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Abstract
This report presents endline results from a 5-year research and programming intervention study designed to estimate and reduce the prevalence of child trafficking and child labor in Sierra Leone. Child Trafficking takes place when a child is recruited, transported, harbored or received for the purposes of exploitation (Cockbain, & Oliver, 2019; Okech et al., 2018; UN, 2000). 3.3 million children experience trafficking and forced labor in agriculture, mining, domestic work and sexual exploitation (ILO, 2022). Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, has identified child trafficking as a problem of national concern (Balch et al., 2024; Okech et al., 2024). Sierra Leonean stakeholders engaged with CenHTRO to estimate prevalence and understand the context of child trafficking (Okech, et al. 2022).
In 2019, CenHTRO [formerly known as the African Programing and Research Institute to End Slavery (APRIES)] in partnership with CMDA-SL and the ResilientAfrica Network (RAN), conducted baseline studies within three districts in the Eastern Province; Kailahun, Kono and Kenema (Okech, et al., 2022) and one district in the North Western Province, Kambia in 2020 (Okech, et a., 2023). The aim of the baseline studies was to estimate the prevalence of child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor within the study districts. The baseline study also included a rigorous qualitative component to understand the context for child trafficking as well as gather community perspectives about the issue.
This endline study replicates the quantitative survey design of the baseline study (Okech et al., 2022; 2023) to estimate changes in prevalence of child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor in the 4 districts since 2019. Qualitative data were also collected to gather community perceptions about changes in child trafficking and child labor prevalence and perspectives about the effectiveness of anti-trafficking policies and interventions adopted within the 5-year study period.