Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Child Abuse & Neglect Stories from Lake Volta: The lived experien...
Author: Bryan Holland
4 downloads 0 Views 624KB Size
Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Stories from Lake Volta: The lived experiences of trafficked children in Ghana Emma Seyram Hamenoo ∗ , Cynthia Akorfa Sottie Department of Social Work, University of Ghana, PO Box LG419, Legon, Ghana

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 7 December 2013 Received in revised form 16 May 2014 Accepted 10 June 2014 Available online 9 July 2014 Keywords: Child trafficking Human trafficking Child maltreatment Slavery Intra-country trafficking Ghana

a b s t r a c t Child trafficking is one of the worst forms of child maltreatment and is often difficult to recognize when it happens intra-country. This paper presents the narratives of children on their experiences as victims of trafficking in fishing communities along the Volta Lake in the Volta region of Ghana. The narratives were co-constructed with the children through child-friendly participatory approaches which involved drawings, writing, and in-depth interviews. The stories reflect the magnitude of maltreatment trafficked children suffer, which ranges from physical to psychological and emotional. The authors recommend commitment by the government to the implementation of the Human Trafficking Act to deter child traffickers. Further studies on the living conditions of rescued children and the need to implement strategies to prevent re-trafficking are suggested. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction The United Nations’ (UN) General Assembly defined human trafficking in the Palermo Protocol (2000: Article 3a) as: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. The Palermo Protocol (2000) not only recognizes the trafficking of women and girls but also notes the trafficking of men and boys into several sectors other than the sex industry. It also sets the standard for all other legal definitions of human trafficking. For years, research on human trafficking all over the world has focused on the conceptual and technical definitional inconsistencies within the Palermo Protocol and other legal instruments that prohibit the exploitation of persons (Lie & Ragnhild, 2008; Skilbrei & Tveit, 2008). Organizational reports and other studies have also discussed its nature and scope (Bales, 2005; Feingold, 2005; Martens, Pieczkowski, & van Vuuren-Smyth, 2003; Salah, 2001) and the relatedness of child labor to child trafficking (Sossou & Yogtiba, 2008). Research has also considered the causes and effects of human trafficking (Adepoju, 2005; Agbenya, 2009; Gjermeni et al., 2008; Takamatsu, 2004) and the role of professionals in rehabilitating victims (Pearce, Hynes, & Bovarnick, 2009).

∗ Corresponding author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.06.007 0145-2134/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

104

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

Gjermeni et al. (2008), in their research on cross border trafficking, gave an account of victims’ perceptions of their trafficking ordeals. Focusing on the patterns, recruitment, and reintegration of children trafficked from Albania to Greece for sex and labor exploitation, they interviewed both trafficked and non-trafficked children during their research. The research provides an overview of the abuses that children reported that they had endured. For example, children over the age of 12 years indicated they were jailed by Greek authorities and then deported to the Albanian border where they were left to find their way home. Those who successfully reached their parents found it difficult to adjust to formal education because they were admitted to classes with younger children. A number of the children also reported physical and sexual abuse. For the non-trafficked, the fear of being trafficked was evident. Further, Adepoju (2005) found that, although women and children from China and other countries are trafficked into Africa, African women and children are also trafficked into European countries. According to Adepoju (2005), each year between 800 and 1,100 women are trafficked into South Africa. He also noted that annually, about 200,000 children are trafficked across borders in the sub-region of West and Central Africa from and into countries such as Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. On a regional level, Sossou and Yogtiba (2008) provided some insight into the experiences of abused children in the West African sub-region, both in general and within the context of child labor. Some of the children they interviewed were freed slaves from trokoshi, street children and trafficked children on Cocoa plantations in three West African countries. In Ghana, human trafficking is defined in the country’s anti-trafficking legal document known as the Human Trafficking Act of 2005 (Article1, Clause 1-3, as amended in 2010). The definition is similar to that of the United Nations (2000), but the Human Trafficking also includes the following: “Placement for sale, bonded placement, temporary placement, placement as service where exploitation by someone else is the motivating factor shall also constitute trafficking.” In its third clause, the Act recognizes human trafficking as an international and a domestic offense with reference to persons being trafficked within or across the borders of Ghana. This article focuses on the latter. Although child trafficking is not new, many aspects of the phenomenon remain hidden. For instance, the voices of its victims are difficult to access, especially when the trafficking occurs within a country. Salah (2001) noted this difficulty when she called for rigorous research into all aspects of intra-country child trafficking. This call remains to some extent unanswered in Ghana despite its many trafficking avenues such as the local fishing industry and the stone quarry, where children are trafficked for labor purposes (Sossou & Yogtiba, 2008). The hidden nature of child trafficking, as noted by Salah (2001), may result in part from the ways in which children are socialized in African countries such as Ghana. Moss, Dillon, and Statham (2000) noted that childhood is universally determined by biological factors, but how the period is understood and treated is socially subjective and achieved “within an active negotiated set of social interactions” (p. 235). In Ghana, a level of work is deemed a necessity to enable children to become responsible adults. There is however, no mention of child labor within legal frameworks until children are 13 years of age (Children’s Act, 1998). Child labor is spoken of in relation to the minimum level of work children are permitted to do from the age of 13 years. Given the culture of engaging children in a minimum level of work, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between child labor and child trafficking for labor purposes. Afenyadu (2010) explained the presence of children on Lake Volta as parents’ means of enabling their children to acquire survival skills against poverty in adulthood. The study noted that children from some ethnic origins in Ghana are expected to learn at an early age how to become good fishermen just like their fathers to prepare them for a better future (Afenyadu, 2010). From a child trafficking perspective, Afenyadu (2010) observed that, although children’s involvement in fishing is a sociocultural activity for some ethnic groups in Ghana, it is also recognized as a trafficking activity. In this light, children are offered as debt collaterals by their parents to fishermen and boat owners. In return, the fishermen engage the children in long hours of work on Lake Volta (Afenyadu, 2010). Described by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2011) as the most detailed studies ever done on child trafficking on Lake Volta, the work of Agbenya (2009), Afenyadu (2010), and Bales (2005) shed light on the roles played by economic hardship and kin fostering in child trafficking on Lake Volta. The studies also reveal the maltreatment suffered by children working on Lake Volta from the researchers’ perspectives. The plight of children involved in fishing on Lake Volta has attracted more international and domestic attention than any other form of child trafficking within Ghana (Boyefio, 2006; Lafaraniere, 2006). Fishing by children on Lake Volta attracts attention because of its abusive nature and associated trauma. Bales (2005) described how dead bodies of children were washed ashore each morning to the anger of other villagers living along Lake Volta. Disturbingly, the situation reached a point where villagers no longer reported cases to the police. They claim that although the police are aware that fishermen force children to dive into the frigid waters to remove entangled nets, which can result in drowning, they declare such deaths as natural instead of initiating criminal charges against the culprits. As frightening as this scenario may be, children are daily trafficked to serve as fishing hands on Lake Volta. It is estimated that between 5,000 to 7,000 trafficked children are working on Lake Volta under exploitative conditions (Gutnick, 2008). In a recent World Vision report, Clarke (2010) recounts in an audio report how children are sold by parents in Ghana for $100 a year. According to Clarke, by 14:00 GMT children on Lake Volta would have worked for nine hours casting fishing nets to catch fish and preparing the daily catch for sale. In an interview with one of the rescued children, it was reported that the children worked from 05:00 GMT to 17:00 GMT daily, seven days a week. The report described a 13-year-old boy whom he had interviewed as having the stature of a six year old because of stunted growth. The child, who spent six years in slavery [According to the Slavery Convention, slavery describes a person’s status or conditions of being rightfully owned by another as a property (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR], 1926: Article 1.1). A person could

