Within the walls of Courage House Tanzania, lives are being restored.
Courage House Tanzania opened on August 1, 2011 and is a safe, loving environment for the 10 rescued children who call it home.
Nearly one-third of Tanzanian girls experience sexual violence before they turn 18. Tanzania is mainly a country of origin and transit for trafficking in persons. Tanzanian women and children are trafficked to Burundi, Malawi, South Africa, and the Middle East. There is also internal trafficking within Tanzania. Children are usually trafficked from rural to urban areas and are forced to work in the domestic, agricultural, fishing, or mining sectors. Tanzania is also a transit country for Somalis trafficked through Kenya to South Africa.
Trafficking of African women and children for forced prostitution or labor is exacerbated by war, poverty, and flawed or nonexistent birth registration systems, according to a study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Poverty aggravates already desperate conditions caused by conflict, discrimination, and repression, and unregistered children are easy to move between countries because they never formally acquire a nationality. The study also found that Africa’s 3.3 million refugees and the estimated 12.7 million internally displaced persons are the most vulnerable to trafficking.
Various factors contribute to the widespread problem of trafficking in children throughout Tanzania. Among the most significant factors are poverty and the disintegration of the family unit. Families do whatever they can to survive, even if it means forcing their daughters into prostitution. In addition, as part of a traditional practice, low-income parents often send their children to wealthier relatives to care for as their own; however, those wealthy relatives sometimes “take advantage of this traditional practice to recruit children, promising them a chance of employment or education, but instead place the child in a situation where he or she is exploited.” Moreover, the growing tourism industry in Tanzania increases the demand for women in prostitution.
Half of Africa’s 53 governments admit that trafficking is a serious concern, although because they lack capacity to collect data, no reliable figures exist. Of countries on the continent, 80 percent have reported internal trafficking to meet demand for cheap household and farm labor as well as prostitution. Twice as many African countries report trafficking in children as report trafficking in women.
Trafficking in Tanzania is primarily for prostitution and other kinds of sexual exploitation. Sex tourism is particularly widespread in Tanzania’s semiautonomous twin islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, where an increasing number of children between the ages of 12 and 14 are being exploited.
Trafficking of children from Tanzania may also occur to provide forced labor as domestic servants in Middle Eastern households. Children are also exploited as cheap labor at tea plantations in the southwest Tanzanian districts of Njombe and Mufindi, where trucks from tea plantations reportedly come to the city to pick up child laborers. In 2002, about 4.1 million Tanzanian children ages 5 to 14 (nearly 40 percent of all children in that age range) were being exploited. Such children are being used in the mining industry, fisheries, agricultural plantations, prostitution, and drug trafficking.
Child soldiers are frequently used in armed conflicts within Burundi. The Forces Armees Burundaises, the Conseil National pour la Defense de la Democratie/Forces pour la Defense de la Democratie, and the Parti de Liberation du Peuple Hutu/Forces Nationales de Liberation actively recruit children for use in armed combat. Children are reportedly being trafficked from refugee camps in western Tanzania for this purpose.
Government Responses
Tanzania has a specific law banning trafficking of children below the age of 18. Specifically, the Penal Code prohibits procuring children to take them out of Tanzania and bringing children into or removing them from the country to have them engage in prohibited sexual intercourse. These offenses are punishable by imprisonment of 10 to 20 years and a fine. The child’s consent is irrelevant for establishing criminal liability, and any attempt to commit such an offense is punishable as a completed offense. However, the wording of the law may leave a loophole, such as in cases in which children are trafficked to countries where sexual intercourse with minors is not illegal. The Penal Code also prohibits procuring any child below the age of 18 to cause the child to be sexually abused or to cause the child to participate in any form of sexual activity by taking advantage of influence over the child, by threatening the child, or by giving money or any other consideration to the child or the parents. This offense is punishable by imprisonment of 5 to 20 years.
Prostitution is illegal under Tanzanian law, and there is also a prohibition against brothels and defilement of children below age 14. The law similarly forbids child pornography and prostitution and considers any sexual act with a girl below the age of 18 to be rape, which is punishable by life imprisonment. However, enforcing these provisions is very difficult, because although the law considers sex below the age of 18 to be rape, other provisions set the legal age for marriage at 15. The penalties for raping an adult woman are also very strict, with imprisonment ranging from a minimum of 30 years to a maximum of life. In addition, the offender must pay the victim compensation for damages suffered as a result of the rape.
Reports show that the government of Tanzania is working to end some of the worst forms of child labor in the country by teaming up with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and with labor and social organizations within the country. The government is trying to reform its laws to comply with the provisions of international treaties banning child labor. In January 2001, the government of Tanzania began participating in the International Program on Elimination of Child Labor. In 2002, the program rescued 1,109 Tanzanian children from the worst forms of child labor and reintegrated them into primary schools and vocational training centers. The Tanzanian government also received a grant for US$4 million from the U.S. Department of Labor in 2002 to implement a four-year Child Labor Education Initiative Project. In June 2003, Tanzania’s prime minister announced the government’s ambitious goal to completely eradicate child labor in the country by 2010. However, it is unclear how this goal will be implemented, because another governmental program, the National Development Vision 2005, has set a target “to reduce abusive child labor of the [worst forms] by 75 percent by the year 2005.” The government is still far from reaching that goal.
Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and local nongovernmental organizations are working together to help disadvantaged children become less vulnerable to traffickers. Also, several women’s groups are active in the region and are working to raise awareness of the plight of women and to prevent the exploitation of women and children.
[1] Jonathan Fowler, “UNICEF: Human Trafficking in Africa Fueled by War, Economic Hardship, and Lack of Birth Registration,” Associated Press, 23 April 2004.
[1] “Tanzania: Human Trafficking ‘Significant,’ but U.S. Commends Government for Efforts, United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, 13 June 2003.
[1] End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 24 April 2003, http://www.ecpat.net.
[1] “Media Facts” for Andrea Rossi, ed., Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, in Africa” (Annunziata, Italy: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, September 2003).
[1] Jonathan Fowler, “UNICEF: Human Trafficking in Africa Fueled by War, Economic Hardship, and Lack of Birth Registration,” Associated Press, 23 April 2004.
[1] Andrea Rossi, ed., Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, in Africa” (Annunziata, Italy: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, September 2003).
[1] “More Zanzibar Minors Join Child Sex Ring: ILO Report,” Agence France Presse, 31 May 2002.
[1] “Child Slavery ‘More Common Than Thought’ in Africa, South African Press Association, 15 August 2003.
[1] “Tanzania: War against Worst Forms of Child Labor Gets US Support,” TOMRIC News Agency, 10 April 2002.
[1] “Tanzania Vows to Eradicate Child Labor by 2010,” Xinhua News Agency, 8 June 2003.
[1] United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Security Council, “Children and Armed Conflict: Report of the Secretary-General,” p. 9, 30 October 2003, http://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/000161.pdf.
[1] ECPAT International Online Database, 24 April 2003, http://www.ecpat.net.
[1] Judy Thongori, “The Proposed Amendments to the Laws on Rape and Defilement: Do the Proposed Amendments Fill the Gaps?,” 3 December 2003, http://www.fidakenya.org/Articles/Articles.asp.
[1] ECPAT International Online Database, 24 April 2003, http://www.ecpat.net.
[1] “Tanzania Reforms Laws to Fight Child Labor,” Xinhua News Agency, 3 April 2003.
[1] “Tanzania, America Sign Child Labor Education Pact,” Xinhua News Agency, 10 September 2002.
[1] “Tanzania Vows to Eradicate Child Labor by 2010,” Xinhua News Agency, 8 June 2003.
[1] “Tanzania: No End in Sight for Child Labor,” Africa News, 11 April 2003.
[1] ECPAT International Online Database, 1 May 2003, http://www.ecpat.net.
Lauren Eden – Video from Africa
That is what Lauren Edens did, Courage Worldwide’s original Development Director in Tanzania, Africa. Lauren said yes to God as he called her to “set the captives free” in this beautiful country in a town called Moshi, located at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. From Lauren
The enormity and complexity of the needs in Africa can be overwhelming if you look at the situation strictly by numbers and statistics. To make a difference, we look at it differently. We see one life, one child at a time.
Rescuing and loving one child, providing for one child’s basic needs, telling one child their life has value and purpose multiplies until it DOES impact the world—their world. Incredibly, the children we meet on the streets, in the poorest of villages, and in ill kept orphanages have not lost the ability to dream and easily believe us when we tell them God loves them and has a purpose for their lives.
It is still our desire to bring volunteers from around the world to equip, encourage, and empower African children—specifically those rescued out of the sex slave trade—to realize their dreams and become all God created them to be. We intend to build them homes called Courage Houses focusing on the very forgotten, vulnerable, and invisible children that are forced to sell their bodies to survive. Our desire is to partner with and through the local church.
They meet outside under rickety man-made tents. They meet in their villages without electricity, running water, or indoor toilets. They meet in abandoned buildings. They meet in one-room mud huts. They walk for miles and miles just to join a group of fellow believers to worship and pray. Pastors ride their bikes 10–20 miles just to encourage a congregation of 10 people. Anywhere two or more are gathered, the African Christians call it church.
Dirt floors are swept, pulpits appear, chairs are found, and the stage is set for church. Hours are spent singing and dancing before God, before anyone begins to speak. Even in the most rural villages, in places where time seems to have stood still, you can always find a group of God’s people gathering for hours to seek His face. The faith of the African Christian people is one that usually astounds westerners. Rich in community, rich in love, and rich in belief, the people there have much to teach the western world and the western church about a life lived trusting God, literally, for your daily bread.
Partners Pastor Renson Davies, his wife and Courage Center Director, Faith, and their son, Prince.
Courage Worldwide is a registered NGO in Tanzania, Africa and welcomes volunteers and interns.
Our volunteer and intern program continues to be expanded to include opportunities for individuals and groups to use their gifts and talents to make a difference, one individual at a time. We have a fervent belief that the African local church, the body of Christ, will be the conduit that God uses to bring about great change on the continent of Africa. We believe it is Courage Worldwide’s purpose to equip, encourage, and empower them in that task. We have been invited and warmly welcomed by over 30 Tanzanian pastors and their churches to do this. For more information on volunteering in Africa complete an online registration form or email us at info@courageworldwide.org.