had experienced rape.
Egypt is home to more than one million children living and/or working
on the street. A National Centre for Social and Criminological Research
(NCSCR) study reported that at least 20% of these children, most of
whom were aged between six and 11, were victims of trafficking who
were exploited by a third party for sexual purposes and for begging.84
Among the sexually active 15-17-year-olds living on the street, 54%
reported having multiple sexual partners and 52% reported having
never used condoms. 53% of the girls contacted for the study in Greater
Cairo, and 90% of respondents in Alexandria, had experienced sexual
abuse.85
2.9 Child sexual exploitation in the context of armed

conflict
Studies of CSE in conflict environments in Africa have indicated that
young women and girls are at the greatest risk of sexual exploitation,
with large numbers of female combatants, many of whom were under
the age of 18, having reported being sexually exploited during the
conflict period.86
20
• Since 2009, Boko Haram had reportedly recruited and used

more than 8 000 children, abducted at least 4 000 girls, boys
and young women, and sexually exploited more than 7 000 girls
and women.87
• In South Sudan, more than 17 000 children have been recruited
and used in the war, with a further 3 090 children abducted
and 1 130 children sexually exploited by armed forces and
armed groups.88
• In Somalia, militants from groups such as Al-Shabaab and Ahl
al-Sunna wal-Jama’a, and soldiers of the National Army, are
reported to have forced girls into sexual slavery and forced
marriage.89
• A survey conducted by a South Sudanese non-governmental
organisation (NGO) and the French embassy in South Sudan
found that 31% of girls living on the street were victims of sexual
exploitation, a situation reportedly fuelled by the increased
presence of soldiers in Juba. Some of the girls involved in
“transactional sex” were just 12 years old.90
• According to the 2016 report of the Secretary-General, 254 cases
of sexual violence against children were reported in 2017 in the
DRC, including 68 perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the
Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), 19 by the Congolese
National Police (PNC), and two by the National Intelligence
Agency. The report stated that 68 individuals, including high-
ranking officers, were arrested because of these crimes, with 37
receiving sentences of up to 20 years imprisonment.91
To conclude, the above figures on the scale and prevalence of child
sexual exploitation are likely to be an underestimation, because of the
hidden nature of the crime and low levels of disclosure and reporting.
There is also a lack of uniformity in terms of legal definitions of CSE and
reporting mechanisms. Moreover, family members or relatives are often
involved in the perpetration of these crimes, either directly or indirectly,
and hence children may be unwilling to report their maltreatment.92
21
3. DRIVERS AND VULNERABILITY
FACTORS
3.1 Overview
As with other forms of child maltreatment, child sexual exploitation is
ultimately underpinned by power imbalances between adult
perpetrators and child victims, and by the abuse of positions of trust,
authority or control vis-à-vis children. Sexual exploitation happens when
one or more of the four cardinal principles that govern relationships
among people, and the relationship between adults and children, are
breached (Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 The PACT (Power, Authority, Control and Trust) Breach Triangle
Power
Authority
Control Trust
Source: ACPF (2019)93
Research on the investigation and prosecution of CSE cases has shown

that the primary offenders are often adults who are trusted by the
victims, or who are in a position of authority. These include parents,
teachers, councillors, sports coaches and spiritual leaders.94 A recent
survey of school-going adolescents in Tanzania, for example, found the
prevalence of CSE to be 21%; that more than 46% of the perpetrators
in these cases had used their economic status to sexually exploit
children; and that 41% had misused their position of trust.95
22
Box 3.1: Factors aggravating risks of child sexual exploitation
Studies in various countries have shown that the following factors

specifically increase the risk of CSE victimization: child neglect;
dysfunctional family dynamics; orphanhood; mental health problems; a
history of being in conflict with the law; living in neighbourhoods
characterised by high levels of prostitution, crime and transient male
populations; poverty; conflict; illegal migration; and societal norms and
attitudes that sexualise children.
Other groups with heightened risk for CSE are girls associated with
gangs;96 children who have run away from home and/or are living on
the streets; and children engaged in domestic work.97
Other studies indicate that alcohol abuse, dropping out of school and
low levels of parental monitoring are additional risk factors.98
Figure 3.2: Manifestations of child sexual exploitation
CSE
online
CSE in the
Transactio context of
nal sex child
marriage
CSE in the
CSE in the
CSE context of
context of
child labour
armed manifestations & domestic
conflict
work
CSE in the
CSE in the
context of
context of
travel and
disability
tourism CSE in the
context of
migration and
internal
displacement
Source: Adapted from ECPAT International
There are further important risk factors, such as the cultural obsession
with virginity, that can be a source of demand for the sexual exploitation
of children. Paradoxically, however, a child who has lost his or her
23
____________________________________________ Drivers and Vulnerability Factors
virginity is considered negatively and “devalued,” and is thus even more

vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
Patriarchal structures that promote male sexual domination and

condone the subjugation, subordination and commercialization of girls
and women are a fundamental underlying factor for the sexual
exploitation of children. Culturally imposed feminine gender stereotypes
also contribute to the sexual exploitation of women and girls by placing
them in roles where they serve males, negating their ability to make
decisions regarding their own sexual and reproductive lives and making
them prime targets for sexual violence. Likewise, the commodification
of the female body, so prevalent in fashion shows, beauty contests and
movies, reinforces the notion of its exploitation.99
Gender discrimination is further compounded by the inherent power

imbalance between children and adults. Children are often not
considered rights holders, and can even be viewed as property. Their
right to be heard is generally flaunted, which prevents them from voicing
their concerns or experiences.100
Over the past decade, the rapid upsurge in global access to the internet
and mobile phones has allowed perpetrators to access and exploit
victims anonymously, and act with relative impunity.101 This
development has been noted in studies on CSE in Africa.102
In a survey on tourists’ engagement in child sexual exploitation, the

following key determinants were reported: prior personal experiences
of sexual abuse; previous involvement in sexually exploiting children;
and previous conviction for a violent offence.103
It is reported that many tourist places, even those that present the
façade of typical, recreational establishments, offer a backdoor for the
sexual exploitation of children. In many parts of Africa, the proliferation
in recent decades of massage parlours and upscale restaurants aimed
at foreign customers and tourists has been linked to the rapid rise in
child exploitation in travel and tourism.
24
Perpetrators can be categorised as preferential offenders or situational

offenders. Preferential offenders are those with a preference for
children, who are generally equated with paedophiles; situational
offenders are people suffering from a psychiatric disorder characterized
by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children.104
Preferential and situational offenders will justify their actions by

affirming, based on their personal beliefs or on the degree of social
tolerance they expect, that their victim was not a child, or that he or she
consented to his or her exploitation.105
Studies of online sexual exploitation of children have indicated that

there are multiple psychological pathways that can account for such
behaviour. These include: inability to establish intimate relationships
with adults (due to fear of rejection as a result of insecure childhood
attachments); elevated levels of emotional loneliness; heightened
emotional identification with children; distorted sexual scripts (which
are often based on premature sexual debut); and cognitive distortions
(i.e. children are appropriate sexual entities and they derive enjoyment
from sexual relations with others).106
In terms of its impact on its victims, research has shown that CSE can
lead to delinquency, substance abuse, self-harm, mental health
problems (such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and post-
traumatic stress), and a range of psychiatric disorders in later life.107
Nevertheless, research on the health, developmental and other
outcomes for those affected by CSE in Africa is somewhat limited, and
has only been undertaken in a few countries, such as South Africa.
An analysis of population-based survey data from the National Survey

of Adolescents, which was undertaken in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi,
and Uganda, indicated that a significant number of both boys and girls
who reported having previously engaged in “transactional sex” had
experienced childhood trauma.108
25
Box 3.2 Sexual exploitation is economically costly
Sexual exploitation not only takes its toll on children and their futures,
but it also lays a huge financial burden on economies. Globally, USD 7
trillion is lost each year due to violence against children, including sexual
exploitation. This is equivalent to 8% of global GDP.109
Nigeria has cumulatively lost earnings of up to 967 billion Naira (USD
6.1 billion)—1.07 per cent of the country’s GDP—due to violence against
children.110
A study in South Africa estimated that violence against children had cost
the country’s economy up to USD 15.81 billion or nearly 5% of its GDP.111
In 2012–13, a conservative estimate of the annual cost of child sexual
exploitation to the United Kingdom—an advanced country with far more
capacity to mitigate the effects of this challenge than African countries—
was around £3.2 billion.112
3.2 Poverty, inequality and abuse of power

For adolescent girls from disadvantaged backgrounds who became
victims of sexual exploitation, previous experiences of child abuse,
intimate partner violence and substance abuse have been shown to be
major risk factors, while level of education has been shown to be a
protective factor.113 In a study in Kampala, a lack of sex education for
young people was identified as a further risk factor.114
Several participants of a study in Western Cape, South Africa, stated

that facilitators of sexual exploitation through “transactional sex”
offered children money, drugs, clothes and other material goods to
encourage them to become involved. Children may also be tricked by
being offered modelling jobs and entry into modelling competitions that
do not exist.115 It is also reported (in the case of Zambia, for instance)
that some parents turn a blind eye to their children’s night time
activities, and some need the money obtained from the transaction.116
The exploitation of children through “transactional sex” can also involve

other forms of remuneration than cash, such as drugs and alcohol. In
26
Addis Ababa, sexual exploitation of children through “transactional sex”

most frequently involved an exchange of money or khat (a local herbal
stimulant) and other drugs.117 In South Africa, some child victims of the
sex trade reportedly give all their earnings to pimps in return for drugs.118
Dominant patriarchal norms combined with the low socioeconomic

status of girls, which includes their limited access to educational
opportunities in many African countries, have been identified as key
drivers of transactional sex.119 In DRC, for example, focus group
research in North and South Kivu suggested that relative economic
disparities had contributed to the prevalence of intergenerational
transactional sex between girls and middle-aged men.120 In a Kenya
study, 87% of adults who participated in the survey associated
exploitation of children through “transactional sex” with poverty.121
In Rwanda, girls who had engaged in transactional sex indicated that

this form of CSE was a “survival strategy” in conditions of adversity,
particularly economic deprivation due to the absence of adult
caregivers, significant financial obstacles to attending school, and/or
living on the street. Social pressure to acquire certain material goods,
such as fashionable clothing, also contributed to CSE.122
In Tanzania, girls who engaged in “transactional sex” were often found

to be motivated by the need to acquire fashionable clothes and
accessories.123 Gifts (or promises thereof) of the so-called “3C’s” (cars,
cash and cell phones) have been used by “sugar daddies” to entice
young girls into sexual exploitation.
Similar findings were reported in Uganda and Tanzania. Studies found,

in particular, that older men were preferred for “transactional” sexual
relationships, as they provided gifts or money of higher value than
younger men.124 Studies of children and young adults in Kampala
(Uganda) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) indicated that vulnerable girls
seeking employment, such as through apprenticeships, were at risk of
sexual exploitation by prospective male employers.125 There have been
similar findings from studies in Niger,126 Burkina Faso,127 Kenya,128
Ghana,129 Malawi,130 Mozambique and Botswana,131 and Ethiopia.132
27
Box 3.3 The link between poverty and sexual exploitation
The link between poverty and sexual exploitation is further evident in a

reduction in certain aspects of sexual exploitation following the
introduction of social cash transfer programmes in some countries: for
example, Zimbabwe’s Harmonized Social Cash Transfer Programme led
to a reduction in the likelihood of experiencing forced sex among youth,
while Malawi’s Social Cash Transfer Programme led to a reduction in
child marriage and early sexual debut among youth.
This was supported by another study which found that dedicated

support for orphaned adolescents in the school environment in Kenya
reduced the likelihood of transactional sex among orphaned children.133
In many parts of Africa, it is not uncommon to find teachers promising

higher grades, supplies or reduced school fees in exchange for sex with
girls. Studies in Kenya, Senegal and South Africa found that male
teachers solicit sexual favours from girl pupils in exchange for grades,
academic favours and money. Teachers may even blackmail girls for
sexual favours by—for example—threatening them with negative
assessments of their school achievements, or by refusing to issue them
with a school certificate. In West and Central Africa, this has led to a
reported practice of “sex for grades” (pejoratively referred to as
“sexually-transmitted marks”—or moyennes sexuellement transmissible
in French).134
28
Box 3.4 Girls’ education as a bulwark against sexual exploitation
Girls with access to educational opportunities are more likely to improve

their labour market opportunities, including through better earnings,
more desirable occupations, and reduced exposure to exploitative or
dangerous employment situations. Improved economic security leads to
lower financial dependence on males. This translates into a reduction in
involvement in exploitative sexual relationships or age-disparate sex.135
In addition, increased education contributes to a reduction in intimate
partner sexual violence, because it is associated with a delay in
premarital sex or partnership formation, and older girls are able to make
better informed decisions, with longer-term perspectives.136
Better-educated women also have partners who are better educated
and closer in age.137 Better educated partners and educational parity
between partners are both associated with decreased risk of intimate
partner violence.138
For adolescent girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, higher levels of
education have been shown to be a protective factor against sexual
exploitation. A study in Uganda showed that a one-year increase in grade
attainment leads to a nine percentage point reduction in the probability
of ever experiencing sexual violence (aged 18–29 years).139
Finally, education offers an important opportunity to intervene early in
a girl’s life to increase self-esteem, aspirations and mental health, and
to improve sexual education.
Increased schooling may also be a risk factor, however, as teachers and
school peers can be the perpetrators of violence.140
In the majority of cases, “transactional sex” abounds in tourist resorts,

beaches and busy transport routes, and during sports events and
festivals. In Burundi, brothels located in the slums of the city of
Bujumbura, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika or on the routes used by
truck drivers—as well as in other urban centres such as Ngozi, Gitega,
Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac—are known to expose children to
exploitation through “transactional sex.”141
29
In many countries, restaurants often operate as brothels, where the

girls involved are actually being sexually exploited for commercial gain
under the guise of working as waiters. Some restaurants that employ
girls are believed to be using them as attractions for their customers,
forcing waiters to wear short and revealing dresses, and turning a blind
eye to sexual advances towards them.
In Burundi, a 2018 report showed that incarcerated women facilitated

sex between male prisoners and detained children within the Burundian
prison system. The report also showed that girls and young women were
subjected to domestic servitude and sex trafficking by fishermen.142
Large social and sports events are further vehicles that provide
opportunities for sexual predators and exploiters. For instance, before
the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana, police uncovered plans to
recruit children into “transactional sex” during the event.143 The Institute
of Migration (IOM) also reported that young girls were rescued from a
brothel in the days prior to this event.144
3.3 Unregulated online environment