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

105

be a slave if it is possible to reduce his/her personhood to that of a commodity whose value is determined by market forces (OHCHR, 1926: Article 1.2). However, Tibbles (1994), explained that slavery in its general sense may refer to forced labor of any kind irrespective of the duration of the work involved.], described for Clarke how he was beaten and starved by his master when he was in the fishing village. He later returned to his home village and was supported by the International Organization on Migration. He was in a school housed in a shelter without walls. In a separate interview, his father, who has 22 children, mentioned his inability to pay for their education as the reason for trafficking him and his siblings (Clarke, 2010). Despite the relatively large number of field studies conducted on this topic, very little exists on the experiences of trafficked children from their own perspective. Knowing the experiences of trafficked children from their perspective is important because they are the only persons who can tell of their experiences as they felt it (Redmond, 2009). The current study is therefore a means of giving the children a voice to make their experiences known. The study also sought to build upon existing studies on child trafficking on Lake Volta by exploring the lived experiences of the children. The study was carried out in three districts of the Volta region of Ghana – South Tongu, North Tongu, and Krachi West. The Volta region was purposively chosen because of its proximity to Lake Volta and also because it is known to serve as both a source and a destination for many of the children fishing on Lake Volta. The Volta region stretches from the east coast to mid-Ghana. The study sought to explore the experiences of trafficked children who worked as fishing hands on Lake Volta and to understand from the children’s perspectives the effects trafficking has had on them. Consequently, the research questions posed were: How do children describe their lived experienced during trafficking? From their own perspectives, how have the children been affected by their trafficking experiences? Methodology Participants The selection of participants was based on convenience and access. Access related to the researchers’ ability to locate the children and verbally communicate with them. Access was also dependent on the willingness of rescue organizations to permit the researchers to work with the children registered with their anti-trafficking projects. Working with children registered with rescue organizations was a precautionary measure to ensure participants were well-protected from any emotional disturbance the study might cause. Participant Recruitment Study participants were drawn from diverse backgrounds to capture a comprehensive picture of the complexity of the experiences of rescued children and child trafficking for fishing purposes. Rescued children were drawn from two villages, of which inhabitants were both farmers and fishermen. One village was primarily focused on commercial enterprises and the other was primarily focused on farming. In the present study, the children that participated are referred to as returned children. It was not known at the beginning of the study that a shelter run by a nongovernmental organization (NGO) existed in the area. The primary aim of the NGO was to rescue trafficked children on Lake Volta for international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) undertaking major rescue and return programs. The discovery of the work of these bodies in the field led to the inclusion of rescued children living in the shelter, referred to in this study as sheltered children. Based on the identified selection criteria for study participants, the rescued and sheltered children were quite similar. The only difference is the fact that rescued children had been returned to the location from which they had been trafficked while the sheltered children were being accommodated in a shelter. The justification for including sheltered children was to take advantage of the opportunity to explore the possibility of identifying particular differences in their lived experiences in comparison to those children returned to their communities of origin. The combination of these two categories had no negative influence on the study because the focus was not on their experiences after trafficking (for which institutionalization may be of significance) but during trafficking. Participant Demographics A total of 43 rescued children (18 sheltered children and 25 rescued and returned children) took part in the study. All participants were purposively selected for their particularity (Stake, 1995, p. xi) to understand the circumstances surrounding their lived experiences. Participants were selected “because they have particular features or characteristics which will enable detailed exploration and understanding of the central themes and puzzles which we wanted to study” (Ritchie, Lewis, & Elam, 2003, p. 78). The selection of rescued children was based on the deployment of the following inclusion criteria:

