Madam Siobhan Mullay( in the coat), says “poverty and inequality are drivers” of human trafficking in Liberia. Credit: Anthony Steohens/New Narratives.
ONE UN HOUSE, Liberia—A United Nations expert has warned that poverty and equality are high among “children, women and girls” in Liberia and “are drivers” of human trafficking.
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives
Madam Siobhán Mullally, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, said the issues were also fueling “sexual exploitation” among children “in rural and hard to reach areas, and in mining sectors where sexual exploitation of women and girls is prevalent.” Madam Mullally expressed concern that human trafficking “internally within Liberia remains under reported, with limited data on the prevalence and forms of trafficking, particularly with regard to sexual exploitation.”
Releasing preliminary findings of her 9-day visit to Liberia during a news conference at the UN headquarters in Monrovia, Madam Mullally said girls in rural areas were “at high risk of trafficking to urban areas for purposes of domestic servitude, exploitation in street vending, and sexual exploitation.” During her stay in Liberia, Madam Mullally visited six counties, including Bong, Nimba, Bomi County and Grand Cape Mount and met a host of stakeholders, including from the government and civil society.
Poverty is a major issue in Liberia, with a 2023 World Bank report particularly highlighting the prevalence of the issue in rural areas. The women who got deceived and trapped into trafficking rings in Oman and other Middle Eastern countries, told Frontpage Africa/New Narratives that their motivation of traveling to those countries was to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. Back in Liberia with almost entirely nothing to start life with, they are confronted with the harsh reality of extreme poverty daily and are pronged to threats and bribes from the families of their alleged traffickers. Families of alleged traffickers, fearing their convictions to a minimum of 20 years in jail, are often accused by victims and advocates of intimidating and discouraging victims from testifying against their relatives. Experts say this is the underlining reason for the struggles of Liberian law enforcement and prosecutors in getting victims to testify against their traffickers during trials. It’s alleged that some victims sometimes coward into submission of such alleged acts, which are compounded by the lack of funding to support and protect victims. The issue has also greatly undermined the government’s prosecution of accused traffickers. (They’ve only prosecuted two cases in more than one year six months—cases they also lost.) In a brief interview with FPA/NN after her press conference, Madam Mullally said the lack of victims’ protection was concerning, urging UN agencies and development partners to help the government address the issue.
“We need to see much more effective victim and witness protection,” said Madam Mullally. “Victims may continue to be at risk. They need to have access to shelters, to save homes. It needs to be long term, not just short term. They need to be supported in attending at court, and witnesses need to be given protection. Without that, they can’t participate effectively in investigations and criminal proceedings, and that also then undermines the effectiveness of those proceedings.”
Concerns about victims’ support and protection are primarily highlighted in the 2024 US Trafficking in Persons report, which said “victim services remained insufficient.” The report downgraded Liberia to the “Tier 2 Watch List” for a range of reasons, including fewer prosecutions, convictions and limited victims’ protection among others. The US has warned that it would cut all non-essential aid to Liberia if the West African country doesn’t improve in its performance against human trafficking before the next report is published 6 months from now. Most of the $US110 million the US gives Liberia in aid annually goes to trafficking. Liberian government’s funding for the country’s antihuman trafficking campaign has drastically dropped in the past two years from $US271,000 in 2022 to $US40,000 in the draft 2025 national budget. Experts say the current amount draws the commitment of the new Joseph Boakai administration, nearly one year in office, into question in terms of combating human trafficking. Although Liberia has conducted antihuman trafficking awareness campaigns, and secured $US35,000 from the Economic Community of West African States to support victims, there are concerns among some stakeholders that Liberia may not make much improvement before the next US report is released, which would see the country eventually losing funding from the US for major sectors like heath and labor.
Madam Mullally didn’t want to talk about the US antihuman trafficking report on Liberia, but did agree that the scale of Liberia’s trafficking problem was concerning. As with the US report, Madam Mullally agreed that funding was critical for Liberia in tackling human trafficking in Liberia, urging the government to do more to address the issue.
“There has been a cut in the budget allocation, and absolutely to ensure effective action to support victims, to provide assistance, to provide victim and witness protection during court proceedings, to facilitate the work of police, immigration officials, health care workers, absolutely it needs resources and a budget allocation,” said Madam Mullally. “I hope to see strengthened commitment and increased budget allocation. I think that will be absolutely essential to demonstrating a commitment to combating trafficking and to actually ensuring that it’s used, that the funds are used where they’re most needed and that they get to those who need them, victims, witnesses and to those on the front line who are trying to respond and provide assistance and protection services and investigations.”
One of the issues that victims of human trafficking in Liberia have experienced is the lack of a psychosocial counselling program. The International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, funded a special entrepreneur and psychosocial program run by the Liberian government. The program helped the women to recover from the physical and psychological trauma and build their own income so they wouldn’t be vulnerable to another scam. The women were given goods such as rice, onions, and oil valued at $US1,500. But only 50 women were enrolled in the program. More women remain left out. At the press conference, Madam Mullally said it was important for the program and other essential services to continue for trafficking victims.
“We need more support for psychosocial assistance, medical assistance, and we need expanded legal aid,” said Madam Mullally. “The legal aid bill has been pending for a long time we need access to justice across the country effective and more awareness of how to contact and report risks of exploitation and experiences of exploitation, to police, to labor inspectorates, but they need to be able to respond quickly and to ensure that victims and witnesses are safe and can be provided with services, and at the moment, we’re not there, so we need a lot more work on that.”
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia which had no say in the story’s content.