The Sierra Leone High Court has for the first time,聽convicted people of human trafficking, sentencing two women to聽lengthy聽jail聽terms聽earlier this month, a move hailed as a聽significant聽blow to those who engage in this聽modern-day聽form of slavery.聽
鈥淭hese convictions and sentencing are historic wins for young Sierra Leoneans who have been abused by unscrupulous traffickers,鈥� said聽Sanusi Savage, the International Organization for Migration鈥檚 (IOM) Head of Office聽in Sierra Leone.聽聽
Convicted of both trafficking and money laundering, the women received sentences of 20- and eight years respectively on 11 February聽in Freetown.聽The聽West African country passed anti-trafficking legislation in 2005, but until now had registered no聽convictions.聽聽
Each year, thousands of Sierra Leoneans 鈥� including children 鈥� are trafficked for forced labour or sexual exploitation in and outside Sierra Leone. Many go on聽the聽so-called聽聽to escape poverty, falling victim to traffickers who demand聽as much as USD 2,500聽for fake educational or employment opportunities.聽
When they come home, some victims go into hiding,聽ashamed and afraid to face their families and communities who, in some cases they defrauded to pay for their journeys.聽
Cases of human trafficking rely heavily on victim testimonies, but these are sometimes difficult to access because victims are afraid to come forward or are pressured not to.聽
As a result, most of the cases are dropped and traffickers are never convicted.聽聽
Since October 2018,聽IOM has supported the聽country鈥檚聽Anti-Trafficking Taskforce to strengthen the identification and screening of victims of trafficking, and to increase their access to protection services and justice.聽聽
The Organization聽supported the training of 103 government officials on investigating and prosecuting cases of human trafficking聽and worked on聽聽with聽116 civil society and media organizations.聽
Last year, IOM supported聽the decentralisation of National Anti-Trafficking Task Force聽in 14 of Sierra Leone鈥檚 districts to increase victims鈥� and potential victims鈥� access to information, protection and justice mechanisms, and avoid procedural delays related to prosecuting traffickers.聽
IOM鈥檚 counter-trafficking activities in Sierra Leone are implemented in the framework of the Africa Regional Migration聽Programme聽funded by the United States Department of State鈥檚 Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).