106

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

(a) S/he was trafficked into a fishing community along Lake Volta. (b) S/he was rescued, rehabilitated, and reunited with a foster family or his/her family by an organization or placed as a resident in a shelter of one of the selected INGOs/NGOs. (c) S/he is regularly visited by the selected INGO/NGO. (d) S/he was rescued before the age of 18 years. Procedure A participatory approach was used to generate data as stories. Reason (1994) explained the participatory approach as researching “with the people rather than on people” and “a means by which people engage together to explore some significant aspect of their lives. . ..” (p. 1). Although participatory research is noted for its involvement of participants at every stage of the research (Tiffany, 2006), Cornwall and Jewkes (1995) suggested that the degree of participants’ involvement can vary depending on the aim of the research. In this study, participants were actively involved in data generation through the telling their stories. This approach gave room for participant innovation and allowed participants to tell their lived experiences through means comfortable to them. The approach also helped in reducing the power imbalance social researchers are faced with, as it encouraged children to control the pace of the interviews (Boser, 2007). Further, the participatory approach uncovered the meaning of experiences from the participants’ perspective, enabling them to go beyond telling their experiences to critically assessing them. The move from the subjective knowledge of experiences to the critical evaluation of it by participants reflected the context of their experiences. Language was one of the determining factors in the selection of the study area. Although the researchers could speak the languages of the study sites, cultures differ even within the same ethnic group in Ghana. Drawings were therefore used as a common ground. Prior to each in-depth interview, participants were provided with drawing materials (i.e., pencil, crayons, and drawing sheets) to pictorially represent their experiences. It was explained to each participant that they should not to be overly conscious of what they drew but to instead think through what each stroke or object placed on the drawing sheet meant to them. Each child had a day or two to return their drawing sheets. Most of the participants drew their stories; others, however, chose to write their stories. Those who wrote their stories read them during individual in-depth interviews, after which the researchers asked questions to explore points raised in the stories. The children who drew explained their drawings, and researchers asked clarification questions as needed. Inculcating drawing or writing helped reduce possible difficulties (memory wise) of children having to recall details of past experiences. There were instances, however, when children were not prepared to talk about certain issues. Thus, although drawing or writing was useful in bringing to memory the past, it did not help in some circumstances to probe very deeply. The ability to produce detailed stories was therefore dependent on the participants’ willingness to share every aspect of their experiences. The interview sessions began with seeking the consent of the children, their parents/guardians, or long-term rescue shelter managers. The study ensured no participant was forced to say more than s/he desired. Participants were interviewed in three different Ghanaian languages (Ewe, Ga, and Twi); an approach Larkin and Schotsmans (2007) called multiple language interviewing. Although Ewe is the main ethnic language of the people of the Volta Region, the inclusion of children from the NGOs long-term rescue shelter meant that some of the children were from other regions of Ghana where either Twi or Ga are spoken. The data was translated from Ewe, Ga, and Twi to English by the researchers because of their knowledge of the languages and also the primary role they played in the knowledge production process (see Temple & Young, 2004). Translating from the Ghanaian languages to English was done to preserve participants’ voices as much as possible. According to Birbili (2004), literal (word-by-word) translation of interviews from one language to another has the capacity to portray participants’ voices to readers, but it has the danger of rendering those voices unreadable and meaningless if the structure of the language in which the interview was conducted does not correspond with the language of the study write-up. This difficulty was resolved by adapting free translation, which has the reverse challenge of information loss. Procedure for Data Analysis The generated data was analysed using the narrative structure of the stories with a combination of some thematic procedures that helped in reducing the raw data into a manageable form while maintaining its core contents. The thematic procedure used an analytical tool called framework which Ritchie, Spencer, and O’Connor (2003) described as: . . .a matrix based analytic method which facilitates rigorous and transparent data management such that all the stages involved in the analytical hierarchy can be systematically conducted. It allows the analyst to move back and forth between different levels of abstraction without losing sight of the raw data. (p. 220) Framework as an analytical procedure has eight stages and begins with the raw data. The second stage involved the identification of concepts. At this stage, transcribed samples of transcripts from the various sources were selected and then read and re-read for an overview of the data. The reading process also involved noting all recurring concepts across data. This process was followed by indexing, a process of sorting the constructed concepts identified in the raw data under broad categories. These categories are then used to categorize the rest of the data. At the fourth stage, data was sorted according to the index placed on them. This brought together all sections of the data that fell under each constructed theme. To maintain

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

107

the sequence of the previous indexing, computer files were created for each index in which portions of data belonging to each category were copied and pasted. Next, the content of the generated computer files were summarized to build a thematic chart. This process involved further refining the indexes applied to portions of the data in the computer files. These five stages were used to generate themes for the narrative analysis.

