Kimmie Weeks to speak testify before Congress
Please join the Congressional Human Rights Caucus for a briefing on human trafficking from conflict zones in Sub-Saharan Africa. The briefing will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, in room 2200 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
The majority of trafficking victims in Africa are children who are trafficked either within their own countries or in the region for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Adult women are also trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic servitude across African borders to Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Conflicts and civil strife in Africa have created displaced populations and traumatized local communities who are vulnerable to exploitation. In conflict areas, where government control is often limited, armed groups frequently abduct women or children for sexual slavery, and often recruit children into their ranks.
The conscription of child soldiers is a unique and extreme form of trafficking that UNICEF estimates affects more than 300,000 children under 18 in more than 30 armed conflicts worldwide. In December 2007, the United Nations noted that evidence suggests that refugee and internally displaced person (IDP) camps are often prime recruiting grounds for child soldiers because of the concentration of vulnerable children.