CHILD labour and child sex trafficking in Zimbabwe has increased, with more children forced to work in order to supplement their family incomes due to economic hardships, a latest report by the United States (US) embassy has revealed.
The country has been facing a prolonged economic recession, which has led to high unemployment and inflation, making it difficult for families to meet their basic needs.
According to the report titled Trafficking in persons in Zimbabwe, cases of child sex trafficking and child labour increased due to economic hardship particularly in the agriculture, domestic service, informal trading, begging and artisanal mining sectors.
“Child vendors, some of whom walk more than 25 kilometres per day to sell goods or offer cooking and cleaning services to miners, are exploited by sex traffickers in illegal mining areas or by long-distance truckers who transport coal and minerals.
“Girls as young as 12 are exploited in sex trafficking along the Harare-Chinhoyi Highway, in the informal settlement of Caledonia and in gold mining communities in Mashonaland East, West Nicholson, Mazowe, Bindura and Shurugwi,” the report read.
According to the report, several traditional practices rendered young girls vulnerable to forced labour and sex trafficking.
“There is practice of trading daughters for food or money; using them as “replacement” brides for a deceased family member, and for ngozi, a reconciliation process where a family gives a family member to another family to make amends for a murdered relative.
“Traffickers exploit women and girls from Zimbabwean towns bordering South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia in forced labour, including domestic servitude, and sex trafficking in brothels catering to long-distance truck drivers on both sides of the border.”
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The report also revealed that more than 71% of child labour cases occur in the agriculture sector.
According to Stop Child Labour, at least 40% of Zimbabwe’s children are involved in one form of labour or another.
Government said it was in the process of inspecting areas where child labour is rampant and taking corrective measures.
Zimbabwean law sets the minimum age for employment at 16, while banning children under 18 “from performing hazardous work.”