The onset of the internet era has left most children unsafe even within
the confines of their homes. One danger is the sexual exploitation of
children online, which includes—among other things—such practices as
online grooming, sexting, sexual extortion, live streaming or live
performance of child sexual abuse, and the production of child sexual
exploitation material.145
Detailed evidence on the online exploitation of children in Africa is

extremely limited, but it may be a notable and worsening problem in
Africa given increases in internet access throughout the continent.146
Sexual exploitation online is driven mainly by computer-generated child

sexual activities and materials. Representations of children involved in
sexual activities and/or presented in a sexualised manner have the
following implications:
30
• They may be used to groom children for sexual exploitation

• They sustain a market for child sexual abuse images
• They enable a culture of tolerance of the sexualisation of
children, and cultivate further demand.147
In terms of vulnerability factors, access to smartphones, greater
connectivity and the proliferation of pornographic video sites contribute
to the increasing exposure of children to online sexual exploitation.
Unlike sexual exploitation through “transactional sex,” where often
deprivation and lack of education are factors, it is the availability of
certain privileges—such as owning a smartphone and having ICT
literacy—that fuels online sexual exploitation.148 The average cost of
smartphones has dropped from USD $440 in 2010 to USD $283 in
2016.149 Trends indicate that phones produced en masse could be
available for as little as USD 30-40 in Asian and African markets in the
coming years.150
Studies in South Africa and Ghana found that children’s online access
was relatively unmonitored by their parents/caregivers, and that most
children did not discuss troubling online experiences with their parents.
Most discussion about online content was with peers. An encouraging
finding from this study was that the majority of children reported that
they felt safe online and had developed personal safety strategies,
which included efforts to prevent them from becoming victims of sexual
exploitation.151
According to ECPAT international, the offenders in child pornography

are primarily motivated by sexual interest in children or by financial gain.
In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, child pornography has evolved into a
practice for commercial gain, involving well-coordinated networks
comprised of music celebrities and bar and karaoke group owners.
Offenders can operate alone or through a network and may use
different devices, software and/or the internet to produce, access or
share materials. In addition to applying encryption methods, they also
use hidden online platforms to conceal their conduct and avoid
detection.152
31
Rapid expansion of internet access in Africa (at an annual average rate

of 42% between 2016 and 2021153) in a context of limited or no regulation
means that online sexual exploitation of children is likely to increase.
Box 3.5 The darknet: a dangerous and impenetrable system
The darknet is an overlay network accessible only with specific software,

configurations and/or authorisation, often using non-standard
communications protocols and protective measures.
Darknet sites are appealing to offenders of online sexual exploitation
of children not only because they are now relatively easy to operate and
access, but also because they are difficult for law enforcement to remove.
They allow the offender community to become more stable, as sites can
exist in plain sight of law enforcement agencies over long periods of time,
accumulating more content, more information and more users.
The darknet was expected to grow to over four million users by the start
of 2018.
Source: WeProtect Alliance (2018).154
Online sexual exploitation remains one of the most pernicious facets of

sexual exploitation, especially in terms of its long-lasting effects. Victims
of online sexual exploitation not only experience trauma at the time the
abuse first occurs, but they might also be tormented by the knowledge
that images or videos depicting the incident still exist in cyberspace and
are unlikely ever to be entirely destroyed. Even long after the original
offender has been brought to justice and the victim has received
support, the abusive material can still be shared and re-shared by other
offenders, in effect re-victimising the child into adulthood and
beyond.155
Another elusive attribute of online sexual exploitation relates to its
transnational nature. The internet has defied traditional notions of
national jurisdiction and sovereignty, making extraterritorial jurisdiction
even more important.156 Providers of new messaging applications often
base their infrastructure and offices in jurisdictions with less robust
legislation, creating barriers to international cooperation.157
32
3.4 A predatory travel and tourism sector: keeping

up with a moving target
Sexual exploitation in travel and tourism refers to exploitation of a
sexual nature perpetrated against children by a short-term or long-term
visitor, travelling for work or on holiday, regardless of whether they have
travelled internationally or domestically.158
Some studies suggest that CSE is a major problem within the travel and
tourism sector in Africa. The following countries have been identified as
particularly problematic in this regard: Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire,
Egypt, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco,
Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
A 2000 study showed that travelling sex offenders felt that “the normal
rules” in their home did not apply when they travelled to a foreign place.
They often devalued the places they travelled to and made excuses
such as “children grow up more quickly there” or “sexual encounters
with children are tolerated there.”159
Reliable data for CSE in this sector is patchy, and only a handful of studies
based on primary research have been undertaken in recent years.
In Kenya, a study indicated widespread perceptions that CSE existed in

the Kenyan travel and tourism sector (although it did not interrogate
how such perceptions were formulated).160 Another Kenya-based study
suggested that in some cases family members in coastal regions may
have pressured children to engage in sexual acts with tourists for
financial gain.161
In Egypt, a study showed that some parents from poor backgrounds

facilitated “transactional sex” or “tourism marriages” between their
daughters and male tourists (predominantly from Gulf states), in which
the parents received financial payments including “Moakher,” financial
compensation paid by the male tourist to the family of the girl in order
to end the “tourism marriage”. Such exploitative sexual arrangements
are often facilitated by a broker who also receives payment for his/her
services.162
33
A study in Kenya on the state of sexual exploitation in travel and tourism

showed that bar owners/managers accounted for 53% of the players
involved in mediating and facilitating sexual exploitation in the sector,
while peers/friends accounted for a further 27%. Other actors included
individuals well known to and trusted by children, including police
officers, teachers, lecturers, religious leaders, doctors, watchmen, and
relatives.163
South African research among law enforcement officials and social

workers suggested that organized criminal networks played a facilitating
role in child exploitation through “transactional sex,” and that some
tourists, both foreign and local, had interacted with such networks to
gain access to children for sexual purposes.164 A study of a small group
of adults who had experienced CSE perpetrated by tourists in the South
African town of Knysna reported that they had done so in order to
survive.165 In Ghana, some cases of child marriage have been linked to
CSE, and some of these child brides have allegedly been forced into sex
work or other exploitative acts with tourists.166
In the ECPAT study on sexual exploitation in the context of travel and

tourism, typical offenders were identified as originating from the USA,
the UK, Italy, Germany, Canada, Korea, and China, along with other
developed nations. African countries identified as affected by sexual
exploitation in the context of travel and tourism included South Africa,
Nigeria and several Eastern African countries—namely Ethiopia,
Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan.167
The study findings indicate that locations for sexual exploitation are
usually designed to appear as places for legal businesses, such as
house help bureaus (but where the main business is not in fact to
recruit domestic workers, but instead to recruit children into sex
tourism); video halls (where pornographic videos are shown to children);
massage parlours (where employed children are asked to provide
massage clients with sexual satisfaction as an extra service); strip
clubs; and bars (where strippers and children working as waiters are
made to provide sexual services to patrons).168
34
Tourists and travellers in countries heavily reliant on tourism-related

income gain further power and status from the pervasive maxim the
“client is king,” and that meeting the clients’ needs puts bread on the
table. Such environments contribute to a feeling of entitlement among
tourists—especially when combined with a low risk of punishment—that
encourages both visitors who plan to abuse children and those who are
situational offenders.169
3.5 Armed conflicts and humanitarian emergencies

Sexual exploitation and sexual atrocities have long characterised most
armed conflicts in Africa. Perpetrated by armed groups and government
forces, sexual exploitation in the context of armed conflict is carried out
with impunity.
The presence of military barracks in large numbers in some countries
has aggravated the risk that children may be exposed to sexual
exploitation. A study in rural Uganda found that the close proximity of
military barracks to schools, combined with poverty and acute food
insecurity, increased the risk of sexual exploitation of girls. In some
instances, it was reported that relatives or guardians encouraged such
sexual relations, as they were not in a position to provide financial
support for their daughters/relatives. For example, a teacher who was
interviewed claimed:
The girls would sneak to the barracks to have sex with the
soldiers and if they got pregnant, the parents would follow the
soldier and make him pay and then they would send their
daughter to be the soldier’s wife in the barracks.170
Non-state armed groups have also been implicated in employing sexual

exploitation as a weapon of war. The so-called Seleka, the Anti-Balaka
militia, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda and the Movement
for the Liberation of Congo have all have been implicated in the sexual
exploitation of children, including the operation of a network of child
trafficking for sexual purposes.171
35
During the 24-year civil conflict between the LRA and the Ugandan
government, hundreds of unaccompanied children living in camps for
the displaced were exploited in an organised manner for “transactional
sex,” while others were recruited as child soldiers by the LRA, including
a large number of girls who were subsequently sexually abused and
used as servants.172
The brutal rape and sexual tortures committed en masse against girls
and women in DRC and the Central African Republic during the civil
wars that raged in that region have potentially had the effect of
destroying the reproductive potential of women, and hence stemming
procreation. These conflicts saw deliberate strategic efforts to
desecrate the female body and use it as a battleground to bring shame
on the enemy.173
According to a 2014 report on trafficking in persons in Somalia,

traffickers took advantage of Somali children fleeing the militant group
al-Shabaab and seeking refuge in Kenya by subjecting them to forced
labour or sexual exploitation.174
United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) peacekeeping personnel,

as well as employees of humanitarian organizations, have been
implicated in CSE in recent years in a number of African countries, such
as DRC and the Central African Republic. CSE in such contexts has been
predominantly underpinned by stark gender inequalities and economic
disparities between peacekeepers/aid workers and local populations.
Studies have also highlighted further risk factors including militarized
masculinity, dysfunctional command and control (including ineffective
discipline among peacekeeping personnel), and the generally
unregulated nature of post-conflict countries.175 . In one study it was
noted that often
…sexual acts can be demanded in exchange for protection and

material support, with peacekeepers and aid workers
withholding food, shelter, and other services until their sexual
demands are met.176
36
Box 3.6 Peacekeeping missions and sexual exploitation:

an unholy alliance
In post-conflict situations, it is commonplace for peacekeepers

mandated by global or regional bodies to be deployed to maintain peace
and protect the civilian population. However, there have been a number
of instances where these bodies, which are supposed to uphold human
rights, have instead been involved in violating them.
In Bangui, in the Central African Republic, the presence of the

international peacekeeping force—known as the UN Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, or
MINUSCA—has aggravated child exploitation through the proliferation
of “transactional sex” in the country. Peacekeepers across different
nations are said to be the highest paying “customers” for sex with
children. It is known that, generally, where peacekeepers have been
sent, the number of children involved in the local child sexual
exploitation industry has risen, allegedly due to increased demand,
particularly in countries where poverty is rampant. The presence of
these forces and their resources creates a fertile ground for exploitation
of girls. Since their deployment in 2014, these forces have been
accused of sexual violence against girls.177
Some humanitarian aid workers, responsible for the care and protection
of refugees and internally displaced persons, have also reportedly used
their positions to exploit children sexually, including by using food and
aid to obtain sex from girls, primarily those between 13 and 18 years
old. Both international and local staff have been implicated, including
workers of respected and established agencies such as UNHCR.178
In Zimbabwe, flood victims at a camp for the internally displaced

accused government workers and Zimbabwean police officers in charge
of distributing aid of demanding sex from females (including girls) in
exchange for that aid.179
Research has shown that higher levels of gender equality amongst aid
workers and peacekeeping contingents have been linked to lower
incidence of sexual exploitation and abuse. Therefore, in order to reduce
the risk of such behaviour, it has been recommended that a culture and
37
practice of gender equality be introduced in these contexts, and in

particular that there be a meaningful increase in the representation of
women in peacekeeping and peace support missions.180
Studies have also indicated that significant legal reforms are required,
particularly within the UN system, to further combat and prevent sexual
exploitation, including the sexual exploitation of children.181
3.6 Human trafficking, migration and internal

displacement
Child sexual exploitation thrives in the context of migration, human
trafficking, and both internal and external displacement
In the context of migration and forced displacement, girls are at

exceedingly high risk of sexual exploitation, including from their family
members and close relatives. For instance, Ethiopian girls traveling from
their home country to the Republic of Sudan to engage in domestic work
have experienced sexual violence at the hands of security personnel,
fellow migrants, militia groups and their employers.182 In Rwanda, a
study based on a focus group in refugee camp settings found that girls
…had material needs but few options to meet those needs within
the camps… [and] that the convergence of material deprivation,
lack of economic opportunity, and vulnerability led to
transactional sex and exploitation within and around the
camps.183
Another study suggested that the risk of sexual exploitation of girls in

refugee camps in Rwanda was also heightened by the cramped nature
of the camps and their inadequate security provisions.184
In Kenya and Ethiopia, studies of internally displaced and refugee

