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In Mat’ North, Harsh Economy Fuels Human Trafficking

Economic situation has led to underage girls being trafficked, leaving them with no choice but to be victims of cheap labour. Image by Anadolu Agency


BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | DEC 29, 2021

Unknowingly many young girls and boys in Matabeleland North are victims of trafficking, sometimes at the hands of close relatives. The desire to make a living has made many susceptible to abuse.


MATABELELAND NORTH (The Citizen Bulletin) — At the age of 15 with no Identity card yet, Lugwasyo is now working as a housemaid in Baobab North residential area, one of the Low-density suburbs in Hwange town.

She left Siabuwa, her rural home in Binga district after finishing her grade 7 examinations. She ended up working in Hwange town, but her initial plan was to work in Bulawayo for a while and then proceed to South Africa where she was promised a better salary in South African Rands.

“I ended up settling for Hwange because the contact who was helping me to secure a job was no longer helpful instead, I was forced to settle for Hwange because I had no money to go back home to my family in Binga.”


“I work every day and I earn 30 USD every month. I am trying to save money so that I go back home to my family in December, if I just raise the money I will just go home to my family.”
Lugwasyo, 15-year-old victim of child labour and human trafficking


The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, to exploit them for profit. Men, women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world.

Lugwasyo’s situation is faced by many young girls in Hwange. The economic situation has led to many underage girls being trafficked and leaving them with no choice but to be victims of cheap labour.

The government has maintained mixed anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Zimbabwean law criminalizes some forms of trafficking such as sex trafficking and labour trafficking inconsistently with international law. The 2015 Trafficking in persons Act defined trafficking in persons as movement-based crime and did not adequately define exploitation or cheap labour.

According to statistics from the Zimbabwe Traffic In-Person National Plan and Action (NAPLAC) children aged between 9-14 years work as nannies, housemaids and gardeners in urban areas and mining communities.


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Some employers force children to work withholding wages, denying them access to school and subjecting them to Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

Meanwhile, Calvin Manika a Hwange based Children's rights activists under Bancane Trust says traffickers use false promises of legitimate employment opportunities including thorough social media messaging.

He says child human trafficking has been rampant in Hwange, Lupane and Victoria Falls. These are the few urban areas in the province as they offer better opportunities and most of these children trafficked are usually coming from Binga and Nkayi districts.


“From our recent analysis, we noted that many areas in Matabeleland North have poor rural setups and many children are out of school due to various issues chief among them being poverty.”
Calvin Manika, Children's rights activists


“Such challenges have become a breeding ground for human trafficking from the rural to urban. It's not just a form of migration but there is more. There are lured to be housemaids. Major culprits have been relatives who connect the village girls to their new stations at a lower salary per month.”

Zimbabwe is a source, transit and destination country for trafficking in persons yet the prevalence of different forms of human trafficking in the country is unknown and its conviction rates and victim identification pattern remain a cause for concern.

The steady deterioration of the country's economic status continues to cause concern and unrest among its citizens. This uncertainty prompts people to look for employment opportunities in other countries and towns resulting in an increased potential for innocent lives to become victims of trafficking.


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