Le trafic des enfants au Cameroun : étude d’une forme d’abus à l’égard des “cadets sociaux”

• Main Authors: Séverin Cécile Abega, Claude Abé, Honoré Mimche
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ecole Nationale de Protection Judiciaire de la Jeunesse 2007-05-01
• Series: Sociétés et Jeunesses en Difficulté
• Subjects: child trafficking; subsaharian Africa; child work; informal economy; women’s status
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/sejed/353

Child trafficking in Cameroon. A pattern of abuse towards « social juniors »                    Child trafficking is organised through a system which associates parents – who give out their children for ridiculous sums– with intermediaries charged with sending and placing these children under employers who, in turn, use their labour force. These employers pay money back and most of it is usually shared between the intermediary and the parents. Analysing this phenomenon leads the authors to question not only informal economy and cash crop but also the evolution of women’s status. Enquiries prove that socio-economic changes in investigation zones increases the weight of women’s work, especially those who gain economic empowerment. They are therefore obliged to confine parts of their tasks to others recruited and put at their service. It is usually those very vulnerable people of the society, those at the base of the social ladder. Children from precarious families are therefore designed targets.