populations indicated that there had been high levels of CSE among
girls due to a variety of vulnerabilities brought about by displacement.185
Further to this, another study on unaccompanied and separated
refugee children in Kenya suggested that factors making children
vulnerable to exploitation included a lack of employment opportunities
38
and suitable programming for youth, and harassment and abuse by

police personnel.186 Kenya has been identified as a hub for child
trafficking and smuggling in the region.187 According to the NCRC
Human Trafficking Report in 2015, trafficking for sexual exploitation
purposes is the second main reason for child trafficking in Kenya. The
Report shows that trafficking of children is one of the most profitable
businesses in the country.188
Somalia is reportedly a major area of transit for people being trafficked

from the Horn of Africa, mainly Ethiopia, to the gulf states for labour
and sexual exploitation. Puntland is also reportedly one of the busiest
human trafficking hubs in the region.189
Human sex trafficking is one of the fastest growing, most lucrative

business ventures in the world. Although recent data is not available,
data from 2009 shows that the global value of the human trafficking
market had already hit 36 billion US dollars in that year.190
Children trafficked for sexual exploitation receive little pay and,

sometimes no pay at all; instead, the traffickers usually end up receiving
the bulk of the payment from the child sex offenders.
Box 3.7 An emerging form of sexual slavery and human

trafficking in Nigeria
The term “baby factories” refers to any place where women and young
teenage girls are held captive, forcefully impregnated, and kept illegally
until their babies are born. The babies are then sold for monetary gain,
for adoption, or for use in witchcraft rituals. These places are usually
disguised as hospitals, maternity homes, social welfare homes or
orphanages. Since the first cases of baby factories in Nigeria were
reported by UNESCO in 2006, these illegal ventures—operated by well-
organized criminal syndicates and considered a form of human
trafficking—have become the third most common form of crime in
Nigeria, after drug trafficking and financial fraud.191 Children born in
the “baby factories” and trafficked to foreign countries are at
heightened risk of sexual abuse.192
39
Research with the police has also suggested the human smuggling
syndicates have employed “voodoo” (witchcraft) as a coercive method
for use against CSE victims and their families, in an attempt to ensure
continued sexual exploitation.193
In Benin, the Central Office for the Protection of Minors registered 103
cases of trafficking in minors (including 74 girls and 29 boys) in the first
half of 2013.194 The (former) Ministry of Social Affairs in Burkina Faso
identified 280 child victims of trafficking in 2014, of which 211 cases
concerned domestic trafficking and 69 were cross-border trafficking.195
Child victims of trafficking, having been separated from their families,

are always in fear, which is in turn used by their traffickers to exploit
them sexually.196 This happens as most victims migrate through
irregular channels, further exacerbating their risk of rape by corrupt
border officials and other unauthorised migration agents who demand
sex in exchange for onward passage.197
There is an equally important concern in this regard that has stood in

the way of apprehending traffickers: the criminalisation of victims of
trafficking. In most countries, and where the perpetrators have money
and power, victims are the easier target for law enforcement. The
repatriation of sex trafficking victims may expose them to further abuse
upon return to their country of origin, where they may often face
difficulties reintegrating if they are viewed as “dishonoured.”198 These
factors can make reporting by victims almost impossible, and can help
perpetuate exploitation.
3.7 Patriarchal attitudes and gender discrimination

Many girls in rural Africa are given in marriage, or betrothed, at birth or
at an early age, although the actual marriage may not occur until the
girl reaches puberty.199 Child marriage is both a form of sexual
exploitation of girls and a vehicle for the economic exploitation of their
sexuality. This practice increases a number of risks including children’s
exposure to domestic and sexual violence by intimate partners; early
forced sexual initiation; premature onset of sexual activity; non-
consensual sex; unwanted adolescent pregnancy and premature child
40
bearing; exposure to sexually transmitted diseases; and female genital

mutilation (FGM).200
Child marriage is underpinned by both cultural and economic factors.
On the cultural side, there is a widespread traditional norm and practice
that regards girls and women as inferior, and as having less worth. Child
marriage is also seen as a way of initiating girls into adulthood,
womanhood and motherhood. In most cases, the nature of this
traditional practice is a reflection of the power exercised by men in
society, and the idea that girls and women are obligated to comply with
sexual and other domestic roles assigned to them. Adult women are
usually complicit as they see such roles as established by a natural or
divine order.201
Worrying, laws in some countries require girls to marry their abusers.

This has been reported in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Eritrea,
and Libya. In Sudan, the law specifically protects a husband from
prosecution for sex within marriage to a girl aged under 18 years.
Furthermore, the emphasis on physically visible maturity over

chronological age, coupled with the near-total absence of birth
registration services, can be linked to the tendency to give children up
for marriage at an early age. Under such circumstances, strong muscles
and protruding breasts are wrongly taken as more reliable yardsticks of
maturity than numerical age, as these words of a girl from Benin reveal:
… once a girl’s breasts start to appear, the parents stop caring

for her; they think that she should be able to do it all for herself
to solve her problems, and that is when she is believed to be
ready for marriage.202
There are also economic reasons underlying child marriage, with factors
driven by both “supply” and “demand”. On the supply side, households
may marry off their daughters at young age because of the high costs
of raising children (food, clothing, education and healthcare). This is
particularly likely in contexts where fertility is high, and parents have many
children, in which situations girls may be viewed as an economic burden,
less able than the boys to perform physical work, such as on farms.
41
National economic crises and individual economic shocks at household

level might also force households to marry their daughters early. This
economic drive is spurred by the inducement of getting an attractive
bride price. For instance, bride price in Ghana involves a transfer of
cash, livestock or other property from the groom’s family to the bride’s
family as part of the marriage agreement. The practice of bride price is
also common in many southern African countries, where it goes by a
range of different names in different countries (for example, lobola in
Zimbabwe, which literally means bride wealth or bride price). Usually,
the heads of the two families involved, or their representatives,
negotiate the transfer of cattle or cash to the groom’s family in the
presence of a messenger, when they ask for the girl’s hand in marriage.
The practice of paying bride prices has not only fuelled child marriage
in the country, but it has also led to situations where the married girls
are held in a situation tantamount to sexual slavery. The transfer of
wealth by the family of the bridegroom to the bride’s family often forces
the bride to abrogate her sexual rights.203 Bride price brings with it
“responsibility” on the part of the woman to live up to certain
expectations before and after payment,204 possibly instilling a sense of
unquestionable subjugation and sexual bondage.
Bride price is also seen by some as a compensation for time and trouble
taken to raise a daughter who will be sent off to another group, and as
a compensation for the loss of a daughter’s economic services. There
is, therefore, an increasing commercialization of the practice into a form
of marital transaction, or “the purchase of a wife.”
On the demand side, from the perspective of the groom, younger brides
may be preferred for a number of reasons. These include the following:205
• Women who are younger have longer reproductive lives during

which to have children—a particular consideration in societies
where infant mortality is high.
• Men or their families may want to deal with younger women who
are less assertive and more easily controllable because of their
lack of physical, mental and emotional maturity.
42
• Younger brides may be better able to perform household

activities longer into the future.
• Younger brides are less likely to have had previous sexual
contact, and hence have a reduced likelihood of having been
exposed to sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
As previously mentioned, child marriage, as well as being driven by
tradition, has a lot to do with poverty and the economic drivers around
alleviating household poverty through the wealth transfer that takes
place between the families of the marriage partners. This reality
undermines the argument that early marriage is exclusively a matter of
harmful traditional practices. The corollary to this position is that
eliminating the underlying cultural attitudes and practices may not
necessarily get rid of child marriage, as long as households remain
haunted by poverty.
3.8 Domestic work: hidden and unregulated

Some limited research has been undertaken on child exploitation in the
context of domestic work in Africa. Studies have shown that it is
exceedingly difficult to access and interview children who are involved
in domestic work.206
The “invisibility” of child domestic workers is one factor that has

contributed to the perpetration of sexual exploitation with impunity in the
context of child domestic work.207 Invisibility is normally combined with
isolation, as the employer/exploiter tends to isolate the child by limiting
his/her movements and/or by forbidding contact between the child and
her/his family, thus making the child more dependent on the employer.208
The reasons why children engage in domestic work are wide ranging.
They include being sold or given to traffickers; being sent out to work
for household survival; being fostered by relatives in order to fill a labour
gap in the receiving household; or in order to pursue education.209
In Ghana, children, mostly girls, are allowed by their parents to provide

household services to visitors or migrant workers in rural communities.
43
Parents may allow their daughters to visit male teachers or other

migrant workers in their houses to perform household duties for them.
This practice indirectly grants unsupervised access to the children by
these adults, a situation that potentially leads to such children being
sexually exploited in exchange for gifts or money.210
Migration to urban centres to engage in domestic work is especially

common as a strategy by which poor families can: mitigate economic
risks; diversify economic opportunities; broaden and consolidate social
networks; and meet children’s needs for clothing, shoes and other
material items.211
Girls may be recruited for domestic work by women who have links with
their village through kinship or trading activities, and who either require
a girl to work in their own household, or who mediate a job with
someone else looking for domestic help.212 It is also common in Africa
for “brokers” involved in recruiting child domestic workers and placing
them in domestic service to also solicit sexual favours from the girls.
Such recruitment modalities may sometimes amount to child
trafficking, if the recruiters partly or wholly take the money earned by
these children—which is usually the case.213
Young female domestic workers may be pressurized into sexual

relationships with adult men and adolescent boys within the household,
or with men visiting the household in which they work. It is reported that
some of the physical and emotional abuse faced by domestic workers
in the hands of their female employers emanates from fear of the
domestic workers “stealing” their husband. It is also possible that these
girls may be lured into engaging in relationships with young men of their
own age, and with older men.214 In both situations, the children not only
enter into a forced or exploitative relationship that does not last, but
may also become pregnant or contract sexually transmitted diseases.
Child domestic workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, are reportedly subject

to extreme exploitation, working long hours for minimal pay or modest
food and shelter. In this situation, they are also vulnerable to physical
and sexual abuse.215
44
In Guinea, research conducted by Human Rights Watch exposed several

cases of girl domestic workers having been sexually harassed, sexually
exploited, and raped.216
In Mozambique, girls employed as domestic workers or in subsistence

agriculture were found to be exploited in “transactional sex” for
additional money.217 Similarly, in Uganda, child domestic workers and
store clerks were reported to be particularly vulnerable to CSE,
especially when they needed to earn more money.218
In Uganda, girls from rural areas involved in domestic work in cities were
often at risk of sexual exploitation by male employers (or male relatives
thereof) due to power imbalances, and concerns by the affected girls
that they might be dismissed if they refused these men’s sexual
advances.219
Studies of Ethiopian girls and young women employed in domestic work

in the Middle East showed similar findings, indicating that girls were
exposed to sexual, physical and emotional abuse.220
Studies have also established a link between child domestic work and
subsequent engagement in “transactional sex.” For example, it was
established that more than a quarter of girls being commercially
sexually exploited in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) were former child
domestic workers, many of whom were sexually abused by members of
the family for whom they were working. A study on children exploited
through “transactional sex” in Tanzania confirmed that in about 25% of
cases, girls become involved in “transactional sex” after they have been
abused as child domestic workers.221 Once child domestic workers face
sexual violence in their workplace, they may decide to leave the house,
but may not ever go back home because they do not want to face the
humiliation of returning empty-handed. Most end up in “transactional
sex” or on the street.
Abused child domestic workers tend not to report their abuse: some
feel they are powerless to prove such attacks and/or are dependent on
their employers for basic needs; others fail to report abuse out of a
sense of duty to their parents to make the situation work, or just
45
because they are afraid to speak out.222 Child domestic workers are
also less likely to get access to sexual and reproductive health
information, which may undermine their ability to fend off sexual
advances and/or manage incidents of sexual exploitation.
3.9 Disability-related barriers

