Ever since the civil war which lasted from 1999 to 2003, Liberia has struggled with child labor and trafficking. Human rights abuses against children have become so prevalent that many consider them to be a “normal way of life.” The problem has only been getting worse in recent years as the country struggles with high rates of unemployment and a deteriorating economic situation.
Orphans and children from impoverished families are especially vulnerable to exploitation by rich relatives and local traffickers. They use false promises and coercion to enlist children to work as sex workers, domestic servants, beggars, street vendors, miners and plantation workers.
The eight year old girl, Loveena Miller, is a typical example of what happens to many children in Liberia. Her aunt convinced her mother than Loveena would have better prospects and educational opportunities if she went to live with her aunt in the capital city of Monrovia. Unfortunately for Loveena, once she arrived her aunt forced her into labor as a street vendor selling plantains.
The problem of child trafficking is compounded by the failure of parents to register their children and obtain birth certificates. Without registration, these children have no proof of identity or citizenship, which deprives them of basic rights and protections under the law.
As of 2012, Liberia had the second lowest rate of registration with only 4% of all children having valid birth certificates. In an effort to encourage parents to obtain birth records, the Health Ministry of Liberia raised the age for free birth certificates in 2010. Now children up to the age of twelve years old can obtain registration free of charge. Since this change first took effect in 2010, the Ministry issued more than 116,000 birth certificates.
Even though this is astep in the right direction, there are many other contributing factors to the prevalence of child labor and trafficking in Liberia. Just this summer, President Sirleaf suspended the activities of the Bureau of Vital Statistics due to reports that the office was issuing fake birth certificates to enable traffickers. The government responded to this corruption by establishing plans to strengthen government procedures for protecting against fraud and child trafficking in the future. Although promising, the country has a long way to go to significantly improve the current situation.
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