From: "1Wisdom" 
Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 02:42:54 -0400
Subject: ThinkTank-l Malawians Rally Against Sex Slave Trade Syndicate.htm,html,xbm,shtml

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=09 All Africa News Agency

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=09 =09Malawians Rally Against Sex Slave Trade Syndicate =09 =09

=09 =09=09April 23, 1999 =09 =09
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=09 =09=09Lilongwe - Police in Malawi are investigating reports of a thriving s= ex slave trade ring involving unscrupulous business people who, posing as b= enefactors, sell innocent girls and boys to contacts in Germany, Holland an= d South Africa to be sexually humiliated and abused. AANA Correspondent Ham= ilton Vokhiwa recounts the developments.

But their circumstance does not match the harsh realities of slavery in the= 19th Century. In contrast, they fly out through the airports escorted by t= heir unsuspecting relatives without realising the humiliation that awaits t= hem in the foreign lands.

Foreigners posing as "Good Samaritans" easily charm the victims. The strang= ers walk into the villages as tourists, make friends with the prospective c= aptive then introduce themselves to the parents or guardians. Then they mak= e surprise offers. Usually the offer is that they will take the young perso= n to Europe for further studies. What happens in reality is different. They= become sex captives.

The Binoculars, a weekly published in the Malawi capital, Lilongwe, reporte= d in its March 8 issue about a girl who returned from Germany where she esc= aped from 11 months of captivity at a bar where she was forced to entertain= clients. The proprietor of Bouvalo bar was profited from her services.

"We are employed literally to work as sex workers and we had no choice but = to do it," Surphia, 18, was quoted as saying when relating the ordeal she, = together with a colleague still in Germany, had gone through.

"At times we were forced to engage in sex with over five men in a row. I wa= s getting tired. I got real home sick," she said from her guardian's house = in Lilongwe.

Explaining how she got to Germany, Surphia said a local woman who operates = an entertainment centre in Lilongwe arranged travel documents for her and f= or Marie, her friend who is still in Germany. They traveled to Holland wher= e they were promised jobs. "She assured us that she had found work for us i= n a fruit factory," said Surphia.

The two girls traveled in the company of a European. The man is said to hav= e disappeared shortly after he introduced the Malawian girls to a bar owner= in Holland.

Surphia said while in Holland they went "for trials" and were later told th= ey did not meet the requirements. It was soon after that were taken to Germ= any and registered with Bouvalo bar. While in Germany the girls met with fi= ve other girls from Malawi, also engaged in a similar way.

"I accepted to go because I was assured of employment. I didn't know I was = being cheated," said Surphia. She recounted their subsequent attempt to see= the Malawi Ambassador in Germany for assistance "but it was difficult to m= eet him".The bar owner was withholding their passports.

Another local newspaper reported of a girl who was sold as a sex worker in = Italy but was returned to Malawi with the assistance of a Roman Catholic Ch= urch priest who had previously lived in Malawi.

Similar stories have been reported in the Malawi media since last year. The= Weekly News, a biweekly newspaper published by the government, reported of= a 26- year -old woman who returned home after escaping from sex slavery. T= he woman, Melise Jawadu, said she was lured to South Africa by a coloured S= outh African woman to work as a housemaid. "After convincing my parents tha= t I would be paid handsomely and be taken care of, I couldn't lose that cha= nce of a lifetime," Melise said after her return.

She said: "To my surprise and disappointment, after working as a housemaid = for a short time, the woman told me she had a company where she had more th= an 30 women working as sex workers. She told me to join the group and assur= ed me of a big package. I wanted to come home but I couldn't ".

Melise said her clients were black and white men from South Africa and even= from outside that country. "Sometimes the men could pick us to have sex in= expensive hotels, but the money was not paid to us directly, we only got s= alaries at the end of the month," she stated.

Melise recounted that they were expected to serve not less than 10 clients = daily. She noted that there were many captives infected with HIV/AIDS. She = ran away from the brothel during the night and was assisted by a truck driv= er on her way to Malawi. The Malawi Police have described the development a= s a "serious crime" and have launched investigations.

Other sources report that tourists are engaging in acts of immorality with = local children in the lakeshore districts of Mangochi, Salima and Nkhata Ba= y. Some tourists have been discovered shooting video films of such acts inc= luding homosexuality. The films are allegedly distributed through electroni= c mail.

Churches in Malawi have denounced promiscuity and prostitution, which it sa= ys, increases the incidence of HIV/AIDS. They have called on stakeholders t= o address the growing problem.

The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation CHRR has denounced the sex s= lave trade as inhuman and unethical. The programme manager, Grant Sichali, = blamed Malawians for a "lack of self confidence and knowledge" about what w= as happening in the world. "It is all because of the unfortunate culture th= at white people are superior," Sichali noted.

The Southern African Development Community SADC Council of Ministers meetin= g in Maputo, Mozambique last year, expressed concerns over the increase in = violence against women and children especially sexual harassment.

The Ministers noted that although there was a reduction in overall crime in= southern Africa, the incidence of crime against women and children such as= rape, battering and sexual harassment had reached alarming promotions.

The Gender and Development Declaration signed by SADC heads of state and go= vernment in Blantyre two years ago called for urgent action to deal and pre= vent the increase in violence against women. It also called on the media to= disseminate information and materials concerning the rights of women and c= hildren.

Child abuse has also been identified as a priority area by SADC under the B= erlin Initiative which detail areas of co-operation between SADC and the Eu= ropean Union EU. The International Labour Organisation ILO, in a survey of = southeast Asian countries, said prostitution in the region had grown so rap= idly that the sex business was now worth between two to 14 percent of Gross= Domestic Product GDP in regional economies. The ILO stopped short of calli= ng for prostitution to be legalised.

ILO spoke of the advantages of recognising prostitution as an economic sect= or for "extending the taxation net to cover many of the lucrative activitie= s associated with it" and to formulate labour policies needed to deal with = several million people estimated to be working in the sex industry.

The author of the report, Lin Lim, was quoted as saying the ILO wanted gove= rnments to apply labour regulations and standards for social protection "wh= ere prostitution is recognised as legal work". The report did not specify c= ountries where prostitution was legal. Prostitution is illegal in Malawi. = =09=09

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