Disability has been identified by many studies as a factor that
exacerbates children’s exposure to sexual exploitation. Studies have
shown that children with disabilities in Africa are two to five times more
likely to be abused than their non-disabled peers, while those with
intellectual disabilities are three to eight times more likely to be abused.
Girls with visual impairments are highly vulnerable to sexual abuse,
especially in situations where they are without an accompanying
person. Reports noted situations where, for example, visually impaired
girls were gang raped after being led into the wrong place by offenders
posing as helpers.223
The intrusive nature of some of the care provided to girls with

disabilities (especially those with intellectual disabilities and/or multiple
disabilities) during bathing and toilet routines and in the context of
menstrual management means that the children risk being sexually
exploited.224 Such care might involve touching and massaging.
Sexual exploitation among children with disabilities goes unreported

because of the mistaken belief that children with disabilities are asexual
and cannot understand their own bodies. Sexual violence against
children with disabilities may also arise in the context of using explicit
sexual language, or making crude sexual jokes.225 It is common to
observe people getting involved in verbal and visual sexual humour
directed at girls with disabilities, including jokes that portray them as
asexual.
Girls and young women with disabilities are at greater risk of sexual
violence when they are alone at home, as neighbours and family
members take the opportunity to exploit them sexually with little risk of
being caught or punished.226
46
Another challenge often overlooked in the child protection discussion

is the issue of access to sexual and reproductive health information and
services for girls with disabilities. Girls and young women with
disabilities are almost without exception denied the right to make
decisions for themselves about their reproductive and sexual health,
increasing their risk of sexual violence, unplanned pregnancy, and
exposure to sexually transmitted infections.227
A lack of sexual and reproductive health education means that

adolescents with disabilities in some countries engage in casual and
transactional sex without using condoms or other contraceptives. As a
result, young people with disabilities have a higher risk of contracting
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, than their peers without
disabilities.228 In one study in Ethiopia, only 35% of young people with
disabilities had used contraceptives during their first sexual
encounter.229
Similarly, a study in Ghana on the experiences of people with hearing

impairments trying to access sexual and reproductive health services
found a range of factors discouraging persons with disabilities from
seeking needed sexual and reproductive services. These included,
among other things: communication barriers; ignorance about deafness
among service providers; attitudes toward people with hearing
impairments; illiteracy among people with hearing impairments; the
absence of privacy and confidentiality at health centres; and absence
or poor quality of sign language interpreters.230 Children with disabilities
are also at greater risk of being trafficked for sexual exploitation,
including by their own families—a risk partly driven by negative
community attitudes that regard them as “undesirable.”231
Adolescent girls with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are also

at very high risk of sexual abuse within institutions,232 often perpetrated
by other residents and/or staff at the institutions.
Lack of access to disability-friendly justice is also a formidable factor in

the perpetuation of sexual exploitation of children with disabilities. A
study by the Disabled Children’s Action Group (DICAG) in South Africa
found that, of a sample of 36 cases of abuse against children with
47
disabilities that came to trial, 14 were withdrawn, eight resulted in

acquittals, and 14 resulted in convictions. The prime reason given by
the courts for this high rate of withdrawal and low rate of conviction was
that “witnesses were seen as being incompetent.” This was despite the
fact that the language used in the court proceedings was complex, and
poorly understood by many of the victims.233 As a result of such
patterns, children with disabilities are frequently deliberately targeted
by sexual offenders because those offenders are often able to get away
without punishment.
The following factors contribute further to higher levels of sexual

exploitation of children with disabilities in Africa, and denial of their
access to justice as victims:234
• Testimonies from children with disabilities, especially those with
intellectual disabilities, are not taken seriously in a court of law.
• Children with disabilities may be unable to report sexual
exploitation because of language and communication barriers,
and even if they do, they may not be trusted.
• Children with disabilities, especially those in foster/kinship care
or institutions, depend on staff for survival, and are hence
unlikely to report any abuses by those staff.
• Children with disabilities may feel that the abuse they suffer is
their fault.
• Children with disabilities can even become desensitised to abuse.
• Children with disabilities are assumed to be unable to know
about and/or understand their rights.
3.10 Children living on the street: exposed,

defenceless and vulnerable
Children living and/or working on the street, whether or not they have
a place to return to at night, can be obliged to earn an income by
whatever means. These children face danger from gangs and
competitors, and need to be street-smart to survive.235
48
In many countries, children living and/or working on the street are

brutalised by the police and security forces, a brutality that extends to
sexual exploitation. As victims of random police roundups, these
children often come into conflict with the justice system, and their rights
to protection are frequently denied. Indeed, the UN Special Rapporteur
on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment reports that, in many countries, the criminal justice system
functions as
…an ill-suited substitute for a lacking or dysfunctional welfare
system, resulting in the detention of children who have not
committed a crime but who actually require welfare assistance,
such as street children.236
In Egypt, there are reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault

against children living and/or working on the street. The police often
consider these children as non-citizens or second-class citizens, and
fail to give them proper protection.237
Girls living and/or working on the street are also sexually exploited by
street gang leaders under the threat of withdrawal of protection in the
context of a harsh and vicious street life. According to a study in
Ethiopia, girls who spend the night sleeping rough on the street face
another challenge, called “gelbo” in Amharic—literally, “forcefully
undressing a woman”—in which they risk becoming victims of forced
sex by older children living on the street. The study also found that girls
newly arriving on the street are often exploited sexually by older boys
and watchmen of shops at night, in exchange for promises of protection.
The study also revealed that it is common for older children living on
the street to force younger ones to have sex.238
49
4. ADDRESSING CHILD SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION: PROGRESS
Despite the generally gloomy state of affairs described in the preceding
sections of this report, there have been efforts to combat and prevent
CSE in Africa.
Continental and regional guidelines and frameworks have been

developed that are linked to existing global and African child protection
legal instruments including the UNCRC (1989); The Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children (2000); The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000); and The Declaration of the
Arab-African Forum against Sexual Exploitation of Children (2001).
There has been an encouraging trend towards the ratification of

international instruments related to sexual exploitation. For example,
the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography has been ratified by 47 countries.
Only five countries—Cameron, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia and Zambia—have
not yet ratified it.
Still on an encouraging note, all African countries except Congo,

Brazzaville, and Uganda have ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
Another relevant instrument that is especially protective of girls is the
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the
Rights of Women in Africa, which has so far been ratified by 36 out of
54 countries.
Declarations and political commitments in relation to CSE have been

adopted by regional bodies such as the Economic Commission for West
African States, the Economic Community for Central African States,
Middle East and North Africa, and the Southern Africa Development
Community.
50
Box 4.1 The African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage
In May 2014, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights,

the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child,
and the African First Ladies institute initiated the Campaign to End Child
Marriage.
The campaign was initially only for two years, from 2014 to 2016,
targeting ten high burden countries; but it was later extended for another
two years to 2018 and broadened to target 30 high prevalence countries.
It has made impressive gains in advocating for the end of child marriage
on the continent, from supporting stronger national normative
frameworks to harnessing the political commitment of many member
states. This commitment has included the adoption of the African
Common position on the AU Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa
and its accompanying Action Plan.
On 8 February 2018, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare
of the Child adopted the first Joint General Comment on Child Marriage.
At the time of writing this report, in 2019, a new campaign strategy for
2019-2023 period has been developed, and the campaign is now in its
fifth year.
However, at the national level, the 2019 report issued by the Economist
Intelligence Unit, entitled Out of the Shadows239, revealed that only five
out of 19 documented countries scored above 50% on their overall
national efforts to prevent CSE (see aggregate scores in Table 4.1). The
report is derived from a 40-country ‘benchmarking index’ that evaluates
how governments, civil society and the private sector have responded
to CSE, and scores countries across four categories in relation to CSE,
determined and defined as follows:
• Environment: the safety and stability of a country, the social

protections available to families and children, and whether
norms allow open discussion of the issue
• Legal framework: the degree to which a country provides legal
or regulatory protections for children from sexual exploitation
or abuse
51
________________________________ Addressing Child Sexual Exploitation: Progress
• Government commitment and capacity: whether governments

invest in resources to equip institutions and personnel to
respond appropriately, and to collect data to understand the
scope of the problem
• Engagement of industry, civil society and media: the country’s
propensity for addressing risks to children at industry and
community levels, and its provision of support to victims.
Table 4.1: EIU CSE prevention aggregate scores for 19 African countries
Country Overall score

South Africa 58.1
Uganda 57.3
Tanzania 56.5
Kenya 53.8
Rwanda 50.3
Morocco 47.7
Nigeria 47.3
Madagascar 43.6
Mozambique 37.7
Ghana 35.9
Côte d’Ivoire 34.7
Egypt 32.0
Algeria 31.9
Angola 29.7
Ethiopia 29.1
Cameroon 28.9
Niger 28.7
Burkina Faso 28.6
DRC 26.4
(Source: EIU Out of the Shadows report, 2019)
52
_______________________________________________ The Legal and Policy Context
5. THE LEGAL AND POLICY CONTEXT

There is considerable literature that describes progress in countering CSE
in the law and policy context, and more recently a number of studies have
been published that have explored the implementation of international,
continental and regional commitments and obligations (and the
challenges thereof). In various publications on child sexual exploitation
in Africa there are indications that some legislative and policy reforms
have taken place in African states to facilitate improved responses to
CSE; yet it has nonetheless been stated by numerous authors that further
reforms are required.
The previously-mentioned 2019 report by the Economist Intelligence

Unit240 shows that many African countries do have relevant legal
provisions in relation to CSE. For instance, 12 of the 19 African countries
assessed scored 50 or above in relation to their legal frameworks, which
means that they have put in place optimally functional laws.
Some African countries scored relatively highly for the strength of their
legal frameworks in relation to CSE. For example, South Africa’s legal
framework score (77) was higher than that of both the UK (73) and
Germany (73), and South Africa was in the top five countries for highest
overall scores. Kenya (69), Morocco (61) and Nigeria (62) also had legal
framework scores that were well above average.
Legislative provisions and regulations geared towards reducing and

preventing CSE are, however, largely meaningless in the absence of
sufficient social protection and support measures and changes in
societal attitudes; adequate capacity and commitment from government;
and concerted engagement from the non-governmental sector.
The EIU report also reveals considerable variation in terms of the scope
and rigour of legislation relating to the prevention of CSE in Africa.
Common key deficiencies include, among other things, absence or
inadequate treatment in existing law of the issues of: online sexual
exploitation; online grooming; sexual exploitation in the context of
53
domestic work; and sexual abuse in the context of travel and tourism.
There is also widespread failure in existing laws to explicitly categorise
“sexual exploitation” as a criminal offence.
Laws on sexual exploitation

Most laws relating to sexual violence in Africa do not contain explicit
provisions on “sexual exploitation.” Law enforcement personnel often
tend to refer to provisions relating to sexual violence when adjudicating
sexual exploitation cases.
There are, however, encouraging examples. These include: laws that

explicitly define sexual exploitation; laws that address online sexual
exploitation; and laws that address extraterritorial jurisdiction and
extradition in the context of sexual exploitation in travel and tourism.
For instance, the Trafficking in Persons Act (2015) of Malawi defines

exploitation to include, among other things, forced labour or any
extraction of work or services from a person; forced participation of a
person in commercial sexual activity such as prostitution, sexually-
explicit performance, or the production of pornography; and any other
practices in terms of which it cannot be said the person participated
willingly (Part I, Section 2).
One of the strongest laws in this regard is the South African Sexual
Offences Act, which explicitly dedicates a number of sections to the issue
of sexual exploitation. Section 17. (1) of the Act states:
A person (‘‘A’’) who unlawfully and intentionally engages the

services of a child complainant (‘‘B’’), with or without the
consent of B, for financial or other reward, favour or
compensation to B or to a third person (‘‘C’’)— (a) for the purpose
of engaging in a sexual act with B, irrespective of whether the
sexual act is committed or not; or (b) by committing a sexual act
with B, is, in addition to any other offence which he or she may
be convicted of, guilty of the sexual exploitation of a child.
54
The penal codes of some countries either contain explicit provisions

criminalising child sexual exploitation, or criminalise the practice
through broader definitions of sexual abuse or sexual violence.
Article 330 of the Penal Code of Benin criminalizes rape, sexual

exploitation and trafficking, and imposes a severe penalty when the
crimes are committed against women and children under 15 years of
age. The country’s law also provides for penalties for persons who are
aware of sexual harassment and do not report it, and hence protects
children from parental consent and/or connivance.
The Penal Code of Senegal (Article 319) includes aspects of exploitation

under its provision on sexual harassment. The code defines “sexual
harassment” to include the use of orders, gestures, threats, words,
writings or constraints to obtain sexual favours through a person
abusing the authority conferred by his or her function.
Laws on online sexual exploitation

A number of countries have developed legislation in an attempt to
protect children from online CSE, and to take the necessary actions
against perpetrators. For example, South Africa’s primary legislative
instrument to combat and prevent online CSE (and especially child
pornography) is the Film and Publications Board Act (1996) (as
amended). According to the Act, the failure to report images or
occurrences of child pornography about which one is aware to relevant
authorities is a criminal offence. Furthermore, the Criminal Law (Sexual
Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act (2007) criminalizes
sexual grooming of children and the exposure of children to
pornography.241
Section 16 of the Cybercrime and Computer Related Matters Act 2007

of Botswana defines the term “child pornography” to include material
that visually or otherwise depicts: (i) a child engaged in sexually explicit
conduct; (ii) a person who appears to be a child engaged in sexually
explicit conduct; or (iii) realistic images representing a child engaged in
sexually explicit conduct.
55
In Malawi, establishments serving the public, and places open to the

public providing access to internet, are obliged to use adequate
pornography filtering software as defined by subsidiary legislation under
the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act (2016). Failure to
comply with the obligation is an offence punishable, upon conviction,
with a fine of MK10,000,000 (US$13,725.14) and imprisonment for
15 years.
At the regional level, the AU adopted a Convention on Cyber Security

and Personal Data Protection in 2014, which, among other things,
criminalises child pornography and sexualised representations of
children. Unfortunately, this convention has, to date, been ratified by
only two states, and signed by only ten.
Laws focusing on breaches of power, authority, trust and

control
While sexual exploitation is often perpetrated by people abusing their
positions of power, trust, confidence and moral authority over the child,
these factors are seldom recognised in law. There are some
encouraging exceptions, however. For instance, section 296 of
Cameroon’s Penal Code242 states:
Whoever by force or moral ascendancy compels any female
whether above or below the age of puberty to have sexual
intercourse… shall be punished with imprisonment from 5 to 10
years. Section 298 doubles the penalty if the offender –
a) Has authority over the victim, or custody of [her] by law or

by custom; or
b) Is a public servant or minister of religion; or
c) Is helped by one or more others
A similar provision highlighting the importance of misusing positions of

authority or confidence as an important ingredient of sexual exploitation
is contained in Togo’s Children’s Code. Under article 396, the Code
defines sexual abuse to include
56
…an act of sexual contact against a child by person in a position

of authority or of confidence vis-à-vis the child or by a person
upon whom the child is dependent.
The Criminal Code (Amendment Act) makes it an offence for a person

with control, custody or care of a child under the age of 16 years of age
to cause or encourage the seduction, sexual activity, unnatural sexual
activity, and prostitution or commission of indecent assault against a
child. A violation of this law is, however, only a misdemeanour, which
means it is considered a less serious offence (generally punishable by
a fine, or in some countries by imprisonment not in excess of one year).
Anti-human trafficking laws

