171:
lack of transport to the capital or the difficulty of travel during the rainy season. The government reported that it referred 14 trafficking victims to IOM for assistance in the 2007 calendar year. In
January 2007, the Sierra Leonean Embassy in Conakry received from the Guinean government and protected 10 suspected child trafficking victims and returned them to Sierra Leone. The MOSW and IOM determined that the children were in fact not trafficking victims, but were related to the aforementioned four Sierra Leonean women whom Guinean authorities had suspected were trafficking these children into Sierra Leone. The children were reunited with their parents under the supervision of the MOSW.
201:
and international organizations, met monthly for half the year, meetings were less frequent in the year's second half and government authorities from some key ministries rarely attended. While the 2005 anti-trafficking law mandates the creation of a
Trafficking Secretariat to coordinate national anti-trafficking activities, it has yet to be established. Sierra Leone does not monitor
256:
174:
In March 2008, the government donated shelter space to IOM in order to replace the facility IOM currently rents. Although the government permits victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions, cases take so long to go to court that many victims are no longer available at the time of trial.
170:
and operated by IOM. The Family
Support Units (FSU) of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) turned over intercepted trafficking victims to the Ministry of Social Welfare (MOSW), which then referred the victims to IOM for assistance. Some victims outside Freetown were not referred for care, however, due to
200:
The
Government of Sierra Leone made inadequate efforts to raise awareness about trafficking during the reporting period. The government failed to conduct trafficking information or education campaigns. While the National Anti-Trafficking Task Force, which is composed of government officials, NGOs,
97:
for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Sierra Leone was a destination country for children trafficked from
Nigeria and possibly from Liberia and Guinea for forced begging, forced labor in mines and as porters, and for sexual exploitation. There were also cases of children trafficked from
109:
did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it made significant efforts to do so, despite limited resources. The government reported that it prosecuted five traffickers, but was unable to provide data on trafficking convictions. While Sierra Leone
179:
of foreign victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution. There were no known cases during the year of trafficking victims being inappropriately incarcerated or fined for unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked. However, authorities' conflation of trafficking and
144:, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Between January and December 2007, the government reported that it conducted 14 trafficking investigations. Five of these cases are being prosecuted—as compared with seven cases prosecuted in 2006. Although an international
114:
175:
As a result, some cases are dropped, since many cannot be successfully tried without a victim witness. The government does not actively encourage victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions. Sierra Leone does not provide legal alternatives to the
61:, and for forced begging. Women and children may also have been trafficked for forced labor in agriculture and the fishing industry. Transnationally, Sierra Leonean women and children were trafficked to other West African countries, notably
152:
received from the
Guinean government four Sierra Leonean women whom Guinean authorities suspected of trafficking children to Sierra Leone, and transported them back to Sierra Leone. Rather than prosecuting them, the government and the
165:
The Sierra
Leonean government demonstrated limited efforts to protect trafficking victims last year. The government does not operate its own shelter, but refers victims to the nation's only trafficking victim shelter located in
140:, Sierra Leone prohibits all forms of trafficking through its 2005 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which prescribes a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. This penalty is stringent, but not commensurate with penalties for
262:
44:
within the country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and the majority of victims were children. Within the country, women and children were trafficked from rural provinces to towns and mining areas for
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patterns for trafficking activity. Border officials continue to lack a full understanding of the distinction between smuggling and trafficking. The government took some measures to reduce demand for
428:
121:
413:
777:
433:
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reported that Sierra Leone convicted three traffickers, the government was unable to corroborate this information. In
January 2008, the Sierra Leonean Embassy in
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acts by raiding brothels, but did not follow procedures to identify trafficking victims among females in prostitution.
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has probably led to some trafficking victims being penalized as illegal immigrants. Also, NGOs report that police raid
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reported that it referred victims to an international organization's shelter, the number of victims referred was low.
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408:
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137:
714:
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618:
528:
418:
688:
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25:
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The
Government of Sierra Leone made modest law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking in the last year.
157:(IOM) determined that the women were actually trafficking victims and returned them to their communities.
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29:
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41:
46:
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50:
751:
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United
Nations Treaty Collection website, Chapter XVIII Penal Matters section,
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without following procedures to identify trafficking victims among them.
