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The main international instrument regarding trafficking in persons is the UN Protocol to Suppress and Punish Trafficking Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. The Protocol not only provides an internationally agreed definition of trafficking in persons, but also provides elaborate measures for preventing and suppressing trafficking in persons while ensuring the protection of the rights of the victims of trafficking.
The purposes of this Protocol are:
(a) To prevent and combat trafficking in persons, paying particular attention to women and children;
(b) To protect and assist the victims of such trafficking, with full respect to for their human rights; and
(c) To promote cooperation among States Parties in order to meet those objectives
For the purposes of this Protocol:
(a) “Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring 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 labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;
(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;
(c) The recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purposes of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article;
(d) “Child” shall mean any persons under 18 years of age.
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The Children Act, Chapter 76 of the Laws of Kenya consolidates all previous statutes relating to custody, adoption, guardianship and care of children; and domesticates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Kenya is a party to both treaties.
Under the Act, trafficking in children is specifically outlawed. The Act outlaws the labour of any person under the age of 16 and provides for the regulation of the labour of children above 16 years of age. It also prohibits the use of children in hazardous conditions. However, this legislation falls short of prescribing the penalty for offences related to these provisions. Moreover, the Act provides for a lenient sentence of a fine of 50 000 shillings (about 650 US Dollars) for any infringement of a child’s right to be safe from sexual exploitation. Finally, in defining a “guardian” as one who “need not be a Kenyan citizen or a resident of Kenya”, the Act creates a loophole whereby foreigners may traffic children out of the country as long as they are acting as “guardians”.
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In Europe, America, Middle East and parts of Asia you will meet many unhappy men, women, girls and boys from abroad and some from Kenya. Those have been promised a pleasant job, a high salary, a happy marriage or better education. They accept the promises in the hope that they will secure a good job, get rich and return home to help their families and relatives.
The REALITY is that they find themselves in an exploitative situation after failing to get the desired job. Some find themselves in forced commercial sex work, or working long hours in domestic work often underpaid.
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You need to ask the person offering you the job exactly what you will be expected to do and for how many hours. Ensure you sign a contract that is attested by the Ministry of Labour in Kenya. The contract should list the type of work you will do, where you will do it and how much you will be paid for doing it as a means of protecting you from becoming exploited for your labour.
“Nanny” may be a way of saying that you will work as a housegirl/boy in a home. Once you arrive at your destination, your working hours may be increased or you may be required to work in different homes for less pay. You may also end up performing other duties that you did not expect as the traffickers aim is to exploit your services for the least amount of money.
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No employer should force you to stay at a job. But, dishonest employers may watch you all the time so that you cannot get away. Or, they may threaten to send you back to your home country or hurt you or your family if you leave the job they have for you. Some may even lock you up in the house and confiscate your travel documents to ensure you do not ran away from them. In some cases, victims have been held in bondage for many years as they repay the expenses incurred by the trafficker to take them to their destination.
Remember, your passport is yours, nobody has a right to withhold your travel documents. Never give your passport to anybody. When you get into trouble, ask for a lawyer even if your passport has been taken from you. You are entitled to have your passport at all given times.
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Most likely this is a lie. Dishonest employers will lie about how much you will get paid and will find ways to make you pay back almost all the money you earn. They will say you must pay them for food, for a place to sleep and for bringing you to their country. As a result you may find yourself in debt bondage for many years as you seek to repay the associated costs of taking you to your destination.
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In Kenya, a number of organizations are working to protect people from becoming victims of traffickers as well as assist victims of trafficking.
1) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is one such organization. You can contact them for advice on safe migration principles before you migrate abroad as a means of preventing yourself from becoming a victim of trafficking.
IOM Nairobi, P.O. Box 55040 – 00200 Nairobi
Email mrfnairobi@iom.int or visit www.iom.int for more information.
2) Contact the Ministry of Labour for more information on attestation of contracts
3) If you are out of the country and need assistance, contact the Kenyan Embassy, the nearest IOM office abroad or any other UN organization. They will be in a position to provide you with information about organizations that could be of assistance.
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Be careful, when the deal is too good, think twice or you may get caught by the promises of money and instead find your self in an exploitative situation paying for your mistake with your life.
Find out as much as you can about the person offering you the job, about the job and about the address of your place of work. Be suspicious if you are told that this information is a secret. Make sure you know the names and addresses of the people recruiting you. Find out if they are legal.
Give your family or friends all the information you have about the people helping you migrate from Kenya. Inform your family and friends of your departure date, destination address, names of people you are traveling with. Make sure they have a recent photo of yourself. Contact the embassy of the country of your destination and ask if your future employer exists and if he/she is trustworthy
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