Many countries have enacted laws criminalizing human trafficking and
some countries—including Ethiopia, Burundi, Botswana, Namibia, South
Africa and Uganda—impose maximum penalties when the trafficking
victim is a child.
• The Prevention of Organized Crime Act 2009 of Namibia
criminalises all forms of trafficking by recognizing trafficking as
a form of organized crime, and prescribes sentences of up to
50 years’ imprisonment and a fine for persons who participate
in trafficking offences or aid and abet traffickers.
• The Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act

(PACOTIP) (7/2013) of South Africa criminalises all forms of
human trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from fines
of up to 100 million South African rand ($7.3 million) to life
imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offence. The
country’s Sexual Offences Act not only implicates the actual
traffickers, but also those who contribute to the act by, among
other things, encouraging, promoting, supervising, advising or
commanding the act (sec. 71(1)).
• The Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2014 of Botswana (section

9) imposes upon a perpetrator of trafficking for the purposes
of forced labour or exploitation of another person in prostitution
57
a term of imprisonment of up to 30 years and/or a fine not

exceeding one million Botswana pula (approximately USD
93,170).243
• The Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Persons and

Smuggling of Migrants Proclamation No. 909 (Anti-Trafficking
Act) of Ethiopia, adopted in 2015, makes it an aggravating
circumstance if the victim of any of the crimes under this Act is
a child, and provides for a penalty of imprisonment from 25
years to life.244
• The Penal Code of Cabo Verde, under article 271-A, not only
criminalizes all forms of trafficking, but also prescribes
penalties for those who have knowledge of trafficking crimes or
who use the services of trafficking victims (one to five years’
imprisonment) and those who retain, conceal, damage, or
destroy trafficking victims’ identity documents (up to three
years’ imprisonment). This is an important provision because
the confiscation of identity documents is a recurring challenge
faced by victims of trafficking, and a tactic used by human
traffickers and smugglers to sexually exploit their victims.
• Law No. 2016-111 of Côte d’Ivoire on the Fight Against

Trafficking in Persons not only criminalises trafficking, but also
explicitly allows the courts to reduce the sentences imposed for
those who alert the authorities, prevent the trafficking offence
from taking place, or identify accomplices.
Laws on child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism

Very few laws exist in Africa that explicitly criminalize child sex tourism
or child sexual exploitation committed in the travel and tourism sectors.
Encouraging examples in this regard include the following:
• The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of Lesotho criminalizes
trafficking, broadly defined as the act of recruiting, transporting,
transferring, harbouring, providing or receiving a person “by any
means” for the purposes of prostitution, pornography, sexual
58
exploitation, forced labour, drug trafficking, slavery, involuntary

servitude or debt bondage, as well as for other ends such as
marriage with a foreign person, tourism packages for the
purposes of sexual exploitation, adoptions, or organ removal
(emphasis added).
• The Kenyan Sexual Offences Act of 2006, under Sections 14

and 15, criminalises the facilitation of child sex tourism and
“child prostitution,” and prescribes a punishment of no less
than 10 years’ imprisonment.
• The Tourism Offences Act of 2003 of the Gambia criminalizes
child sex trafficking and prescribes a penalty of 10 years’
imprisonment. The inclusion of child sex trafficking in an act
regulating the tourism sector is an acknowledgment of the risks
of child sex trafficking within the sector.
Laws on minimum age of marriage

Legislation in a number of African countries fails to provide proper
protection from sexual exploitation for children in the context of child
marriage.
Of the 54 African countries, 36 have set the minimum marriageable

age at 18 or above, equally for both girls and boys. Algeria, Lesotho and
Rwanda have a higher minimum age with no gender discrimination,
while in Burundi, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo it is 18 or
above for girls, but higher for boys. The remaining countries have a
minimum age of marriage for girls below 18, with some of them having
discriminatory ages for boys (Figure 5.1). Such disparities can expose
girls to a greater risk of child sexual exploitation.
In recent years, commendable progress has been made in some

countries—such as Zimbabwe and Malawi—to bring the law on minimum
marriageable age in line with international standards. But the minimum
age of marriage is as low as 10 years in Sudan, or 15 in seven further
countries.
59
Figure 5.1: African countries with minimum age of marriage below 18

years
Source: Compiled by ACPF from “Child Law Resources,” 2019
Law on minimum age of sexual consent

The legally accepted age at which a child can engage in consensual sex
by and large determines whether or not sexual exploitation of children
can be strongly defended in legal proceedings. The CRC and the ACRWC
do not contain any specific provisions related to the minimum age of
sexual consent—that is to say, the age at which a child can, with her or
his informed and voluntarily given consent, and with full knowledge of
the consequences of the risks involved, engage in sexual activities.
The CRC Committee does however recommend that States Parties

provide adolescents with access to sexual and reproductive health
information, including on family planning and contraceptives, the risks
associated with early pregnancies, the prevention of HIV/AIDS and the
prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.245
60
Given that many cultures view consummation as a prerequisite for a

valid marriage, governments should act to ensure the minimum age of
marriage is set higher than that for sexual consent. Where the age limit
for giving sexual consent is lower than the age of marriage, it can be
used as a pretext for early marriage.
In many countries, no specific minimum age of sexual consent has been

set. Where it has been set, it is all too often too low, or inconsistent with
other legislation, such as legislation on the age of marriage (Table 5.1).
In 14 countries, the minimum age of sexual consent is 16 years. In

seven countries it is 15 years (Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon,
Mali, Seychelles and Togo).246 In Sudan, the minimum age of sexual
consent is 18 years for girls, but girls as young as 10 are legally allowed
to marry—and furthermore, the law specifically protects a husband from
prosecution for sex within marriage to a girl aged under 18 years
(Section 316 (a), Sudanese Penal Code, 2003).
Table 5.1
Table 5.1
Table Minimum
Minimum age consent
age of sexual of sexual consent
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Central African R.
Congo
DRC
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gambia
Algeria Kenya
Benin* Lesotho
Cameroon Liberia
Ghana Libya**
Guinea Mauritania
Guinea‐Bissau Morocco
Malawi Nigeria
Comoros Mauritius Rwanda
Côte d’Ivoire Mozambique Sierra Leone
Djibouti Namibia Somalia
Angola Gabon Senegal South Sudan
Chad Cape Verde Mali South Africa Tanzania
Niger Madagascar Seychelles Zambia Tunisia
Sahrawi Arab D. R. São Tomé & Príncipe Togo Zimbabwe Uganda
13 14 15 16 18
Minimum age for sexual consent
* For girls
**For girls, 16 with parents’ consent
61
Related to this is the existence of legislation that allows a perpetrator

of rape, including statutory rape of a minor, to be excused of his crime
if he marries his victim. Such laws not only legitimize abusive unions,
but can also potentially deepen problems of child abduction for sexual
exploitation. According to Article 351 of the Penal Code of Guinea,
anyone who abducts and deports a child under 18 years of age, or
attempts to, will be sent to prison for 2-5 years or pay a fine of 50 000
to 200 000 Guinean francs. Besides imposing what is a light penalty
under the circumstances, the Article goes on to state that, if the
abducted child marries her abductor, the latter will be indicted only if a
legal complaint is lodged by persons capable of requesting the
nullification of the marriage, and will be condemned only after the
marriage is annulled. A similar provision mitigating the crime of rape if
followed by marriage is found in Article 348 of the Senegalese Penal
Code.
Such provisions not only potentially encourage the abduction of female
children, but also encourage child marriage, given the limited possibility
for parents or caregivers to come forward and call for nullification of
such marriages (notwithstanding the fact that in some cases these
marriages might even have been done with their tacit consent).
Laws on extraterritorial jurisdiction and extradition

Given the international nature of some of the sexual exploitation
offences committed against children, extraterritorial jurisdiction and
extradition become a crucial consideration, especially in countries
where legislation is weak or absent.
The laws of South Africa and Angola247 allow extraterritorial jurisdiction

and extradition of sex offenders. The Law of Angola awards jurisdiction
to national courts over anyone accused of CSE on Angolan territory, or
when the act is committed outside the country by an Angolan citizen or
resident of Angola, provided that the act is punishable by the law of the
place of its commission.
A similar provision is contained in the South African Sexual Offences

Act. Section 61(1) of the Act states:
62
Even if the act alleged to constitute a sexual offence or other

offence under this Act occurred outside the Republic, a court
of the Republic, whether or not the act constitutes an offence
at the place of its commission, has, subject to subsections (4)
and (5), jurisdiction in respect of that offence if the person to
be charged—
(a) is a citizen of the Republic; (b) is ordinarily resident in the

Republic; (c) was arrested in the territory of the Republic, or in
its territorial waters or on board a ship or aircraft registered or
required to be registered in the Republic at the time the offence
was committed; (d) is a company, incorporated or registered as
such under any law, in the Republic; or (e) anybody of persons,
corporate or unincorporated, in the Republic.
Despite the existence of such policy frameworks, their effectiveness is

moot. In Tanzania, for example, an evaluation of legislated child
protection measures (including protections relating to CSE) showed that
such measures have not been effective—in fact, CSE levels had
increased after the relevant policy and legislation were significantly
reformed. The key reason for this ineffectiveness was the fact that most
cases of child sexual exploitation took place within the family home.248
63
_______________________________________________________ Prevention Efforts
6. PREVENTION EFFORTS
6.1 CHANGING NORMS AND ATTITUDES
Growing public sensitivity towards child rights in Africa has meant that
discussions about sexual violence are no longer considered taboo.
Campaigns to change norms and attitudes have targeted predominant
views that regard girls as inferior to boys or as having less worth, and
those views that embolden masculinity and male dominance.
There are encouraging practices in some areas, with potential for

replication elsewhere on the continent.
Box 6.1: Changing attitudes towards violence through

community-based approaches
Designed by Raising Voices and implemented in Kampala, Uganda by

the Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention, the SASA! approach seeks
to change individuals’ attitudes, community norms and structures by
supporting entire communities through a phased process of change.
SASA! (Kiswahili for “NOW!”) uses community-based approaches that
engage both men and women in preventing violence against women.
In communities where men and women participated in the programme,
women experienced 52% less physical intimate partner violence, and
the social acceptance of violence fell. Among women who did
experience intimate partner violence, appropriate community responses
more than doubled, and a follow-up study suggested there was a triple
benefit for children. This also led to a 64% reduction in the prevalence
of children witnessing intimate partner violence in their home.
Source: Watts et al. 2014249
Successful campaigns to create public awareness have used radio,

television and the print media. Examples include a television drama
series in Nigeria educating the public on the vices of trafficking in
women, instituted by Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication
64
Foundation and Mrs Titi Abubakar, wife of former Nigerian Vice

President Atiku Abubakar. This weekly drama series, called Izozo, is
broadcast on national television and focuses mainly on the evils of child
labour and child trafficking.250
Other emerging practices in some countries have also proved effective

in building skills in self-protection, self-awareness and self-confidence.
An initiative to empower adolescent girls in self-protection skills called
“No Means No”251 has been shown to be effective; also called IMpower,
the programme was developed in Kenya and seeks to improve
adolescents’ self-esteem and ability to defend themselves against the
risk of sexual violence. Through the programme, girls learn to identify risks
and say “no,” and talk their way out of trouble. If that “no” is not respected,
girls learn physical skills to enforce their position. The programme also
targets boys, teaching them to challenge rape myths, to ask for consent,
and to intervene if they anticipate or witness predatory behaviour on the
part of others. A review of the programme found a significantly increased
(34%) likelihood of disclosure of sexual violence among the intervention
group, and an annual decline in sexual assault rates of 38%.
Box 6.2: Life skills training on gender based violence and

partner relationships
Stepping Stones is a life skills training programme found to be effective

at curbing physical and sexual intimate partner violence among male
and female 15-26-year-olds. Designed to improve sexual health by
developing stronger, more equal relationships between partners, the
programme addresses issues such as gender-based violence,
communication about HIV, and relationship skills and assertiveness.
Findings of an evaluation of the programme in Eastern Cape Province,

South Africa, indicated that in the two-year period following an
intervention with female and male participants aged 15–26 years, boys
and men demonstrated a reduction in violent and exploitative
behaviour. Compared with the baseline, participants in the intervention
were involved in fewer incidents of intimate partner violence, rape and
“transactional sex.”
Source: http://www.mrc.ac.za/policybriefs/steppingstones.pdf
65
Not all such results are positive, however. A study of refugee girls in
Ethiopia found that standalone empowerment interventions252 were
ineffective in reducing the risk of sexual exploitation, including
exploitation that is transactional in nature. It was recommended that a
more comprehensive basket of interventions was required “to address
broader structural barriers.”253
There is general consensus that for all forms of CSE to be effectively

prevented, interventions need to adopt context-specific, rights-based,
child-centred approaches, and operate in a coordinated manner at
multiple levels and in settings such as among families/caregivers, in
communities and in institutions (e.g. schools and care centres).254 There
should also be stronger partnerships to improve prevention between
various arms of government (particularly law enforcement),
practitioners, the private sector and academia. 255
One successful initiative to tackle online sexual exploitation is the

‘Make-IT-safe’ campaign.256 This campaign lobbies the information
technology industry and governments to make new online technology
safe for children and young people everywhere. It also empowers young
people to promote internet safety, and encourages cyber-cafes around
the world to sign a code of conduct. The campaign, led by ECPAT
International and the Children’s Charities Coalition for Internet Safety,
was initiated in 2005, and has been joined by children’s groups in 67
countries, including countries in Africa.
The make-IT-safe campaign has been applied in The Gambia by the

