The Bamboo Project

Learning from Children Exposed to Sexual
Abuse and Sexual Exploitation: The Bamboo
Project Study on Child Resilience
Resilience in Children Living in Merkato, Ethiopia
Gebre Yntiso, Ayalew Gebre, Rahel Shiferaw, Hiwot Workineh
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – December 2009
A report commissioned by
Oak Foundation
Child Abuse Programme
May 2014
This research report was commissioned by Oak Foundation and carried out by Gebrey
Yntiso, Avalew Gebre, Rahel Shiferaw and Hiwot Workineh. The views expressed in this
report are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Oak Foundation or the
members of the International Steering Committee.
This report was written in December 2009 by Gebre Yntiso, Ayalew Gebre, Rahel Shiferaw,
and Hiwot Workineh as part of a series of reports comprising the Bamboo Project – a threecountry learning initiative to understand resilience in children exposed to sexual abuse and
sexual exploitation, published together in May 2014 by Oak Foundation.
The symbol of Bamboo was adopted by Oak Foundation and the International Steering
Committee as a symbol of resilience in children because in the face of adversity Bamboo
bends, it does not break, and then it continues to grow. Similarly, children who show
resilience continue to grow through adversity.
The contents of this report are available for use, provided that the original source is cited.
Suggested citation method:
Yntiso, G., Gebre, A., Shiferaw, R. and Workineh, H., 2014, Learning from Children Exposed
to Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation: The Bamboo Project Study on Child Resilience –
Resilience in Children Living in Merkato, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
ii
Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ v
Preface .............................................................................................................................. vi
Acronyms ..........................................................................................................................vii
Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... viii
1. Background .................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1
The Study Area .......................................................................................................................... 2
Research Design and Methods.................................................................................................... 5
Literature Review....................................................................................................................... 9
Policy and Legal Framework: Ethiopia ....................................................................................... 13
2. Common Risk Factors in Merkato .................................................................................. 16
Prevalence of Commercial Sex Work ......................................................................................... 16
Crime and Delinquency ............................................................................................................ 17
Substance and Alcohol Abuse ................................................................................................... 18
Video Houses ........................................................................................................................... 19
Street Business ........................................................................................................................ 19
Congestion/Over-crowdedness ................................................................................................ 21
Presence of Bus Terminal ......................................................................................................... 21
3. Vulnerable Children and Young People ......................................................................... 22
Children from Poor Families ..................................................................................................... 22
Children from Unstable/Broken Homes .................................................................................... 23
Children from Child-Headed Families ........................................................................................ 24
Migrant/Trafficked Children ..................................................................................................... 24
Street Children ......................................................................................................................... 25
Children Living in a State of Loose Family Control ..................................................................... 26
4. Factors Averting Risks of Sexual Abuse/Exploitation ..................................................... 27
Daily Routines of the Non-Abused ............................................................................................ 27
Perspectives of Children and Young People............................................................................... 28
Perspectives of Parents, Community Figures and NGO Representatives ..................................... 36
Intra-Category Differences and Similarities ............................................................................... 38
iii
5. Recovery from Sexual Exploitation ................................................................................ 41
Reflections of Recovered Young Women .................................................................................. 41
Perspectives of Parents, Community and NGO Representatives ................................................ 49
Intra-Category Similarities and Differences ............................................................................... 50
6. Victims of Sexual Abuse/Exploitation ............................................................................ 51
Forms of Abuse and Sexual Exploitation ................................................................................... 51
Coping with Day-to-Day Life Situations ..................................................................................... 54
Relationships with the Family................................................................................................... 59
Efforts Made to Recover........................................................................................................... 60
Intra-Category Similarities and Differences ............................................................................... 61
7. Cross-category Similarities and Differences ................................................................... 64
Vulnerable versus Currently Abused/Exploited Children ........................................................... 64
Vulnerable versus Recovered Children ...................................................................................... 64
Currently Abused/Exploited versus Recovered Children ............................................................ 65
Comparison/Contrast of the Three Categories of Children ......................................................... 66
8. Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 69
Annex 1: Interview Guides ................................................................................................ 72
Interview Guides for Different Categories of Children ............................................................... 72
Interview Guides for Parents of Three Categories of Children .................................................... 81
Interview Guides for NGO Representatives ............................................................................... 83
Annex 2: Thematic areas for data organization and transcription ...................................... 84
Vulnerable, Non-Abused/Exploited .......................................................................................... 84
Currently/Recently Abused/Exploited ...................................................................................... 84
Recovered/Recovering ............................................................................................................. 85
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 86
iv
Acknowledgements
A number of organizations and individuals deserve recognition for their contributions to the present
study. First and foremost, acknowledgements are due to the 68 children and young people who
shared their personal life experiences, sometimes very sensitive and private matters. All other
informants (parents, community representatives, and NGO representatives) also deserve appreciation
and thanks for providing valuable information. CHAD-ET played a critical role in introducing the
research team to the network of NGOs operating in Merkato area, and to its own project
beneficiaries. Although the research was eventually carried out in three kebeles (grassroots level
administrative tiers), all others that we contacted initially provided the support that we needed. Our
special thanks are due to CHAD-ET and the kebele administrations for facilitating entry into the
communities. Our field assistants, Zemedkun Ayele and Hailu Lema, were highly motivated, concerned
and resourceful young men. The research team is indebted to Fassil Wolde-Mariam (Oak Foundation
Representative in East Africa) for being supportive and enabling the researchers to use his longestablished networks with local organizations to facilitate the study. Last but not least, the research
team would like to express its indebtedness to members of the International Steering Committee
(namely, Prof. Robert Gilligan, Dr. Elisabeth Protacio-De Castro, Stefan Vanistendael, and Shirley
Fozzard) and Jane Warburton of the Oak Foundation for their professional input and advice from the
inception to the completion of the resilience research project in Ethiopia.
v
Preface
This report is a result of field research carried out in Merkato area, which is located in the heart of
Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The study was undertaken in accordance with an agreement
concluded between the Oak Foundation and Dr. Gebre Yntiso Deko, representing a team of four
Ethiopian researchers. The context for the research exercise was the Oak Foundation's international
learning initiative to understand resilience in children exposed to sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation. The foundation intends to develop a learning initiative to determine what could be learnt
from the experiences of children, families, communities, as well as program practice regarding the
prevention of and recovery from child sexual abuse and exploitation. With this in mind, the present
study was set to (1) explore the common risk factors that expose children to sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation, and the vulnerability factors that increase their susceptibility to these ordeals; (2)
investigate the protective factors and individual competencies that enable children not only to
overcome risks of sexual abuse and exploitation but also undergo processes of successful
transformation in their lives; and (3) shed light on the relevance of the insights on child resilience to
policy and program practice aimed at prevention of and recovery from child sexual abuse and
exploitation.
A total of 68 children and young people between 10 and 24, and 30 adults representing parents,
communities, and NGOs participated in the study. The interview method was employed as the main
data collection tool. The 68 children and young people were divided into three major categories:
vulnerable but non-abused/exploited, currently/recently abused/exploited, and recovered from
exploitative situations. In recognition of age-related differences in the knowledge and experiences of
the 68 participants, each category was further divided into three age groups: 10-13, 14-17, and 18-24.
The study identified (1) various risk and vulnerability factors that subjected some children and young
people to sexual abuse/exploitation, (2) protective factors that enabled many to overcome such risks,
and (3) strategies that former commercial sex workers employed to recover from exploitative
situations. The report is expected to contribute to our knowledge of child resilience to sexual
abuse/exploitation in the context of Ethiopia, serve as a database for comparative study, and/or help
as an entry point for program intervention or further research within Ethiopia and beyond.
vi
Acronyms
ACPF
African Child Policy Forum
ANPPCAN
Association for the Nationwide Action for Prevention and
Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect
AU (OAU)
African Union (Organization of African Unity)
Birr
Ethiopian currency (1 US$ = 12.7 Birr, January 2010)
CHAD-ET
Children Aid Ethiopia
CBO
Community-based Organization
CSA
Central Statistical Authority
FSCE
Forum for Street Children Ethiopia
HIV/AIDS
Human
Immunodeficiency
Deficiency Syndrome
IFSO
Integrated Family Service Organization
MCDP
Multi-purpose Community Development Project
MoLSA
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
NGO
Non-governmental Organization
UNECA
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
ORAAMP
Office for the Revision of Addis Ababa Master Plan
OPRIFS
Organization for Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Integration
of Female Street Children
UN
United Nations
US
United States
Virus/Acquired
Immune
vii
Executive Summary
The study reveals that the Merkato area in Addis Ababa has a multitude of risks that exposed children
to different adversities such as sexual abuse/exploitation. Commercial sex work, which offered easy
access to generate easy money, attracted desperate and excited girls and young women. Crime and
delinquency were also common in the study area. The common forms of criminal behaviour included
rape, gang rape and other forms of sexual violence. The violent behaviour shown by criminal
youngsters and children was fed and aggravated by alcohol/substance abuse, which was also common
in Merkato. Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, young people and adults engaged in forms of
violent sexual abuse. The presence of numerous video houses, where pornographic and action films
were screened, similarly exposed children to a high risk of sexual abuse and exploitation.
