U.S. Department of State 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report - Togo

Togo (Tier 2)

Togo is principally a country of origin for children trafficked to Nigeria and Gabon for the purposes of forced domestic labor and forced prostitution. Some Togolese women are trafficked to Lebanon and Europe for sexual exploitation. Ghanaian children are trafficked to Togo to work in involuntary domestic servitude.

The government does not meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Anti-trafficking legislation has been stalled since December 2002; immediate efforts should be made to expedite its passage to the National Assembly. Clear lines of governmental authority to address trafficking should be established and efforts made to prosecute those arrested on trafficking-related charges.

Prosecution

Togo has no specific trafficking law, but the government can use existing criminal statutes against child labor and sexual exploitation to prosecute some aspects of trafficking crimes. The Criminal Justice Investigation Department reported 28 arrests for trafficking in children and 11 arrests for trafficking young women during 2003, but no information was reported on trafficking-related prosecutions or convictions. Specific anti-trafficking legislation was introduced in 2002 but has not passed. The government cooperates with Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria on the return of trafficked children, but no statistics were available.

Protection

No government-sponsored programs address the care of persons trafficked to Togo, but the government supports efforts of NGOs. With international help, the government established a small short-term care center for trafficked children in 2003, but this center does not provide medical care or rehabilitation, and trafficked children are quickly turned over to NGOs.

Prevention

The president has publicly acknowledged the presence of trafficking in Togo and government ministers have called on NGOs for help in combating the problem. Efforts by NGOs and the ILO to create local trafficking councils led to the government's formation of a national committee on rehabilitation and reinsertion. his committee began collecting statistics on trafficking in rural areas. In early 2004, the Ministry of Justice hosted a regional anti-trafficking workshop on strategies to fight trafficking in Benin, Nigeria, and Togo.