Many child victims were subjected to forced labor, including in domestic work, market vending and fishing; girls were also exploited in the sex trade.
Other village children, however, lived voluntarily with extended relatives in cities, attend school, and did housework in exchange for food, in a traditional cultural and familial pattern that id not entail abuse.
[1] In 2009 the Government of the Republic of the Congo did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it made significant efforts to do so, despite limited resources.
The Senate passed the Child Protection Code in August 2009, which prescribes penalties for trafficking offenders; this law is pending Presidential signature.
Investigators employed by the Ministry of Social Affairs reportedly utilized a formal identification and registration process to assist victims of trafficking.
Some victims, however, were detained, arrested, or held in protective custody, and did not benefit from any formal referral process to institutions offering short or long-term care.
[1] The government maintained its efforts begun in 2008 to raise awareness and build support for combating human trafficking in the Brazzaville and Pointe Noire areas.
In 2009, the Ministry of Health (MOH), in partnership with UNICEF, launched an anti-trafficking public awareness campaign in Pointe Noire involving not only government officials, but also security and diplomatic staff from the consulates of neighboring countries and leaders from local Muslim and Christian communities.
In April 2010, the Minister of Social Affairs and Humanitarian Action co-hosted with UNICEF a conference in Pointe Noire to highlight the problem of trafficking in children.