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99:
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public domain material from this U.S government document
292:"Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements"
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647:
366:
237:The Office of Electronic Information (2008-06-10).
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Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
24:was a source, transit, and destination country for
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8:
239:"Country Narratives - Countries S through Z"
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85:for the same purposes listed above and to
155:International Organization for Migration
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778:Violence against women in Sierra Leone
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230:
228:
226:
7:
768:Human rights abuses in Sierra Leone
322:Trafficking in Persons Report 2023
14:
659:Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
429:Democratic Republic of the Congo
254:
32:trafficked for the purposes of
773:Women's rights in Sierra Leone
188:and arrest females engaged in
38:commercial sexual exploitation
1:
102:communities in Sierra Leone.
758:Human trafficking by country
120:The U.S. State Department's
763:Human trafficking in Africa
361:Human trafficking in Africa
280:, retrieved August 19, 2024
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261:This article incorporates
107:Government of Sierra Leone
113:The country ratified the
414:Central African Republic
245:. US Department Of State
243:Bureau of Public Affairs
320:US Government website,
124:placed the country in
53:, and forced labor in
574:SĂŁo TomĂ© and PrĂncipe
434:Republic of the Congo
115:2000 UN TIP Protocol
649:States with limited
51:sexual exploitation
132:Prosecution (2008)
128:in 2017 and 2023
47:domestic servitude
745:
744:
676:other territories
449:Equatorial Guinea
196:Prevention (2008)
161:Protection (2008)
117:in August 2014.
57:, petty trading,
785:
737:
736:(United Kingdom)
732:Tristan da Cunha
728:Ascension Island
720:
707:
698:
674:Dependencies and
367:Sovereign states
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298:. Archived from
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211:commercial sex
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95:Western Europe
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10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
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489:Guinea-Bissau
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302:on 2017-06-28
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296:www.state.gov
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138:Legislatively
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79:Guinea-Bissau
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67:CĂ´te d'Ivoire
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56:
55:diamond mines
52:
48:
43:
39:
35:
31:
27:
23:
22:
16:
724:Saint Helena
695:
599:South Africa
589:Sierra Leone
588:
394:Burkina Faso
321:
315:
304:. Retrieved
300:the original
295:
286:
277:
271:
260:
247:. Retrieved
242:
199:
190:prostitution
173:
164:
135:
119:
112:
105:In 2008 the
104:
87:North Africa
34:forced labor
21:Sierra Leone
19:
17:
15:
651:recognition
604:South Sudan
494:Ivory Coast
278:Section 12a
203:immigration
91:Middle East
59:petty crime
42:Trafficking
752:Categories
706:(Portugal)
664:Somaliland
584:Seychelles
549:Mozambique
534:Mauritania
519:Madagascar
474:The Gambia
409:Cape Verde
306:2017-12-01
249:2022-12-29
217:References
207:emigration
83:The Gambia
539:Mauritius
182:smuggling
18:In 2008,
730: /
726: /
719:(France)
713: /
691: /
687: /
639:Zimbabwe
614:Tanzania
464:Ethiopia
459:Eswatini
439:Djibouti
404:Cameroon
389:Botswana
186:brothels
168:Freetown
126:"Tier 2"
26:children
715:RĂ©union
711:Mayotte
702:Madeira
697:(Spain)
693:Melilla
624:Tunisia
594:Somalia
579:Senegal
564:Nigeria
554:Namibia
544:Morocco
509:Liberia
504:Lesotho
454:Eritrea
424:Comoros
399:Burundi
374:Algeria
177:removal
150:Conakry
100:refugee
75:Nigeria
71:Liberia
734:
717:
704:
634:Zambia
629:Uganda
569:Rwanda
524:Malawi
484:Guinea
379:Angola
259:
93:, and
89:, the
81:, and
63:Guinea
689:Ceuta
609:Sudan
559:Niger
514:Libya
499:Kenya
479:Ghana
469:Gabon
444:Egypt
384:Benin
30:women
619:Togo
529:Mali
419:Chad
205:and
142:rape
36:and
28:and
146:NGO
754::
294:.
241:.
225:^
77:,
73:,
69:,
65:,
49:,
40:.
354:e
347:t
340:v
309:.
265:.
252:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.