For generations, parents sent their sons to live with Koranic teachers or marabouts, who more often forced children to beg than ensured their progress in religious studies.
Some observers noted only a small number of trafficking victims, but others see the Gambia's porous borders as an active transit zone for women, girls, and boys from West African countries - mainly Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Benin - who are recruited for exploitation in the sex trade, in particular to meet the demands of European tourists seeking sex with children.
[2] The Government of the Gambia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so, despite limited resources.
In July 2009, the government took an important step to increase efficiency in law enforcement by adopting a biometric national identity card system called GAMBIS.
The Gambia's 2005 Children's Act also prohibits all forms of child trafficking, prescribing a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The government maintained and funded a 24-hour hotline number that directly connected callers with two dedicated officers of the Department of Social Welfare.
Training conducted throughout the year attempted to give security officers the ability to identify and assist potential trafficking victims.
During the year, the government designated officers within each major police station to be responsible for assisting and counseling any potential trafficking victims.
The TSU continued to enforce a 2005 ban on unattended children visiting the tourist resort areas and remitted them to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare.
However, these measures were not strong deterrents, and reflected the common perception that prostitution was meeting the needs of tourists who drove a major part of the country's economy.
The Gambian government provided its troops with antihuman trafficking training, including warnings against committing any immoral behavior that may bring their force into disrepute, prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.