Data Management With permission from participants and their guardians/parents, interviews were audiotaped. The ability to audio record participants’ views was helpful in capturing statements in the participant’s own words, which would otherwise have been extremely difficult. Capturing participants own words is vital to exploring lived experiences (Patton, 2002). Each day, date were downloaded onto a personal computer with a secure password. This process prevented others from having access to the study information. Although transcription began in the field, the respondents were given pseudonyms and the interviews were printed only when data collection ended.

Data Translation From Ewe, Twi and Ga to English Literal (word-for-word) and free translation were used to translate the Ghanaian languages to English (see Birbili, 2004). A combination of literal and free translation was adopted (a) to preserve participants’ voices as much as possible and (b) to make the write-up much more readable while conveying meaning. According to Birbili (2004), literal translation of interviews from one language to another has the capacity to portray participants’ voices to readers, but has the danger of rendering those voices unreadable and meaningless if the structure of the language in which the interview was conducted does not correspond with the language of the study write-up. This difficulty is resolved by adapting free translation, which has the reverse challenge of information loss. Combining literal translation with free translation meant losing bits of some information, but preserving some of the direct words of participants (Birbili, 2004).

Ethical Considerations Ethical considerations were at the heart of the study because of its sensitive nature. Apart from securing ethical approval from the Ethics Board of Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the study paid attention to ethical issues such as no harm to participants, informed consent, confidentiality, and researcher emotions. Trafficked children, even when rescued and rehabilitated, are vulnerable to further exploitation. Many children have been rescued and reunited with families, but the researchers believed it would have been unethical to involve any participant whose safety could not be guaranteed after the study period ended. Access was therefore sought from rescue and return organizations that shelter or have regular visits to those returned to their homes of origin. Further, access was also sought from participants and identified gatekeepers before the data collection (see Lee, 1993). Further, the NGOs in whose project the children were registered were informed of the purpose of the study and permission was sought for data collection with the children. Also, all participants and their parents/guardians were informed of the purpose of the research and the role of participants and the researchers. In keeping with Kvale (1996), participants were also informed about the use of the data and their right to decide about their participation and to withdrawal any time during the data collection process. Participants’ right to ask for the withdrawal of their information after data collection was made known to them with the aim of making participation voluntary. Honesty was a guiding principle in explaining the research aim to all participants. Participants were made aware of the availability of counseling services during and after data collection. Counselors of the NGOs whose rescued children were involved in the study were also informed about the purpose of the study, the various processes of data collection, and the possibility that children might need counseling. The researchers also notified the respective NGOs that all life threatening issues that might arise or be detected during interviews would be reported to them. Because trafficking is a sensitive issue to study, the welfare of participants was upheld throughout the research. Apart from arranging counseling services for participants, self-consciousness of the dignity, respect, and wellbeing of participants was of utmost concern. At the end of each session, participants were debriefed, and they shared their thoughts and feelings about being part of the research. Positive feelings were shared such as the joy to have someone willing to learn from them. The study also took into consideration the issue of confidentiality. Confidentiality is a complex issue in qualitative research. It mandates that researchers ensure that information which could be used to identify participants is not reported. It also means not disclosing participants’ information, willingly or unwillingly (Wiles, Crow, Heath, & Charles, 2008). In this study, confidentiality was ensured by not taking note of participants’ names during data collection. Each participant was asked to choose a pseudonym for himself/herself with which the participants and the researchers identified the participants’ story. Further, tape recordings and field notes were secured.

