ABSTRACT

In 2005, Ghana domesticated the provisions of the United Nation’s “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children” also known as the Palermo Protocol through the enactment of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694). Consequently, other laws were enacted to further align the provisions of Act 694 to the Palermo Protocol. Despite the efforts of the state to enforce these laws, trafficking in persons persists. The study therefore sought to examine the anti-child trafficking measures between 2005 and 2019 to explore in detail the reasons why child trafficking in Ghana remains undefeated. The theoretical framework on which the theory was premised was the compliance theory. The study which depended on both primary and secondary sources of data is purely qualitative. From the findings, the study concluded that the measures instituted to enforce the laws on preventing child trafficking have been efficient. The general challenge however, was highlighted as the inadequacy of funds. Specifically, the hindrances to the efficient implementation of strategies to prevent trafficking include deep-seated cultural practices and the lack of capacity of law enforcement officers. The impediments to adequately enforcing the provisions of the laws on protection include the lack of logistics to aid the process of reintegrating rescued victims while the delay in the court system which constrains victims to give up the hope of prosecution are other the identified hindrances to curbing the menace. The study, therefore, recommends the institution of effective monitoring and evaluation procedures to track all funds dispensed by the state. The proper structuring of sensitisation programmes on preventing child trafficking, the establishment of more state shelters and the establishment of courts solely for trying human trafficking cases are recommended to effectively tackle the menace in Ghana.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

       Background to the Research Problem

Trafficking in persons is considered a crucial international policy concern of the twenty-first century (Parreñas, Hwang, & Lee, 2012). As a transnational crime, human trafficking has gained ascendency all over the world, threatening the human security of victims and destroying the reputation of states as regards their human rights. Although the exact magnitude of the menace is not known, available statistics indicate that trafficking in persons is one of the most profound transnational crimes in the twenty-first century (Cho, Dreher, & Neumayer, 2011).

The effect of globalisation on the ability of states to manage transnational crime resulted in the adoption of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) in November 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). To supplement this Convention, the United Nations (UN) further adopted the “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children” referred to in this study as the Palermo Protocol also in 2000 (O’Connell Davidson, 2011). Article 37(4) of the Convention and Article 1 of the Palermo Protocol thus provide that the parent Convention must be read together with the Protocol unless the purpose of the Protocol otherwise necessitates.

Other global, regional and state-level policies have been adopted to complement the Convention and supplementary Protocol on countering human trafficking. Specifically, in a collaboration between the European Union (EU), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and some other key institutions, a “Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants” (GLO.ACT) has been launched. Also, the UNGA has mandated an Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) to tackle, provide support

for and protect victims of trafficking in persons. Furthermore, the Department of State of the United States of America (USA) publishes a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report yearly, which serves the purpose of engaging foreign governments on human trafficking. These reports rank countries concerning their actions in fighting the menace. In Africa, between 2011 and 2017, the TIP Reports of the Department of State of the USA recorded a steady increase of prosecutions for human trafficking. Correspondingly, the number of convictions increased between 2011 and 2016 but fell drastically in 2017 (US Department of State, 2018).

Anti-human trafficking measures are classified into three main categories; Prosecution, Protection and Prevention, commonly referred to as the “3ps”. Prosecution involves prosecuting the perpetrators of the offence; Protection entails the measures to shield the victims after they have been rescued while Prevention comprises the measures implemented to prevent trafficking in persons in its totality.

The term human trafficking is defined by Article 3 of the Palermo Protocol as the relocation, recruitment, receipt or harbouring of persons, by use of force or means of threat or other forms or the giving of benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Significantly, this Protocol is the first document that provides an internationally recognised clarification of the notion of human trafficking. Article 3, highlighted above, further provides that, “The recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of a child for purposes of exploitation even if this does not involve force, fraud, or coercion amounts to trafficking of the child”. Also importantly, the Article indicates that within the framework of the Protocol, “A child is any person under eighteen years of age”. As such, with child trafficking, the employment of the elements of coercion, force, or fraud in the exploitation of an individual need not  be  established.  Most  discussions  on  child  trafficking  depict  that  trafficked  children are

recruited, transferred, sold and exploited in a new environment, often in another country (Oude &

Brenda, 2008). Again, Article 4 of 2005 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings which was developed after the Palermo protocol of 2000 virtually reproduces the words of Article 3 of the Palermo Protocol.

The definition of human trafficking in the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694) of Ghana, hereinafter referred to as “Act 694”, mirrors to a large extent the aims of Article 3 of the Palermo Protocol. Additionally, Ghana’s Act 694 covers human trafficking occurring either within or across national borders and provides that, “Where children are trafficked, the consent of the child, parents or guardian of the child cannot be used as a defence for prosecution under the Act” just as is stipulated in the Palermo Protocol.

One of the obstructions to better assimilating the dynamics surrounding human trafficking has been the scarcity of data and statistics, primarily because it is a hidden, criminal activity (Lloyd, Simmons, & Stewart, 2012, p. 3). According to the 2018 report of the UNODC, more than fifty per cent of the victims identified in 2016 were children, with almost the same ratio of boys to girls (UNODC, 2018, p. 80). The same report also indicated that 23% of all trafficking victims identified globally were girls. More victims are recorded in West African countries than the other countries sub-Saharan African countries, with most of the identified victims being either young boys or girls (UNODC, 2018, pp. 80,81). Each year, about one million and two hundred thousand children are trafficked for child labour. Another one million children are also trafficked into the global sex trade (Islam & Hossain, 2017).