A large number of families in Merkato area are engaged in occupations such as street vending and
peddling, which are often undertaken by children and youngsters. In such situations, the children tend
to encounter different sorts of people, including drunks, gangsters and strangers who use forceful and
deceptive means to abuse them sexually. Children involved in bed renting were similarly at risk
because they had to stay on the street to find people looking for bed. They were the targets of sexual
abuse by drunks, street boys, passersby, or guests who stayed overnight. Congestion was a defining
characteristic of the settlement patterns and living arrangements in the study area. Many families
lived and slept packed into small, often one-room houses, and some households rented available
space to strangers for overnight stays. The living arrangements put children at high risks for rape.
Poverty was the dominant factor responsible for the increased susceptibility of children to sexual
abuse/exploitation. The majority of sexually exploited children ended up in prostitution in a bid to
extract themselves out of economic deprivation and support their families. Parents were pressured by
poverty into sending their children to engage in street business to generate income. These
engagements were dangerous for the children. Many homes were unable to provide children the
affection, care, and security they needed for their well-being and prosperity. A hostile home climate
marred by marital disharmony, alcoholism, drug addiction and physical and sexual violence made it
hard for children to stay safe. Family breakup because of divorce, separation and other difficult
circumstances caused the children to leave home and become vulnerable to a host of risks. The death
of either or both parents is found to result in single parent or child-headed families. In order to cope
with economic problems, many children took jobs that increased their vulnerability to risks. Out of
desperation, some became commercial sex workers.
Driven by push and pull factors, countless rural children migrated to Addis Ababa. Innumerable others
were also trafficked from rural communities by bus and truck drivers, brokers, relatives, and brothel
owners. Once at their destination in the urban setting, the children seldom achieved the dreams that
they expected or were promised. Instead, they got involved in street life, domestic work in private
homes or hired labour, which made them vulnerable to the risks of sexual abuse/exploitation.
Multitudes of vulnerable and homeless children lived or worked on the street under harsh conditions.
In the street environment, they were extremely vulnerable to sexual abuse/exploitation. Strangers,
passersby, and sugar daddies were among the categories of people in whose hands underage or
young street girls suffered rape and abuse.
viii
Despite the prevalence of risk factors in Addis Ababa and individual vulnerabilities, many children and
young people remained resilient to sexual abuse/sexual exploitation. Some even excelled in education
and succeeded in their lives. The study reveals that a number of factors protected them from
becoming victims of sexual abusers/exploiters. Family love, support, and guidance contributed to
resilient qualities of most children. Such positive family relationships pre-empted any desire to search
for affection and support from outside, which would have exposed them to sexual assault. Positive
peer pressure motivated children to succeed and encouraged them to embrace appropriate social
behaviour, thereby reducing exposure to sexual abuse/exploitation. Some children demonstrated
competence in locating/utilizing protective resources at the disposal of their peers and other
supporters.
Many children and young people demonstrated competence in their critical consciousness to
understand threats around them and devise strategies to overcome those threats. Those who lived in
risky neighbourhoods managed to avert the dangers by, for example, refraining from walking in risky
neighbourhoods at certain times, not wearing provocative clothing, and avoiding entertainment
places. Some children possessed problem-solving skills that involved networking or mutual
cooperation against common threats. Street peddlers, bed renters, and commercial sex workers, who
constituted the majority of prey to potential sex predators, cooperated to protect each other from
offenders. A good number of children and young people displayed the ability to act independently and
make their environments as safe and productive as possible. The common language used was 'keeping
oneself busy with some work'. Many spent their leisure time reading books, studying hard for school,
helping families, and engaging in creative work (e.g., writing, painting, etc.).
