Rescued: Collaborating to save trafficked and abused children

As Ussumane explains, it is common for Bissau-Guinean families in the eastern region to send children to Senegal to study in Koranic schools. Unfortunately, they often do so clandestinely, crossing the border illegally, leaving no traceable records, and exposing the children to vulnerability and abuse. Raw data from the Woman and Child Institute, collected during the last 18 months, shows that about half of the reports of violence against children are cases of human trafficking of young boys.

For Abulai Djamanca, Amadu's father, it was a dream to have a son study the Quran in Senegal, as he had started to do so himself but couldn't finish due to health reasons. He couldn't imagine the suffering his son was going through. “When we called to talk to him, his Koranic master forced him to say that everything was fine,” says the father.

Since child protection information management system (IMS) became available in the country in 2022, with the technical support of UNICEF, UNDP, and OHCHR through the Peacebuilding Fund, the Woman and Child Institute can now generate quality and reliable data and information about violence trends , to influence national policies and decision-makers, and spark public debates.

Just like AMIC, other key players have access to the platform, including health and police authorities, NGOs, and the Center for Access to Justice (CAJ). Amadu Uri, head of the Gender and Human Rights office of the Public Order Police (POP) in the Gabu region, uses the platform to register all cases involving minors. “The most frequent cases are sexual abuse, physical domestic violence, and child marriage,” he states.

Thanks to the project, the police authorities now have a strong relationship with the health authorities to support the victims. “If a child appears to be the victim of physical aggression or sexual abuse, we issue a medical request to the hospital for treatment. Once they return with the medical report, we investigate and pursue the suspect, sending them to the public prosecutor's office,” explains Officer Amadu Uri.

This was a crucial step in Aissatu's case. After the family filed a rape complaint, the medical report confirmed that the 12-year-old girl was seven months pregnant. Faced with the evidence, the perpetrator, a 36-year-old relative and neighbor, was forced to confess to the crime in front of the family and the police. Officer Amadu presented the abuser to the public prosecutor.

According to Ussumane from the Woman and Child Institute, “cases of violence against children have increased due to awareness-raising campaigns”. He believes these campaigns help people feel involved in the mission to protect children. “Actors from different institutions are now aware that when they encounter a case of violence against children, they must report it,” he adds.

Amadu barely speaks and often hides his face, except when he's playing football or talking about his football idol: Kylian Mbappé. Abulai, on the other side, has told his parents all the abuse he suffered in Dakar and has no difficulty expressing himself. Both boys were reunited with their families back home in March 2024 and look forward to starting going to school, in a few months.