U.S. Department of State 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Senegal

Senegal (Tier 2)

Senegal is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the country is more prevalent than trans-border trafficking. Boys who are students (talibe) at Koranic schools are trafficked within the country for forced begging by their religious teachers (marabouts), and women and girls are trafficked for domestic servitude. Girls, and possibly adult women, are also trafficked internally for sexual exploitation. Transnationally, boys are trafficked to Senegal from The Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea for forced begging by religious teachers. Senegalese women and girls are trafficked to neighboring countries, the Middle East, and Europe for domestic servitude and possibly for sexual exploitation. Reports over the last year of large numbers of Senegalese and neighboring country nationals being transported from Senegal to Spain appear to be cases of smuggling and illegal migration rather than trafficking.

The Government of Senegal does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so, despite limited resources. The Senegalese government made modest progress in its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the past year. To improve its response to trafficking, Senegal should: increase efforts to apply its 2005 law against trafficking; activate its special commissariat against sex tourism to rescue victims; arrest sex tourists; strengthen overall protection efforts, ensuring, in particular, that victims are not incarcerated; and increase awareness-raising initiatives.

Prosecution

The Government of Senegal continued to make progress in its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the last year. Senegal prohibits all forms of trafficking through its 2005 Law to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Related Practices and to Protect Victims. The prescribed penalty of 5 to 10 years' imprisonment for all forms of trafficking is sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for rape. During the reporting period two religious teachers were convicted under the anti-trafficking law for trafficking children. The sentence of two years' imprisonment imposed on each convicted trafficker, however, was insufficient. Police arrested a Nigerian trafficker in December 2006 and an Ivorian trafficker in January 2007, both of whom are detained awaiting trial. The government continued to work with Guinean authorities to prosecute two Senegalese child traffickers arrested in Guinea in early 2006. During the last year, Senegalese officials worked with Spanish authorities to break up two trafficking rings, one of which was transporting Cape Verdeans through Senegal and The Gambia to Spain. Although at least four sex tourists were prosecuted for pedophilia during the year, the special commissariat set up by the Interior Ministry in 2005 to fight sex tourism has taken no definitive actions.

Protection

The Senegalese government demonstrated sustained efforts to provide care for trafficking victims during the year. The government's Ginddi Center for at-risk-children, including trafficking victims, received 373 children during the year, but failed to provide specific data on the number of trafficking victims aided. The Center's child protection hotline received 21,533 calls during the year, and the government provided training to Center personnel to help them address the needs of trafficking victims and street children. In October 2006, a Presidential Council on Street Children recommended the creation of a partnership between the government, NGOs, religious leaders, and donors to provide care for street children, many of whom may be escaped trafficking victims or vulnerable to being trafficked. The government does not encourage all victims to assist in trafficking investigations or prosecutions, though officials encourage boys trafficked by religious teachers to help identify and prosecute their teachers. The government does not provide trafficking-specific legal alternatives to the removal of victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution. Victims may file refugee asylum claims for temporary or permanent residency. Although the anti-trafficking law prohibits victims from being penalized for acts related to being trafficked, child victims of trafficking are arrested and prosecuted.

Prevention

The Government of Senegal made modest efforts to raise awareness about trafficking during the reporting period. The President and the World Bank co-hosted a Presidential Council on street children in October 2006, with the President proposing that every Senegalese family take responsibility for one street child. The President and the Minister of Family also discussed trafficking with religious officials. In December 2006, the Family Ministry organized donor-funded workshops and roundtables in Mbour, Kolda, and Fatick to raise awareness among government officials and the general population about the dangers of child labor.