108

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

Results The stories of the children on their experiences in trafficking portray a life of hard work with little or no rest. In addition to fishing, the children were used on farms. In narrating their experiences both at the drawing/writing and in-depth interviewing stage, the following themes presented below emerged. Recruitment Age Keeping note of birth dates in rural areas, where literacy rates are very low, is uncommon. Key occurrences such as the death of an important community personality or national events are normally used to remember birth dates. However, what most of the children did was to use events or memories commensurate with the legal age for primary school education, to suggest their respective ages, as illustrated in the following: I do not remember the exact age at which I was taken to the fishing village, but I remember I was very young, not even at the age to start school – Paul (Returned Child). I think I was about 6 years old when I was taken to the fishing village – Ray (Returned Child). As tempting as it might be to question the children as to whether they were sure of the ages they mentioned, the observation of Keli when he was with his master is worth noting. In his story, Keli mentioned: . . .there are so many children working on the lake. Some would even be about five or six years old. They are taught how to eat and take care of themselves in the fishing village. It surprises me why children as young as that are brought to fish. I do not know whether they have lost their parents – Keli (Sheltered Child). Fishing, Farming, and Selling Out of the 43 children involved in the study, 42 of them were actively used as fishing servants. The sense of responsibility the children carried toward the work they were involved in, which included ensuring each other’s safety on Lake Volta, was enormous. Even in the absence of their masters, the children were obliged to keep fishing, which meant they worked alone on the open lake without adult supervision. The following stories relay the dangers they found themselves in: In the fishing village, we were made to get up early, around 3:00 am [03:00 GMT] to go fishing. We also went fishing during storms. Once, we were home when the storm started, but we had to go fishing because master had travelled and we had to keep working. When we got on the lake, it became dark and the clouds were full of rain. To make sure the canoe does not capsize, we paddled it in the direction of the wind. When it all ended, we had no strength left in us. Hmmm . . . two small boys. . . we would have died if not for God – Eyram (Sheltered Child). We engaged in many types of fishing. One type required one of us to stand at the edge of the canoe with a bamboo stick in hand to prevent the canoe from hitting a tree. But in case it does, those who knew how to swim would carry those who cannot swim to the nearest tree before lifting the capsized canoe and paddle it to them to board. The canoe is shallow so we easily fall overboard. Those who knew how to swim do their best to get on board again, but if you do not know how to swim, there wouldn’t be any way to get out of the water. You can get drowned as a result of that – Denis (Returned Child). I remember there were times I went fishing alone. Those were my scary moments in the fishing village because controlling the canoe and diving at the same time was not easy. There was no way I could do both at the same time. The water waves controlled the canoe and by the time I had finished removing the trapped net, the canoe was gone and I had to swim to catch it. On days that I could not swim to it, I had to hold on to a tree and call other fishing boys on the lake if they are within my reach to help bring the canoe to me – Godwin (Returned Child). Apart from waking up at odd times to engage in a labor intensive activity, weather conditions did not deter their masters from sending them on fishing trips. The time the children were made to start their daily activity merits special attention. Three o’clock GMT in Ghana is a very dark period of the night and considering the terrain around Lake Volta, visibility would be very low. These fishing villages, as we observed during fieldwork, did not have access to electricity. This meant that until the sun rose (usually around 06:00 GMT in Ghana), children who went fishing would be working for three hours in the dark. Apart from working in the darkness, the weather would be cold and working on open water would be a real challenge for children in an uncovered canoe. The possibility of the canoe hitting a tree stump and capsizing because of low visibility was also high. Children were not only made to go fishing alone on the open water, but they were required to perform tasks such as farming and selling in between their fishing activities: I did not only fish, I was used as a farm hand as well. There was no time to rest. . .. I fished morning and evening, and farmed in between fishing times. Oh! I suffered a lot . . .getting cuts from big fishes on my body. I was also not allowed to continue my schooling – John (Returned Child).

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

109

Endangerment From their stories, the maltreatments trafficked children suffered were many. These included starvation, sleep denial, non-provision of clothes and health care, and denial of access to education. Fifteen out of the 43 children recounted neglect of one form or the other. Starvation was used as a tool in forcing children to obey their masters. Children were starved when they did not follow instructions or faltered in their execution of directives from their masters. To rest, children had to be prepared to starve and because the children need to eat the little that would be offered by their masters at the end of the day, they had no voice to complain of tiredness as that would lead to starvation. Eating was considered a privilege, despite the fact that they were engaged in labor intensive activities for long hours: . . .even when you are tired and just needed a day off, you would be forced to go because you do not want to be starved – Edwin (Sheltered Child). I lived with my master for 7 years and for those 7 years feeding was a problem. Usually we eat once a day, we only eat twice when there is enough food – Ayitey (Sheltered Child). The study also found that children were denied adequate sleep. The most sleep that the children had was three hours in a day, and their sleeping place was determined by where they cast their fishing nets. On fishing trips, some slept in the canoe and others had the fishing net as their sleeping beds in the open space amidst mosquitoes. The fishermen did not seem to be very much concerned about the children’s safety and wellbeing, but the profit they wanted out of their labor: When we went to the fishing village, we fished day and night, rain or shine. We were asked to dive when the net is trapped. Every day was a fishing day. There was no time set aside for sleeping. We could be called at 12 midnight to go fishing – Jacob (Returned Child). Our sleeping place was determined by where we cast our net. There were times we go far from home. When that happens we sleep at the shore of the lake in the open air with a sailing cloth used on the canoe as our cover cloth. There were days we slept overnight on the lake without food. At day-break, instead of coming home to eat, we would do the day’s task before coming home in the evening – Keli (Sheltered Child). The narratives of the children also indicated that clothing was a challenge for them while in servitude. They were denied clothing by their masters though they worked hard for these masters to be able to provide for their biological children. Clothing here does not only refer to their daily wear, but protective clothes such as gloves needed to protect the children from some of the hazards involved in fishing: Sometimes after fishing I am asked to collect live fishes from the canoe with my bare hands. When any prick my hand, it hurts like a scorpion’s sting – Edwin (Sheltered Child). Amidst the narrated abuses, which exposed the children to many health problems, the study found that trafficked children were also denied essential medical care. This was partly because there were no health care facilities in the fishing villages. These villages were cut off from the nearby town where they could access health services by Lake Volta. When health care was administered, it was done based on the fisherman’s knowledge of herbs. As the children said in their stories, herbs and drugs were administered even when the cause of illness was unknown: Even when I am sick, I had to go fishing. There was nothing like medical care. Master rather thought I was faking sickness to avoid fishing. I buy drugs for myself when I have money – Edwin (Sheltered Child). In the fishing village, no one goes to the hospital when they get sick. There are no hospitals there. Our master buys medicine for us when we get sick – Denis (Returned Child). There were no hospitals in the village so the masters who cared, depend on their own herbal knowledge to treat their sick child servant. . ..Herbs were administered even when they did not know what was wrong with the child – Eben (Returned Children). Furthermore, the study found that the children were denied access to education, though most were in school prior to being trafficked. Even those whose masters permitted them to attend school were left on their own to work out how they would combine work and schooling. They had to finish all the work they were required to do before going to school. The children’s education was not a priority, unlike their daily catch: I used to go to school, but not every school day because there were days we got back from fishing when school had already began. The days we wanted to go to school, we left home for fishing at 4 a.m. – Falcon (Returned Child). Schooling was a leisure activity. Master verbally permitted us to go to school, but we had several nets and by the time we finished attending to all, it was too late to go to school – Denis (Returned Child). The children also narrated being forced to dive. Diving to remove trapped nets was one of the activities performed by 14 of the 43 children, and it was a main source of fear for them. It was the easiest means of drowning. Fourteen children were regularly asked to go deep under the water, without any breathing apparatus, to remove fishing nets trapped to tree

