child trafficking

In 2008, Tanzania adopted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (ATPA) to combat human trafficking, mandate stricter investigation and prosecution, and afford protection to victims of trafficking. This report: explains and evaluates the ATPA, including the effectiveness of its implementation since its enactment in 2008; describes similar acts around the world, including an evaluation of those laws’ implementation and effectiveness; offers specific recommendations for Tanzania to enhance the effectiveness of its anti-trafficking law.

The defendant  appealed from a lower court decision (Tribunal Judicial da Comarca de Viseu) convicting him to nine years of imprisonment, for human trafficking and human trafficking of minors (persons under the age of 18 years old), with the intent of sexual exploitation. In his appeal, the defendant argued that the victim was living with him of her own free will and thus his actions did not fit the crime of human trafficking.  The Court of Appeals of Coimbra partially granted the appeal to the extent the description of some facts was erroneous.

The accused was charged with human trafficking and aggravated child trafficking for transporting minor girls, who were promised supermarket jobs in Uganda, from Rwanda to Uganda for the purposes of forced unpaid household labor and prostitution.  The accused pleaded not guilty and maintained that she transported the girls to Uganda with their parents’ permission for a holiday.