Child Protection Alliance, in collaboration with the Department of Social
Welfare, to sensitize schools, internet cafe owners and internet service
providers to the dangers that children face online. In Kenya, the
campaign has raised awareness about the dangers of violence in
cyberspace among children and adults, addressing local attitudes that
perceive this simply to be a concern in other countries. Young people
are carrying the campaign to all parts of Kenya, working with internet
cafe owners to set up monitoring systems and raising awareness about
the safe use of the internet in schools and universities. The campaign
provides mobilization and campaign materials, including stickers, flyers
66
and t-shirts, as well as postcards for display in internet cafes with

information on the care and protection of their younger visitors.
Box 6.3: Protecting children in contact with peacekeeping missions
In 2019 the UN Secretary-General released a report on the special

measures that the UN had been undertaking to facilitate greater
protection from sexual exploitation and abuse around peacekeeping
and peace support operations, particularly in the context of UN
activities.
It was reported that the UN had improved coordination and collaboration

efforts in this regard across the various UN agencies and with
humanitarian organisations. Furthermore, the report indicated that the
UN had made progress in “mainstreaming” a victim-centred approach,
including by implementing mechanisms to prevent the appointment of
personnel with a history of sexual exploitation.
The UN has also encouraged the AU to adopt a similar approach with

respect to peacekeeping personnel deployed under AU mandates.
In addition, the Office of the Victims’ Rights Advocate sent victims’ rights
advocates to the field in a number of African countries, including the
Central African Republic, DRC, Liberia and South Sudan. Some of these
interventions resulted in the establishment of complaint mechanisms,
better access to legal services, and improved availability of livelihood
and psycho-social support.
(UN Secretary-General, 2019).257
6.2 ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR

Sexual exploitation is an area in which private sector involvement is
inevitable. Telecommunications, travel and tourism and the media
(including the print media) all have roles to play as providers of most of
the services that are used as vehicles for child sexual exploitation.
NGOs involved in evidence generation, advocacy and victim support
services can also play significant roles.258
67
The previously-cited 2019 Economist Intelligence Unit study259 revealed

generally low levels of engagement with the issue of sexual exploitation
by industry, civil society and media. The exceptions were in Uganda,
South Africa, Tanzania and Nigeria, which were reported to have high
levels of engagement with these sectors. Of particular concern, however,
were particularly low levels of civil society engagement in—for example—
Mozambique, Ghana and Rwanda. South Africa and Kenya were
considered to have high levels of engagement in the technology sector.
There was relatively weak engagement, however, by the travel and

tourism sector in many of the main tourism destinations in Africa. For
example, Kenya, Egypt, Mozambique, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania,
Rwanda and Egypt all had low engagement within the sector. In South
Africa and Morocco, however—both also popular countries for
international tourists—there was significant engagement within the
travel and tourism sector with respect to preventing CSE.260
Perhaps one of the strongest indications of ongoing engagement with

the private sector has been the Code of Conduct for the Protection of
Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism (Box 6.4).
68
Box 6.4 The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from
Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism261
The Code of Conduct was initiated by ECPAT International as a multi-
stakeholder initiative to provide awareness, tools and support to the
tourism industry in order to combat the sexual exploitation of children
in tourism destinations. The Code is one of the first initiatives to define
the role and obligations of tourism organisations regarding child sexual
exploitation.
Tour operators and tourism organisations that sign the Code of Conduct
commit to:
• Establishing policy and procedures to prevent and stop sexual

exploitation of children
• Training employees in children’s rights, the prevention of sexual
exploitation and how to report suspected cases
• Including a clause in contracts throughout the value chain stating
a common repudiation and zero tolerance policy of sexual
exploitation of children
• Providing information to travellers on children’s rights, the
prevention of sexual exploitation of children, and how to report
suspected cases
• Supporting, collaborating with and engaging stakeholders in the
prevention of sexual exploitation of children.
As of March 2019, the Code had 325 member companies across 150
countries, and around 960 000 staff had been trained. Those known
as “Top Members”—i.e. the companies that had excelled in their
implementation of the six steps—included Accor Hotels, Carlson, Hilton
Worldwide, the Tui Group and the Mexican airline Volaris.
Despite putting the Code in place, there was considerable scepticism

about its effectiveness, as it was thought not to be adequately policed
and enforced.262
With regards to the digital world, there is a lot more that industry can
do to stem sexual exploitation in the online environment. This could
include:263
69
• Creating products and services that are “safe by design”

• Stopping child sexual abuse material being shared or generated
via companies’ online platforms
• Proactively identifying, and taking action to remove, offending
material
• Proactively identifying those who seek to use their platforms to
groom and exploit vulnerable people
• Investing in global technology innovation and making it available
across the wider, trusted, industry community
• Contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the threat
through forums with government, international and non-
governmental organisations, and law enforcement partners.
70
__________________________________________ Implementation and Enforcement
7. IMPLEMENTATION AND
ENFORCEMENT
7.1 ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS

With or without good laws to protect children from sexual exploitation,
the law enforcement process in many African countries is plagued by
numerous obstacles at all levels. Despite variations among countries
in terms of legal systems, frameworks, traditions and enforcement
capacities, the challenges they face are often similar. These include:
• Failure to understand the nature of child exploitation

• Corruption
• Enforcement that does not keep pace with new forms of child
sexual exploitation
• Weak judicial processes
• Lack of capacity and resources
• Fragmentation of efforts across sectors and actors
• Under-reporting.
Globally, there is considerable variation across regions and countries

in terms of CSE prevention efforts. It is therefore clear that significant
improvements are required in relation to policy, legislation, interventions
and services. In one survey of child maltreatment experts in 73
countries it was reported that in approximately two-thirds of the
countries surveyed, law enforcement authorities “often” or “sometimes”
prosecuted citizens and foreigners suspected of engaging in CSE—but
not always.264
Capacity challenges varied between countries, with law enforcement

capacity a key issue of concern for many countries, such as Uganda,
Ghana and Morocco.265
71
In several contexts, the capacity and behaviour of law enforcement and

judicial officers were potential problems in prosecuting perpetrators.
Their attitudes towards rape and sexual violence suggested that they
regarded gender-based crimes as crimes of a lesser sort, and not worth
prosecuting. In some cases, the police themselves settled cases without
referral to court; even prosecutors sometimes pressured victims to
settle matters out of court.266 This, coupled with the predominance of
male-dominated court systems, makes systems less likely to protect
women’s rights and overturn discriminatory decisions. This in turn
highlights the need to engage with men to combat sexual exploitation
of children—and particularly with chiefs and other community leaders
who wield authority.267
Even when complaints procedures exist that enable aggrieved children

to report cases of abuse, provision of appropriate legal support remains
a challenge. Normally, investigations begin after the police have
received reports of abuse against a child. Procedures currently in place
in the country cannot be relied on to ensure the child friendliness of
the investigation process—such as, for example, making sure to
videotape children’s testimony and present the recording to the court
as official evidence, in order to avoid re-victimization or re-
traumatisation through requiring repeated testimonies.268 In Sierra
Leone, for example, due to limited office space in many police stations,
staff are forced to conduct interviews with child victims in open spaces
that intimidate children. 269
The hostile or unfriendly nature of the court environment can also force
victims to boycott legal proceedings. Victims are re-victimised when
subject to rigorous cross-examination by defence lawyers, especially
when they do not have adequate legal representation from the
prosecutor.270
Access to victim support programmes was also fairly dire in the majority
of countries in the Economist Intelligence Unit study,271 even among
some of the countries with a relatively high level of victim support
services, such as South Africa and Uganda. Even in cases where CSE
victims were able to access support, the quality of care was not
72
necessarily high. In Kenya, for instance, where victims of sexual abuse

required hospital treatment, it was reported that staff were
inadequately trained; there was a lack of essential equipment; and
there was poor coordination of services.272
Box 7.1 South Africa’s Sexual Offences Courts
First developed in South Africa, the Sexual Offences Courts are special
courtrooms that deal only with sexual offences. Their aim is to ensure
that perpetrators are brought to justice while supporting the notion that
the victims of crime must be the focus of the court system. This way,
rape survivors, for example, are able to testify during the court case
while receiving support.
These courts provide special services to rape survivors and other

witnesses. They have a special courtroom and a testifying room with
CCTV equipment so that children and other vulnerable victims can
testify from a separate room without having to see the perpetrator while
they talk about what happened to them. In short, these courts, with
specially trained prosecutors, court supporters and magistrates, are
sensitive to the survivor. They help to:
• reduce the level of trauma experienced by survivors;

• speed up cases so they are completed more quickly;
• improve court decisions or judgements, because the people
working in these courts are skilful, experienced experts;
• give more people hope that reporting rape will work out well, so
more rape survivors report their cases to the police; and
• get more convictions and send more perpetrators to jail.
Source: The Shukumisa Coalition: https://shukumisa.org.za/wp-

content/uploads/2017/11/Shukumisa-fact-sheet-sexual-offences-court.pdf
In terms of addressing human trafficking, one hurdle that countries

have to overcome is the lack of formal agreements and collaborative
frameworks between countries of destination and origin of trafficked
victims. Nigeria offers an example in this regard (Box 7.2).
73
Box 7.2: Stemming trafficking from the receiving end
The Nigerian government, aware of the fact that Nigeria is an important

country of origin of children and young women trafficked for sexual
purposes to Europe, signed agreements with known destination and/or
transit countries.
It is known, for example, that most children and young women trafficked
for sexual purposes end up in Italy. The Italian Government was also
increasingly concerned with the high number of Nigerian minors and
young women being trafficked into Italy for the purposes of sexual
exploitation and the violation of human rights that that involves. In
September 2000, Nigeria and Italy signed a bilateral agreement
designed to combat clandestine immigration, which included
commitments relating to welfare and respect of human rights in the
repatriation of illegal migrants.
In 2003, Nigeria enacted a law banning human trafficking (The

Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration
Act, 2003) and created a body or Agency charged with the responsibility
to enforce, administer and manage the law prohibiting human trafficking
and other related matters.273
In some countries, limited government action has meant that

community members have taken the initiative to combat child
exploitation in travel and tourism. For example, in the island of Nosy Be,
off the northwest coast of Madagascar, community-based resistance
to CSE has paid off. On this island, a group of about eight volunteers
patrols the streets; if a girl is found outside who is under 18 years of
age, or who is without identification, she is escorted to the police
station. Hotel managers are obliged to check the IDs of sex workers who
show up in their hotels to ensure they are over 18 years old, and
community patrols are permitted to check hotel rooms if it is suspected
there are underage girls inside.274
74
7.2 RESPONSE AND SUPPORT SERVICES

Most African countries have non-existent or very weak complaint and
response mechanisms and/or referral systems to guarantee the
security of, and medical, legal and psychosocial assistance for, the
victims of sexual exploitation.275
A study involving girls who have been victimised through “transactional

sex” in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger revealed that such children often
experienced sexual violence from clients, community members, and/or
the police, but that they did not approach child protection services to
report the violence.276 Key reasons for this included attitudinal and
sociocultural factors and the inadequate resources allocated by
government to these services. 277
There are also unclear reporting procedures for cases of violence, and
a particular lack of procedures that:
• Guarantee the confidentiality of the victim
• Identify alternative adults to contact when adults in positions
of authority are involved in acts of sexual exploitation
• Identify alternative adults to contact when so-called amicable
settlements are pursued outside of court by parents and
perpetrators.278
A 2010 study found that in Senegal, for example, 74% of abused girls
did not report, for a combination of reasons; in Burkina Faso the figure
was 57%, and in Cameroon it was 59%.279
Victims often also fail to report abuse because of intimidation and/or

a fear of reprisal from perpetrators. The measures recommended by
the applicable international standards for the prevention of
intimidation—such as imposition of physical or legal restraints on the
accused through judicial restraining orders, pre-trial detention and/or
house arrest to avoid direct contact between child victims, witnesses
and alleged perpetrators—are not adhered to.
75
Children may also not report abuse because they feel that parents and
guardians will not be supportive, or may not believe them. If the victim
or the victim’s parents complain to the relevant authorities, the
complaint often falls on deaf ears—especially when the acts are
committed by people in power or positions of authority—as authorities
do not want to acknowledge such abuse.
Victims may also remain silent about abuse because of shame or fear
of embarrassment if the incident becomes public. Fear and shame are
barriers to reporting and, therefore, to ensuring that victims receive the
necessary support.280
In light of these challenges, an increasing number of countries in Africa

have implemented child helplines to report abuse. Malawi has
introduced an Android mobile application281 that is used by clients and
stakeholders to report cases of online child sexual abuse. The
application also has a panic button that can be used by clients to
request urgent support when they are at risk of abuse or when they are
being abused.282 Growing awareness and easier accessibility of the
services has meant that the percentage of children reporting abuse
annually has grown consistently from 26.2% in 2015 to 35.5% in 2018.
On top of general low rates of reporting, late reporting is a further

serious issue in dealing with CSE. It is of particular concern because of
the difficulties involved in securing evidence, and particularly medical
evidence that may lose its probative value over time.
Identification of child victims is often through referral by institutions

providing health care, education and other services to children. Upon
suspicion of a crime, these structures either inform the police or direct
child victims, parents and guardians to the police.
Prosecution can be made more difficult given the fact that while
medical and psychological services for victims of sexual exploitation are
very limited in many countries, victims may still be required to obtain a
medical report in order to file charges. Sexual exploitation offences are
also difficult to prove through eyewitness accounts, because they are
often committed in secret.283 Due to these and related factors,
76
investigation of a considerable number of cases is discontinued for lack

of evidence.
Studies have identified a range of weaknesses and obstacles with

regard to existing CSE responses and prevention. In Kenya, Malawi,
Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, less than 10% of survivors of child
abuse had accessed government health support services.284 With
respect to trafficking in children, a South African study indicated that
relevant authorities, including social workers, often encountered
challenges in identifying child trafficking victims due to inadequate
detailed knowledge of child trafficking and the investigation of
trafficking cases—which are often concealed, and/or take place with
the consent of the child’s family.285
Some countries, including but not limited to Morocco, South Africa,

Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and Ethiopia, have introduced one-
stop centres to provide integrated services to victims. But these centres,
except those in Morocco and South Africa, are very few in number, and
are concentrated in capital cities or in a few major cities.
More positively, about five years ago Morocco had established 76

specialized units for child victims of violence in provincial, regional and
university public hospitals,286 and South Africa’s Thuthuzela Centres
have now been expanded to the majority of the provinces.
77
Box 7.3 South Africa’s One-Stop Thuthuzela Care Centres: turning

victims into survivors
Thuthuzela means “comfort” in Xhosa. The Thuthuzela Care Centres in

South Africa are a reaction to an urgent need for an integrated strategy
for prevention, response and support for rape victims. The initiative is
led by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Sexual Offences and
Community Affairs Unit (SOCA), in partnership with donors. One-stop
Thuthuzela Care Centres aim to reduce secondary trauma for victims
of sexual violence, improve conviction rates, and reduce the timeframe
for finalizing cases. Rape survivors who come to the centres have
access to all relevant service providers in a single location, helping to
ensure their comfort, restore their dignity and offer them justice.
Given the growing number of child victims coming to the centres, the
presence of specially trained child-friendly nurses or caregivers to
receive and comfort children before they are taken for examination is
essential. The centres operate in public hospitals located in
communities where rape levels are particularly high, and are linked to
sexual offences courts staffed by prosecutors, social workers,
investigating officers, magistrates, health professionals, NGOs and
police. The centres themselves are managed by interdepartmental
teams comprising representatives of the departments for justice,
health, education, the treasury, correctional services, safety and
security, local government, home affairs and social development,
together with designated civil society organisations.
There is clear evidence that these facilities have improved the process
of reporting and prosecuting rape and other sexual offences, and
contributed to reducing secondary trauma among survivors.
Source: The National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, “Thuthuzela Care

Centre. Turning victims into Survivors”
The availability of specialised units within the police and judicial

functions provides greater access to child-friendly policy and justice
services. For instance, in Zimbabwe, the Police have introduced a
dedicated specialized unit that polices crime against women and
children. Called the Victim Friendly Unit (VFU), it carries out crime
78
awareness campaigns in communities, targeting potential abusers and

victims and their families. Similar specialised police units are available
in Namibia, Zambia, and Malawi.287
A lack of knowledge about sexual exploitation and other similar offences

among law enforcement officers is another crucial issue. In Malawi, for
instance, there is limited knowledge among judicial and prosecution
officers, particularly of newly or recently-enacted laws such as the
Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act (2016), the Trafficking in
Persons Act (2015) and the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act
(2016).288 This lack of knowledge can limit prosecution of—for example—
online sex offenders, as prosecutors resort to using outdated Penal
Codes with which they are more familiar to charge suspected offenders.
Older codes often carry relatively lenient penalties.
Another important issue is the fact that the majority of countries do not
have adequate registration systems, including for such vital functions
as registration of birth services. This has consequences for enforcing
children’s rights. It undermines their ability to prove their legal identity
and age in court proceedings, which can be crucially important,
especially when they are subjected to sexual exploitation and child
marriage. The fact that births are not registered in many countries also
contributes to the failure to prosecute perpetrators. Often, the victims
of child marriage and sexual exploitation cannot prove that they are
children.
Figure 7.1 shows wide disparities in the availability and function of these
services. Some countries (especially those in North Africa such as
Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia) have universal birth registration, while
coverage of birth registration in many others is extremely low—just 3%
in Ethiopia, for example.
79
Figure 7.1: Countries with highest and lowest birth registration coverage
(per cent)
Source: Based on data from UNICEF, 2017
When birth certificates, immunization or baptismal cards and school

records (such as a school identity card indicating date of birth) cannot
be presented for victims, courts have often acquitted alleged defilers
on the basis that the victim behaved like an adult and engaged in sexual
intercourse. The use of law alone as a means of regulating child
marriage is, therefore, in no way sufficient unless it is accompanied by
services like birth registration.
This was illustrated in the Kenyan case of Omus Kiringi Chivatsi v

Republic (Box 7.4) .289
80
Box 7.4: Access to justice for sexual victims through the courts
A sexual offences case involving Omus Kiringi Chivatsi v the Republic,290

in which the accused was said to have defiled a 16-year-old girl, was
presented before the High Court of Kenya in 2017.
The court considered a defence provided by law: that the accused

reasonably believed that the victim was over the age of 18. The court
thought that although the offence of defilement is proved whenever
sexual penetration and the age and identity of the defiler are
established, there is need to analyse the circumstances of the case so
as to exclude the presence of the conditions provided for under section
8(5) of the Sexual Offences Act. This states that where the alleged victim
was not complaining, but enjoying the relationship, then depending on
the circumstances of the case, the accused should be accorded the
benefit of doubt.
The court found that the girl behaved like an adult and engaged in
sexual intercourse.
This case followed the 2015 case of Martin Charo v. Republic, which
similarly overturned a conviction on the grounds that: (i) the victim
behaved like an adult and engaged in sexual intercourse; (ii) the
accused “was not expected to inquire from several people about the
age of the complainant”; and (iii) “the relationship continued for quite
a long time to the extent that age became a non-issue”.
The Omus case has been relied upon since by individuals charged with
defilement. In Samuel Nzioka David v the Republic (2019), the appellant
appealed his conviction and in so doing relied on the reasoning in Omus,
arguing, among other things, that the prosecution did not prove its case
beyond reasonable doubt since the age assessment report of the victim
was inconclusive, the victim “wilfully participated in the sexual activity,”
and she behaved like an adult.
In dismissing the appeal, however, the court was progressive enough to

consider that the accused did not take any cogent steps to ascertain
the victim’s age “before engaging with her and [could not therefore] be
accorded relief”.
81
The most perennial problem of all in this area is, perhaps, the issue of
human resources and budgetary capacity. The child protection
workforce in Africa is mainly made up of volunteers and NGO
employees. In Malawi, for instance, the National Plan of Action for
Vulnerable Children (2015-2019) indicated that the country had 800
Child Protection Workers (CPWs), of whom only 37.5% (300) were on
government payroll, while the rest were volunteers.291
Financial resources allocated to policies and programmes to address

violence against children, including child sexual exploitation, have been
very limited globally. Few governments set aside specific funding for
violence-related interventions, and most acknowledge a lack of
resources in this area. As shown in Figure 7.2, a 2013 UN global survey
on violence against children found that only 5% of governments
indicated that they provide full resources for policies and programmes
to address violence against children, while 10% said that no resources
at all were allocated.
CSE prevention plans also require specific (and realistic) budget

allocations from governments. In Kenya, for example, a study showed
that despite the development of a comprehensive National Plan of
Action Against Sexual Exploitation of Children (2013–2017),
implementation had been lacklustre, as the stated activities did not
have specific budget allocations.292Government budget allocations to
child protection across Africa are estimated to be only 1% of GDP.293
82
Figure 7.2: Funding allocated to address violence against children
Source: UN (2013).294
For instance, in Malawi, during the 2018-19 Fiscal Year, the total
government budget allocation (to ministries, departments and agencies
(MDAs))295 for child protection was MK27.7 billion, representing 1.9%
of the total approved national budget during the financial year. In
2017/18, the comparable child protection budget allocation accounted
for 3% of approved national budget, despite the actual allocation being
lower. Adjusted for inflation, budget allocations to child protection
decreased at an annual average of 4% between 2012/13 and
2017/18.296 With the exception of 2013/14, Plan Malawi and UNICEF
each contributed more resources to child protection interventions than
the government during the period covered by the analysis. This finding
is corroborated by findings in the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability
and Social Welfare 2015 report, which showed that external support
accounted for 91% of spending on child protection in Malawi, compared
to government funding of around 9% (UNICEF 2019).297 The fact that
the lion’s share of the child protection budget is externally funded raises
serious questions of sustainability and ownership.
83
_________________________________________ Conclusion and Recommendations
8. CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Key drivers of CSE
• Abuse by adults of their positions of power, authority, control and trust

• Poverty and inequality
• Patriarchal attitudes and gender discrimination
• Disability, street life and unregulated domestic employment
• Unregulated online environments
• A predatory travel and tourism sector
• Armed conflicts and displacement
• Limited reporting and enforcement
The preceding chapters have shown that child sexual exploitation

affects nearly each and every country in Africa, and it is on the rise. It
is a formidable social conundrum like no other facing Africa today.
Despite this, many countries in Africa have either underestimated,

misunderstood or neglected the extent of this heinous crime.
Globalization, poverty, the growth of consumerism, an upsurge in travel

opportunities, an increasingly accessible but impenetrable cyberspace,
and weak law enforcement have together created the perfect storm of
opportunities for child sex offenders to thrive.
Armed conflicts and displacement have aggravated the state of child

sexual exploitation on the continent, creating situations where
displaced children find themselves at the mercy of armed groups and
human traffickers. Once in refugee camps, children fall prey to
unscrupulous humanitarian agents who abuse their own positions of
power and control to exploit children sexually. Poorly regulated or hard-
to-regulate settings—such as the household settings in which girl
domestic workers are sexually exploited without any public scrutiny—
also contribute to the overall increase in cases of sexual exploitation.
84
Although all children are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, girls have

suffered most of it. Girls fall victim daily to a toxic mixture of traditional,
patriarchal attitudes that belittle women and trivialize their sexuality on
the one hand, and modern-day practices that commercialise and
fetishize the female body through fashion, movies and beauty contests
on the other.
Traditionally, one in four girls in Africa is given to marriage at a very

young age, usually to a much older husband, with a view to making her
a malleable wife and a sexual property of her husband. Despite
conventional narratives that place the entire blame for this practice on
tradition, there is considerable evidence that child marriage—almost
always forced—is driven by factors of economic supply and demand.
Household poverty, and attempts to alleviate it through bride price,
partly explain the perpetuation of child marriage in many societies.
While girls are the primary targets of sexual exploitation, this malaise
is also taking a toll on boys. In a context where men and boys are almost
always considered perpetrators, the notion of boys as victims of sexual
exploitation has not been taken seriously by law makers and law
enforcement officials. This mindset stands in the way of efforts to give
proper legal protection to boys.
Not only is child sexual exploitation on the rise, but it is also fast
outpacing existing legal and child protection efforts. In many cases, it
shifts its tactics, at times forming alliances with traditional practices. It
has become difficult to manage also because it uses apparently positive
human endeavours as its instruments—such as foreign investment, the
attraction of tourists, interconnectedness, and a misplaced sense of
respect for cultural values.
The analysis in this report demonstrates that child sexual exploitation

is a multifaceted problem involving multiple sectors and actors ranging
from government bodies to the private sector, from armed groups to
humanitarian agencies, and from traditional leaders to children.
Some manifestations of CSE have blurred traditional notions of national

jurisdiction and legal sovereignty, and hence require cross-country and
85
international co-operation to mitigate them. It is paramount, therefore,

that action against CSE takes a more systemic, multi-sectoral approach.
In this light, the following recommendations are offered that relate to

both preventative and response actions.
Law and policy reform

• Adopt national legislation that explicitly defines sexual
exploitation and which prohibits, prevents and responds to
sexual exploitation in all its manifestations, including by
imposing the maximum penalties on the perpetrators.
• Adopt laws and policies that fully recognise boys as victims of
sexual exploitation and provide adequate legal protection and
access to justice
• Bring the laws that prohibit child sexual exploitation in travel
and tourism and in the online environment up to speed with the
level of sophistication with which these crimes are perpetrated.
• Develop and enforce laws that improve the protection of
children who are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation
such as children with disabilities; child-headed households;
children living and/or working on the street; child domestic
workers; children living in poor, urban slums; refugees and
displaced children; and migrant and trafficked children.
Preventative interventions
• Develop and implement poverty alleviation programmes,
including targeted cash transfers to poor, urban slum dwellers
and female- and child-headed households, and ensure
improved access to food, social services and education.
• Ensure greater action-oriented engagement with the private
sector, notably those parts of it that provide the means for
sexual exploitation of children, such as the travel and tourism
sectors and telecommunications and internet service providers.
• Build the life skills and capacity of children and adolescents to
enhance their resilience to sexual harm, their readiness to
86
report incidents, and their ability to protect themselves from

potential predators and exploiters. Means by which this is done
should include the school curriculum and school and youth
clubs.
• Break the silence and start a sustained public conversation
about sexual exploitation, including by teaching about it in
schools, community gatherings and other economic and
cultural assembly points.
• Combat prevalent gender-discriminatory attitudes and practices
surrounding sexual exploitation, including those that
underestimate, objectify, commercialise or trivialise girls’
sexuality and their dignity, human worth and integrity.
Appropriate response services

• Ensure better enforcement of laws and more effective policing,
including by undertaking capacity building measures.
• Ensure the availability of care and support services for all child
victims of sexual exploitation, in an integrated manner, including
through one-stop centres.
• Address the various barriers facing children, especially
vulnerable children, within the justice system, by introducing
inclusive, child-friendly justice mechanisms.
• Develop internal child protection policies and procedures (e.g.
codes of conduct) within peacekeeping missions and
humanitarian agencies, and promote their implementation at
all organisational levels.
• Recognise that sexual exploitation is a multi-sectoral predicament
that requires a multi-sectoral and systemic response.
• Ensure that adolescents with disabilities get access to sexual
and reproductive health services in accessible formats.
• Nurture more effective collaboration with countries that receive
trafficked children, including by signing agreements to extradite
perpetrators.
87
• Strengthen national routine data collection and research. The

body of knowledge on child sexual exploitation in Africa has grown
significantly in recent years. Nonetheless, some aspects and
determinants of the phenomenon still require further research,
especially in relation to understanding government capacity (i.e.
law enforcement and policing) and evaluating the implementation
and impact of legislative and programmatic efforts.
• Build surveillance systems for child sexual exploitation that are
anchored in community structures and better positioned to
“watch” and to act. This includes universalising access to child
helplines and hotlines and toll free call centres.
In conclusion: the sexual exploitation of children is a multifaceted

problem, and therefore requires action on multiple fronts. It requires:
• Changing deeply-entrenched patriarchal attitudes