110

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

stumps. With eyes closed and breath held, it was mandatory for the children to ensure the fishing net was carefully removed without tearing it. Tearing the net would be an invitation for punishment. Before you jump into the water, you need to hold your breath and keep it that way until you finish removing the net from the tree stump. If it is taking you too long to remove the net, you have to come to the surface, catch some breath and dive again. . .but sometimes while some children try swimming up to catch their breath, they are wrapped by the net and in the struggle to free themselves swallow a lot of water and die – Eyram (Sheltered Child). Fishing when the tides are high is very dangerous. It is not possible to see the tree stumps, as they would be covered by the water. In diving, children are wounded because they jump into the water landing on the tree stumps. When we refused to dive, we were insulted and reminded of the money our parents collected for our labor . . . and if we resist any further, master would hit us with stones or threaten to beat us to death. Diving is very difficult. There is a fish called electric fish in the water that shocks people to death – Keli (Sheltered Child). I witnessed an incident where the child was forced to dive and resurfaced with a cut under his eye, without the net. The master forced him to go back and remove the net and he did not come back until the third day when his body was found on the lake. The parents came for the body to bury and the master denied being present when the boy drowned – Edwin (Sheltered Child). The only survival skill the children had against death in diving was their ability to swim and hold their breath, which was not enough to save those who perished. Physical and Verbal Abuse and Sexual Harassment Nineteen of the 43 children further endured moments of continuous physical abuse from the hands of their masters. Three of these children also talked about being verbally abused, and two, both girls, talked of sexual harassment. Canoe paddles and fishing ropes were sometimes used to physical assault children while on the lake, and whips were sometimes used when the abuse occurred in homes. The children who discussed verbal abuse were insulted and called names. Children were abused for things they sometimes had no control over. I was hit on the head with a paddle, and I had a very deep cut. I was taken home for dressing and later given medicine which I put on it after cleaning it with hot water – Ben (Returned Child). During one fishing trip on the lake, we were met by a storm and our canoe capsized. All the fishes we caught that day poured in the lake. Master said I am a wizard and I made the canoe to capsize. That if I do not want to die, I should get all the fishes back into the canoe – Eyram (Sheltered Child). The two girls who discussed harassment described how fishermen harassed their servant girls sexually in the absence of their wives. One of the girls stated that her master attempted on several occasions to have sex with her forcefully. The other girl narrated a successful escape from a situation in which she was forced into a room to have sex with an outsider. Such refusals by the girls to have sex with their masters or men from the fishing village were met with harsh punishments. My uncle took GH¢200 [US$66] from a man with whom he wanted me to have sex . . . but I escaped to another village. When my uncle found me, I was beaten, starved, and made to do all the household chores in addition to fishing. He started taking me to fishing overnight and when we return the next morning I would have stomach upsets and would be shivering. The fishing net was my bed and because there was no pharmacy shop in the village I was given no medicine – Dela (Sheltered Child). Our master usually tries to have sex with me when his wife is not home, but I always succeed in running away from him. Because I do not have sex with him, he used to shout at me and give me hard jobs to do – Xormse (Sheltered Child). Although none of the girls explicitly stated that their masters had sex with them, it is clear from their stories that trafficked children are likely to be sexually harassed even if that is not the primary reason for their trafficking. Effects of Fishing on Health In line with the above narrated trafficking experiences of the children, the study took note of the physical health effects it had on the children. Common within these stories was the issue of bilharzia infection (blood in urine) and isolated cases of ear and chest infections. The children attributed these conditions to their constant contact with water without protective clothes in cold weather conditions: I had chest pains which was treated when my foster father took me to the hospital, but my brother who did not know how to swim then easily catch cold on the lake and even after our rescue he has a chronic dry cough with wet nose all the time – Denis (Returned Child).

