“Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.” - Nelson Mandela
Human trafficking and slavery are big business in a trade that the UN has estimated to be worth $32 billion a year. Benjamin Skinner has written, “There are more slaves today than at any point in human history,” citing a recent estimate that there are 27 million people in some form of bonded labour.
Legatum is committed to fighting this scourge which often feeds on the dreams of the poor who are seeking a better life. The victims are mostly women and children who have hopes of learning a new skill, working as a domestic servant or in a factory. Instead, they find servitude, forced labour and sometimes prostitution.
Over the past decade, Legatum has funded over 125 projects aimed at educating and rescuing those caught up in trafficking and slavery.
Child Labour in Ghana
Ghanaian law sets the minimum employment age at 15 and bans anyone younger than 18 from hazardous works such as fishing. However, according to World Bank figures, 29% of Ghanaian children ages 7 to 14 work full time and 36% of those working do not attend school.
In the Lake Volta region of Ghana, children as young as four years old are often sent to live with better-off extended relatives in the hopes of learning a trade or attending school while “helping” the relative. This cultural tradition has become twisted by many Ghanaian fishermen who pay parents $50 per child, ostensibly to teach those children their trade.
Few parents realise their children rarely ever see the inside of a classroom and that instead their daily routine consists of jumping into frigid, parasite-infested waters at dawn, seven days a week, to catch fish and untangle nets for long 10-12 hour stretches in Lake Volta.
Legatum’s comprehensive grant addresses the child labour problem around Lake Volta from several directions. The most effective way to counter human trafficking including child labour is to stop it before it can start. This three year initiative is fueling prevention efforts among parents, children, traffickers and law enforcement officials to keep other children from being trapped in the fishing industry. The programme also looks at other income-generating activities using micro-loans that will improve fishing enterprises while minimising the need for child labour. The programme also rescues children caught up in slavery by providing shelter and education for them and returning them to their families.
The programme seeks to impact over 60,000 lives over the three year period.
Legal Change In Ecuador
Human trafficking is a serious issue in Ecuador. Thousands of children and young women fall victim to trafficking, such as prostitution, because they are uninformed of predators' tactics. In 2005, Legatum funded an initiative to increase awareness of human trafficking, rehabilitate victims, and educate policy makers on effective combat tactics.
Over 300,000 children, parents, school teachers, and community leaders participated in prevention-oriented workshops. Over 2,500 victims received medical rehabilitation and legal assistance. And through the work of civil society groups, including organisations participating in this initiative, the Congress of Ecuador approved a law to prosecute criminals for sexual exploitation against minors.