• Revising laws to bring them up to speed with the level of
sophistication of current sexual crimes
• Alleviating household poverty
• Improving political governance
• Ensuring access to education for girls.
The steps to be taken are numerous, interdependent and intertwined,

but urgent. Preying on innocent African children, child sexual
exploitation is engulfing the entire continent: Africa is fast becoming a
new frontier for sexual predators and sexual offenders on the move in
both virtual and physical spaces.
Sexual exploitation is a crime; it is premeditated and vicious; and it

requires serious and immediate action.
88
______________________________________________________________ Endnotes
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Ibid.
96
______________________________________________________________ Endnotes
89
Ibid.
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93
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95
Mlyakado, B. P., & Li, J. C.-M. (2019). Sexual exploitation of
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96
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Moynihan, M., Mitchell, K., Pitcher, C., Havaei, F., Ferguson, M., &
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99
Para 43, Human Rights Council Thirty-first Session Agenda item 3:
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to
development.
100
Para 44, Human Rights Council Thirty-first Session Agenda item 3
development.
101
Riggio, E., & Hecht, M. E. (2016). Power, Impunity and Anonymity:
Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual
Exploitation of Children. Bangkok: ECPAT.
102
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98
______________________________________________________________ Endnotes
- Hecht, M. E., Albitar, O., & Burke, M. (2016). Global Study on

Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism: Middle East
and North Africa. Bangkok: ECPAT International.
103
Koops, T., Turner, D., Neutze, J., & Briken, P. (2017). Child Sex
Tourism – Prevalence of and Risk Factors for its Use in a German
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104
Para 26, Human Rights Council Thirty-first Session Agenda item 3:
development.
105
Para 42, Human Rights Council Thirty-first Session Agenda item 3
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ACPF 2010. Harmonization of Laws in West Africa.
247
Government of Angola (2017), “Ante-Projecto de Código Penal”,
2017, article 3-5.
248
Ng’ondi, N. B. (2015). Child protection in Tanzania: A dream or
nightmare? Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 10-17.
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249
Watts et al.(2014). Findings from the SASA! Study: a cluster
randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a community
mobilization intervention to prevent violence against women and
reduce HIV risk in Kampala, Uganda. BMC Medicine, 12:122.
113
250
Okojie, C.E.E. 2005. Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation
and good practices for addressing the problem by all
stakeholders. Expert paper prepared for the Expert Group Meeting
on “Violence against women: Good practices in combating and
eliminating violence against women,” organized by the UN Division
for the Advancement of Women and the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime, 17 to 20 May 2005, Vienna, Austria.
251
https://www.nomeansnoworldwide.org/impower-1
- Sarnquist et al. (2013). Rape prevention through empowerment of
adolescent girls. Pediatrics. 2014;133:5: e1226–32. doi:
10.1542/peds, 3414.
252
The intervention in question was the Creating Opportunities
through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Spaces
(COMPASS) programme implemented by the International Rescue
Committee.
253
Stark, L., Seff, I., Assezenew, A., Eoomkham, J., Falb, K., &
Ssewamala, F. M. (2018). Effects of a Social Empowerment
Intervention on Economic Vulnerability for Adolescent Refugee
Girls in Ethiopia. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(1, Supplement),
S15-S20. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.06.014
254
-Mathews, B., & Collin-Vézina, D. (2016). Child sexual abuse:
Raising awareness and empathy is essential to promote new
public health responses. Journal of Public Health Policy, 37(3),
304-314. doi:10.1057/jphp.2016.21.
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Meyers, J. (2016). Facilitating a school-based prevention of
commercial sexual exploitation of children. Health promotion
practice, 17(4), 530-536.
- Muraya, D. N., & Fry, D. (2016). Aftercare Services for Child Victims
of Sex Trafficking:A Systematic Review of Policy and Practice.
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 204-220.
doi:10.1177/1524838015584356.
114
______________________________________________________________ Endnotes
- Wurtele, S. K., Miller-Perrin, C., Dixon, L., Perkins, D., Hamilton-

Giachritsis, C., & Craig, L. (2017). What works to prevent the
sexual exploitation of children and youth. The Wiley handbook of
what works in child protection: An evidenced-based approach to
assessment and intervention in child protection, 176-197.
- Warria, A. (2018). Challenges in Assistance Provision to Child
Victims of Transnational Trafficking in South Africa. European
Journal of Social Work, 21(5), 710-723.
doi:10.1080/13691457.2017.1320534.
255
Siljeur, N. (2016). Protecting Children Against Cyber-sex in South
Africa. Child abuse research in South Africa, 17(2), 95-102.
- Sinclair, R., Duval, K., & Fox, E. (2015). Strengthening Canadian
Law Enforcement and Academic Partnerships in the Area of Online
Child Sexual Exploitation: The Identification of Shared Research
Directions. Child & Youth Services, 36(4), 345-364.
doi:10.1080/0145935X.2015.1096588.
256
www.make-IT-safe.net
257
UN Secretary-General. (2019). Special measures for protection
from sexual exploitation and abuse: Report of the Secretary-
General. New York: United Nations.
258
Limoncelli, S. A. (2016). What in the World are Anti-trafficking
NGOs Doing? Findings From a Global Study. Journal of Human
Trafficking, 2(4), 316-328.
259
260
Ibid.
261
The Code website (2019) http://www.thecode.org
262
Cavagnaro, E., Staffieri, S., & Ngesa, F. (2015). Looking From a
Local Lens: Inbound Tour Operators and Sustainable Tourism in
Kenya. Research in Hospitality Management, 5(2), 135-145.
115
263
WeProtect Alliance (2018). Global Threat Assessment 2018:
Working together to end the sexual exploitation of children online
264
Dubowitz, H. (2017). Child sexual abuse and exploitation—A global
glimpse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 66, 2-8. doi:
265
266
Mohamed Suma; 2009 Challenges in Investigating and
Prosecuting Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone, Centre for
Accountability and Rule of Law.
267
National Child Justice Strategy for Sierra Leone, July 2006
268
UN Guidelines on Justice for Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime,
part V.
269
Barnes, K., Albrecht, P. and Olson, M. (2007). Addressing Gender-
Based Violence in Sierra Leone: Mapping Challenges, Responses
and Future Entry Points; International Alert.
270
Suma, M. (2009). Challenges in Investigating and Prosecuting
Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone, Centre for Accountability and Rule
of Law.
271
272
Gatuguta, A., Merrill, K. G., Colombini, M., Soremekun, S., Seeley,
J., Mwanzo, I., & Devries, K. (2018). Missed treatment
opportunities and barriers to comprehensive treatment for sexual
violence survivors in Kenya: a mixed methods study. BMC public
health, 18(1), 769. doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5681-5.
116
______________________________________________________________ Endnotes
273
Okojie, C.E.E. (2005). Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation
and good practices for addressing the problem by all
stakeholders. Expert paper prepared for the Expert Group Meeting
on “Violence against women: Good practices in combating and
eliminating violence against women,” organized by the UN Division
for the Advancement of Women and the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime, 17 to 20 May 2005, Vienna, Austria.
274
“Fighting a rising tide of sex tourism.” The New Humanitarian
[formerly IRIN], 26 Nov 2010.
275
Action Aid/UNIFEM (2007). Violence faite aux filles en milieu
scolaire-vers des stratégies durables. rencontre sous régionale, 1
au 3 décembre 2007, saly, Senegal.
276
Hounmenou, C. (2017). Issues of Sexually Transmitted Infections
doi:10.1007/s10560-016-0475-z.
277
Hounmenou, C. (2018). Policy Response and Service Provision to
Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in the West African
Region. Journal of Human Trafficking, 4(4), 336-361.
doi:10.1080/23322705.2017.1356625.
278
UNICEF, Plan West Africa, Save the Children Sweden West Africa
and ActionAid (2010). Too often in silence: A report on school-
based violence in West and Central Africa.
279
ACPF (2010). Childhood scars in Africa, Retrospective study on
violence against girls.
280
USAID (2008). Are Schools Safe Havens For Children? Examining
School-Related Gender-Based Violence.
281
https://.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yoneco.ict.tithandizane
282
https://google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yoneco.ict.tithandizane
283
Suma, M. (2009). Challenges in Investigating and Prosecuting
Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone, Centre for Accountability and Rule
of Law.
117
284
Sumner et al. (2015). Prevalence of Sexual Violence Against
Children and Use of Social Services—Seven countries, 2007–
2013. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 64(21).
285
Warria, A., Nel, H., & Triegaardt, J. (2015). Challenges in
Identification of Child Victims of Transnational Trafficking. Practice,
27(5), 315-333. doi:10.1080/09503153.2015.1039974.
286
Office of the SRSG on Violence against Children (2013). Toward a
world free from violence: Global survey on violence against
children.
287
ACPF (2018). Spotlighting the Invisible, provides further examples
in Egypt and Liberia. Further detail on South Africa’s landmark
Thuthuzela centres and their provision of services to rape and
sexual offence victims is described on p 46.
288
ACPF (2019). Child Sexual Exploitation in Malawi: Country case
Study.
289
Republic of Kenya in the High Court of Kenya at Malindi Criminal
Appeal No. 14 OF 2017, John Mutisya Mbeetu v Republic [2018]
eKLR.
290
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women, ‘Sixth periodic report submitted by Zimbabwe under
article 18 of the Convention, due in 2016*’ (24 January 2019), UN
Doc. CEDAW/C/ZWE/6, para 18.
291
MoGCDSW (2015): see ACPF (2019). Child Sexual Exploitation in
Malawi: Country case Study.
292
Wangamati, C. K., Yegon, G., Sundby, J., & Prince, R. J. (2019).
Sexualised violence against children: a review of laws and policies
in Kenya. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 27(1),
1586815. doi:10.1080/26410397.2019.1586815.
293
ACPF (2014), African Report on Violence against Children .
294
UN (2013). Toward a world free from violence: Global survey on
violence against children. Office of the SRSG on Violence against
Children.
118
______________________________________________________________ Endnotes
295
The MDAs that appeared in the budget allocations included the
Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare; the
Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC); the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development (MoLGRD); the Ministry of
Civic Education, Culture and Community Development (MoCECCD);
the Ministry of ICT, Information & Civic Education (MoIICE); the
National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC); the
Ministry of Education, Science & Technology (MoEST); the Ministry
of Labour, Youth, Sports & Manpower Development (MoLYSMD);
and the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security (MoHAIS).
296
UNICEF (2019). Child protection budget analysis in Malawi:
analysis of trends, gaps and opportunities. UNICEF Malawi
297
Ibid.
119

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Sexual Exploitation of

African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) &

ACPF’s work is rights-based, inspired by universal values and informed

ACPF aims speciﬁcally to contribute to improved knowledge on children;

African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

© 2019 African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

This report is the property of African Child Policy Forum (ACPF).

ACPF (2019). Sexual Exploitation of Children in Africa: A Silent

OUR FUNDING PARTNER

We would first of all like to acknowledge, with particular thanks, the

3. DRIVERS AND VULNERABILITY FACTORS .................................. 22

7. IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT ...................................... 71

8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................... 84

LIST OF BOXES, FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 2.1: Percentage of females aged 18-24 whose first sexual

Table 4.1: EIU CSE prevention aggregate scores for 19 African

2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights

And action necessitates evidence.

Even though there has been commendable progress in tackling the

We congratulate ACPF for this continental report, Child sexual

The report is a first attempt to document child sexual exploitation in its

Ms Najat Maalla M’jid Ms Graça Machel,

Violence against children is a “silent emergency" of our time, as UN

A large proportion of women and children are victims of sexual

Worryingly, sexual violence has become a fast evolving crime, taking on

As a result, traditional forms of sexual exploitation are becoming

In the midst of this growing scourge, African countries have begun to

especially in light of where we started, but still leave much to be desired.

• We have criminalized child marriage, but we have continued

Assefa Bequele, PhD Brigette De Lay, JD, MSW

SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

• Although current figures are difficult to come by, 103 cases of

including films, photos and videos. This is linked to strip dancing

Child and forced marriage

• According to 2017 figures, three out of four children in Niger

Sexual exploitation of especially vulnerable children

• Children with speech and language difficulties are at three

VULNERABILITIES AND DRIVERS

• Poverty and inequality

• Armed conflict and displacement

• Limited reporting of incidents of CSE and weak legal and

• Gross neglect of boys as victims of sexual exploitation, a hidden

• Lack of adequate protection for especially vulnerable children

• The near-total absence of sexual and reproductive health

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

Governments, civil society organisations and other relevant bodies are

Law and policy reform

• Adopt national legislation that explicitly defines sexual

• Adopt laws and policies that fully recognise boys as victims of

• Break the silence and start a sustained public conversation

Appropriate response services

While numerous studies, both qualitative and quantitative, have been

So far, there has not been a systematic audit or review of knowledge of

This report is one of the first attempts to take stock of existing

• An extensive review of the global and African literature on sexual

An overall term encompassing but not limited to:

• Identifying and/or grooming potential child victims

• Distribution, dissemination, import, export, offering,