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

111

I had bilharzia when I came back from the fishing village – Mercy (Returned Child). The main sickness we suffered from in the fishing village was passing blood instead of urine. Even that, our masters could not do anything about it because they were also suffering from the same sickness – Ben (Returned Children). From the above stories it is evident that the bilharzia infection was not only suffered by the boys, who were the ones usually diving to remove entangled nets, but girls and the fishing masters also. Discussion In the context of existing studies on child trafficking, the current study strengthens the views of Agbenya (2009) on the maltreatments children suffer while fishing on Lake Volta. In addition to listing the types of the maltreatment children suffered, as done by Agbenya (2009), the current study presented a detailed description of those experiences from the children’s perspectives. Prior to the enactment of the 2005 Human Trafficking Act, the Children’s Act was enacted in 1998. With effective implementation, the Children’s Act could have protected the Ghanaian children on Lake Volta from maltreatment. Even the Human Trafficking Act, which spells out stiffer punishment for offenders, is yet to have had an appreciable effect on the conditions of children such as those trafficked on Lake Volta. Findings of the study also support the views of Moss et al. (2000) who found that although a person’s childhood is universally determined by biological factors, how the period of childhood is understood and treated is socially subjective and achieved “within an active negotiated set of social interactions” (p. 235). Although the trafficked children were not at the constitutionally approved age (i.e., 18 years) to engage in hazardous work, the fishermen did not hesitate to use them for fishing. The findings also broadly support the views of James and James (2001) on childhood as a category that is both biologically and socially oriented. Thus, within the fishing communities that were the focus of this study, children were assigned adult roles. From a legal perspective, the Children’s Act (1998) acknowledges the biological immaturity of children to engage in certain work (e.g., cattle herding, fishing, working with dangerous chemicals) until the age of 18 years. Socially, however, parents and traffickers do not think children should be totally exempted from work. This notion has been in Ghana for many years, as noted by Oppong (1973) who described how some Ghanaian households foster children to carry out labor-intensive and time consuming tasks. Recommendations In consideration of the study’s findings, we recommend a rigorous implementation of the Human Trafficking Act to deter child traffickers in all sectors. Implementation of the Act will ensure the arrest and prosecution of child traffickers within Ghana, thereby ensuring that children do not continue to go through the experiences narrated by the participants in this study. We also call on researchers with interest in child welfare to produce and disseminate more research on intra-country child trafficking to create awareness and elicit interest from legislators and human rights practitioners. There is also the need for further studies on the living conditions of those rescued from trafficking and strategies to be implemented to avoid their re-trafficking. Study Limitations This study has a number of limitations. First, there are other avenues apart from fishing into which children are trafficked in Ghana. As an exploratory study focusing on those rescued from fishing communities, the findings do not necessarily reflect the experiences of all trafficked children from other avenues, such as cocoa farms and quarries within Ghana. Second, stories of participants from the selected communities pertain only to them, as not all communities which received children rescued from fishing on Lake Volta have been included in the study. This limited the ability to generalize findings in relation to all children rescued from fishing communities because of the cultural differences among Ghanaian communities. Conclusion Human trafficking, though not a new phenomenon to most societies, occurs within countries, but little research on this topic exists. To advance knowledge in this direction, this study examined experiences of children trafficked to Lake Volta to engage in many hazardous activities during which they suffered many abuses. The study also noted the effect of these abuses on the physical health of the children. The current study, in providing details from the children’s perspective on their experiences, validates Afenyadu’s (2010) position that children fishing on Lake Volta experience a high level of child maltreatment. In bringing together views of all the children involved in the study, evidence has been built upon which action could be taken. These evidences portray that the voices in Clarke’s (2010) interview are not isolated cases, but are representative of the experiences of the children fishing on Lake Volta. It is therefore clear that although there are several laws for the protection of children in Ghana, implementation is lacking. Many children in Ghana continue to live under abusive conditions. For many, their childhood is abruptly ended as they are sold into modern day slavery. Being too young to protect themselves, some end up losing their lives.

