Childhood In A Global Perspective, The Focus Country Is Togo

Childhood in a Global Perspective
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Childhood in a Global Perspective – Focus Country is Togo
Background Information
Togo is also known as the Togolese Republic is located in West Africa. It is a small country covering an area that is approximately 57,000 square kilometers or 22,008 square miles. Its population is also quite small and totaling 7.6 million people. Togo is plagued by poverty because of its struggles in the economic front. A high percentage of the country’s population lives below the poverty line and this thus permeates evils such as child labor which continues to thrive in the country. Different reports have been posted regarding child labor in Togo. Reports have been encouraging in the recent past but the country still sees a majority of its children work instead of going to school. The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (BILA) reports that 29.6% of children between the ages of 5 to 14 are working. 86.1% of children in Togo attend school and one could be led to think that this is a positive indicator. However, statistics from BILA shows that the percent of those who combine work and school hovers at 29.5%. These are disturbing numbers that curtail the future of Togo’s children.
In the economic end, Togo’s main industries include the mining industry, the brewery industry, and the textile industry. In the mining industry, some of the minerals found in Togo include phosphate, gold, limestone, diamond, among others. Togo’s textile industry is also growing and in 2017, the United States announced that Togo is “eligible to enjoy trade benefits under AGOA for textile and apparel products.” This shows that the country is indeed doing relatively well in the economic end. However, there is still a lot of room for the country to improve. In the infrastructural sector, the country boasts of a railway and the port of Lome which were built for the sole purpose of exporting agricultural products.
Historically, Togo is among the countries that suffered greatly as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. West African countries lost many of their people to slave trade starting from the 16th century. However, it appears that the evils of slavery never left the country because reports emerged of child slavery and how it continues to thrive in the country. Palacios (2017) from the Aljazeera writes that in Togo and Benin, “Thousands of children are sold by their families, often for as little as $30.” The above is disturbing because life for $30 is a clear indication of how mankind continues to lose its humane side. For these children, Palacios writes that what awaits them “is a life of slavery.” She continues to say that they “endure physical and psychological abuse as they work from dawn until dusk far from their homes.” Poverty continues to push the country further and deeper into the abyss of inhumanity. The government, on the other hand, sinks deeper in corruption as people continue to despair. Governments that neglect its people and only focus to advance the agendas of a few people often suffer from the issues described above. Child trafficking continues to thrive because a majority of families depend on subsistence farming. Hopelessness strikes the people and the government continues to act in ways that suggest it is contented with the status quo. It remains to be seen whether change will one day sweep over the country but as indicated, the people are not hopeful.
Key Issues in Togo Affecting Children
Child Trafficking
In a 2003 report from the Human Rights Watch, both boys and girls are victims of child trafficking. The report indicates that girls are “typically recruited into domestic or market labor either directly by an employer or by a third-party intermediary.” In the interviews, the girls revealed that family involvement is quite common as some parents are known to accept money or other favors from the traffickers. The journey to their destination is usually dangerous as some take boats to far off places. The HRW report indicates that boats capsizing is common and this means that lives have been lost during these incidences of trafficking. While at their destinations, girls are said to be mainly involved in domestic work but this happens for long hours. Boys, on the other hand, are recruited to work in firms. Their destinations include Nigeria, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire. Unlike the girls, parents’ involvement is quite low here because the traffickers tempt the boys with hopes of owning things like radios and the idea of travelling abroad. In the end, young boys find themselves in cotton plantations having to work till late into the night.
Some of the reasons why child trafficking continues to thrive include poverty and lack of opportunities for development. As indicated before, a significant percentage of Togo’s population relies on subsistence farming. This is a sign of poverty that continues to plague the country. Additionally, it should be noted that education levels in the country is quite low and therefore, it is difficult for parents, for example, to understand the importance of choosing education over trafficking. The HRW report indicates that child trafficking is also heavily linked to HIV/AIDs. The death of parents and guardians to this scourge often leaves children unattended and easier prey for trafficking. Other factors include “porous borders and lax regulatory environments, traditional migration patterns, ethnic affinities, and inadequate information about trafficking and its risks” (HRW, 2003).
However, there have been efforts to try and deal with child trafficking in Togo. The government has taken an active role in making sure that child trafficking is dealt with and eliminated in the country. It has, for example, funded and been a part of projects that seek to eliminate child trafficking. For example, the Girls’ Education and Empowerment Project whose sole purpose is to help make sure girls are enrolled in school (Federal Register, 2002). There is also the Bureau International Catholique de l'Enfance (BICE) which has been in Togo for some time now seeking to fight and put an end to child trafficking. These efforts need to be spread out wide. The country needs to feel the presence of the government and what it is doing to help make the situation better.
Mental Health Issues
Mental health is a topic that has taken the world by storm considering that currently, depression is rated as one of the major health issues in the world. Putting children through trafficking and then slavery greatly affects them. The emotional and psychological abuse they go through often leads to major problems in the future as many will end up being unstable and have troubled adulthoods. Physical violence directed towards children breaks their spirits. Dassa (2005) writes that physical violence directed at children mainly comes from the parents. Aside from the parents, there is also the traffickers themselves and finally the children’s masters who work tirelessly to break the children’s spirits and enslave them. Psychological torture is also quite immense as a child is made to feel worthless and their dreams are killed.
However, the country boasts of having the Convention on the Rights of the Child or the CRC which is tasked with ensuring that the rights of children are protected. CRC’s main agenda is to make sure that the basic rights of children as human beings first and children second, are upheld. The main areas of focus for CRC are children’s survival, protection, and development. Children have a right to a future and CRC seeks to uphold and fight for such. Additionally, CRC also seeks to ensure that children are protected from all forms of abuse and exploitation. These include violence that is directed at children as well as trafficking and slavery/child labor. In their article, Kounou et al. (2013) talk of how...