112

E.S. Hamenoo, C.A. Sottie / Child Abuse & Neglect 40 (2015) 103–112

References Adepoju, A. (2005). Review of research and data on human trafficking in sub-Sahara Africa. International Migration, 43(1/2), 75–98. Afenyadu, D. (2010). Child labor in fisheries and aquaculture, a Ghanaian perspective. In FAO workshop on child labor in fisheries and aquaculture in cooperation with ILO (pp. 1–15). Agbenya, L. (2009). Child labor trafficking in the Lake Volta fishery of Ghana: A case study of Ogetse in the Krachi west district of the Volta region (Master’s thesis, University of Tromso, Norway). Retrieved from http://munin.uit.no/ Bales, K. (2005). Understanding global slavery: A reader. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Birbili, M. (2004). Translating from one language to the other. Social Research Updates, 31. Boser, S. (2007). Power, ethics and the IRB: Dissonance over human participant review of participatory research. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(8), 1060–1074. Boyefio, G. (2006). Child trafficking still rife in Ghana. The Statesman. Clarke, P. (2010). Ghana child trafficking. Retrieved from http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/radio.nsf/stable/wvradiostory 061106 childtrafficghana Cornwall, A., & Jewkes, R. (1995). What is participatory research? Social Science and Medicine, 41(12), 1667–1676. Feingold, D. A. (2005). Human trafficking. Foreign Policy, 150, 26–32. Gjermeni, E., Van Hook, M. P., Gjipali, S., Xhillari, L., Lungu, F., & Hazizi, A. (2008). Trafficking of children in Albania: Patterns of recruitment and reintegration. Child Abuse and Neglect, 32(10), 941–948. Gutnick, D. (2008). In depth modern slavery: Fishing for my master in Ghana. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/slavery/ghana.html James, A., & James, A. L. (2001). Childhood: Toward a theory of continuity and change. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 575(1), 25–38. Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE. Lafaraniere, S. (2006). Africa’s world of forced labor, in a 6-year-old’s eyes. Larkin, J. P., & Schotsmans, P. (2007). Multiple translation issues in qualitative research: Reflections on a metaphorical process. Qualitative Health Research, 17(4), 468–476. Lee, R. M. (1993). Doing research on sensitive topic. London: SAGE. Lie, M., & Ragnhild, L. (2008). Introduction to the theme issue on human trafficking. Journal of Gender, Technology and Development, 12(1), 1–4. Martens, J., Pieczkowski, M. M., & van Vuuren-Smyth, B. (2003). Seduction, sale and slavery: Trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation in South Africa. Retrieved from http://www.queensu.ca/samp/migrationresources/gender/documents/martens.pdf Moss, P., Dillon, J., & Statham, J. (2000). The ‘child in need’ and ‘the rich child’: Discourses, constructions and practice. Critical Social Policy, 20(2), 233–254. OHCHR. (1926). Slavery convention (September 25th edn). Geneva: UNHCHR. Oppong, C. (1973). Growing up in Dagbon. Accra-Tema: Ghana Publishing Corporation. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE. Pearce, J. J., Hynes, P., & Bovarnick, S. (2009). Breaking the wall of silence: Practioner’s responses to trafficked children and young people. Retrieved from http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/Findings/breaking the wall of silence report wdf66135.pdf President & Parliament. (2005). Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (December 5th edn). Accra: Government Printer, Assembly Press. Reason, P. (1994). Introduction. In P. Reason (Ed.), Participation in human inquiry (pp. 1–6). London: SAGE. Redmond, G. (2009). Children as actors: How does the child perspective literature treat agency in the context of poverty. Social Policy and Society, 8(4), 541–550. Republic of Ghana, & UNICEF. (1998). The Children’s Act (Act 560 edn). Accra: Government Printer, Assembly Press. Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., & Elam, G. (2003). Designing and selecting samples. In J. Ritchie, & J. Lewis (Eds.), Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers (pp. 77–109). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Ritchie, J., Spencer, L., & O’Connor, W. (2003). Carrying out qualitative research. In J. Ritchie, & J. Lewis (Eds.), Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers (pp. 219–262). London: SAGE. Salah, R. (2001). Child trafficking in west and central Africa. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/media/newsnotes/africchildtraffick.pdf Skilbrei, M., & Tveit, M. (2008). Defining human trafficking through empirical work: Blurred boundaries and the consequences. Journal of Gender, Technology and Development, 12(1), 9–30. Sossou, M., & Yogtiba, J. A. (2008). Abuse of children in west Africa: Implications for social work education and practice. British Journal of Social Work, 39(7), 1218–1234. Stake, R. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Takamatsu, K. (2004). Human security and international assistance: Combating human trafficking in Cambodia. Gender, Technology and Development, 8(2), 227–285. Temple, B., & Young, A. (2004). Qualitative research and translation dilemma. Qualitative Research, 4(2), 161–178. Tibbles, A. (Ed.). (1994). Transatlantic slavery against human dignity (Tibbles, Anthony ed.). London: HMSO. Tiffany, J. S. (2006). Respondent-driven sampling in research context: Participant-driven recruitment. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 83(7), 1–12. United Nations. (2000). Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in person, especially women and children, supplementing the United Nations convention against transnational organised crime. Retrieved from http://www.uncjin.org/Documents/Conventions/dcatoc/final documents 2/convention %20traff eng.pdf United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). (2011). Transnational organised crime in the fishing industry: Focus on trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, illicit drugs trafficking. United Nations, 1–136. Wiles, R., Crow, G., Heath, S., & Charles, V. (2008). The management of confidentiality and anonymity in social research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 11(5), 417–428.

Appendix A. Interview guide for rescued children 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Age at trafficking Relationship with trafficker (fishing master) Reason for trafficking (was there an explanation or you were just handed over?) Parent or guardian involved in the trafficking Trafficking activities Education in trafficking Provision of needs in trafficking Means of rescue Effects of trafficking on children Duration of trafficking