The protective qualities and strategies of some children were enhanced by support obtained from
external agencies. Some NGOs had programs to support poor families, thereby reducing the
vulnerability of children; schools had girls clubs and anti-AIDS clubs to raise awareness about sexuality
and protection from sex offenders; some CBOs contributed funds to support children from poor
families; religious institutions had educational programs that partly focused on moral instruction; and
some concerned citizens started supporting children at risk.
After starting sex work, many soon realized the gap between their pre-entry expectations (material
betterment and freedom) and the reality on the ground. Hence, some thought of quitting rather early,
although the actual recovery demanded time. The underlying reason to quit commercial sex work was
the need to disengage oneself from an activity surrounded by social stigma, health risks, and different
forms of abuse/exploitation. A few former sex workers recovered without plans. However, the
recovery experiences of the majority represented a well thought-out and step-by-step process. They
needed their own savings, external support, or a new job to fall back on. Some had to initiate difficult
negotiations with their families to be allowed to return home.
Specific moments/events triggered the descent of children and young women into abusive and
exploitative situations, while others facilitated recovery from such situations. Most informants
indicated that disagreements/quarrels with family members forced them out of home. Others left
home due to various reasons such as parental death and the culminating effect of poverty. The
majority did not leave home with the intention to become prostitutes. Many were swayed into sex
work out of frustration and economic desperation. It is equally important to note that certain events
turned the lives of commercial sex workers around. Even those who had been planning to quit sex
work mentioned that certain moments triggered fresh momentum to be more decisive than ever
ix
before. Unexpected job offers, acceptance into a shelter for those who need support and
pleasing/disturbing medical test results caused abrupt decisions to quit.
Support obtained from family members, friends, and/or NGOs played vital roles in inspiring,
encouraging, facilitating, and consolidating recovery from sexual exploitation. Assistance was given in
the form of ideas, funds, materials, and/or training. While the limited financial and material supports
gave them short-term security, assistance in the form of sponsorship for education and skill training
addressed their worries for the long-term. The attention they were given elevated their self-esteem
and feelings of social relevance. Most recovered former sex workers received help from their friends
rather than from families or NGOs.
According to adult informants, factors that facilitate recovery from sexual abuse/exploitation may be
grouped into three: the presence of motivation and determination to recover on the part of the
victim; the presence of external support to facilitate the recovery; and the presence of a welcoming
environment to ensure reintegration into family and society. Many informants were cautious about
recovery stories because if one recovers, it does not necessarily mean that one will not relapse.
Hence, most informants underlined the need for a favourable environment and external support to
sustain resilience.
The research explored the forms of abuse that sex workers endured. The perpetrators included
customers, street gangs, and senior prostitutes. Physical abuse was reported to result from the
customer's refusal to pay for sex and wear condoms, their demands for unconventional sex acts, and
street gangs’ attempts to coerce child prostitutes into having sex for free or to take their money.
Closely associated with the physical abuse of child prostitutes was the practice of sexual abuse such as
rape and gang rape. Children practicing sex in the brothel environment experienced the worst aspects
of sexual exploitation under ladies who own rooms. Besides having to pay for the rooms, the children
had to share a large portion of their income with the room owners, and were forced to work for long
hours.
Despite being the targets of diverse forms of sexual abuse and exploitation, children involved in
prostitution are not, however, passive victims of the adversities they face. As their life experience
shows, they devise and adopt various coping strategies to manage difficulties. Mutual assistance and
resource sharing represented the main coping mechanisms used to deal with financial problems. They
also employed other coping strategies to deal with the threats and challenges posed by customers and
other abusers. Chief among these are establishing relationship with young men considered as
boyfriends/husbands, risk avoidance in the form of not going out with customers to unfamiliar places,
and refusing sex without condom. Various addictive habits such as drinking alcohol, chewing khat,
smoking tobacco and shisha, and inhaling ganja are other practices that the child prostitutes engage in
as coping strategies when facing difficulties. Church attendance or fulfilling religious requirements is
yet another strategy used to cope with troubles.
In regard to family relationships, the findings revealed that child prostitutes in the research
community, by and large, apparently operated without the knowledge or approval of their parents.
The social stigma attached to commercial sex explains the decision of the children to practice
prostitution in anonymity. Some maintained close family ties, while others communicated with family
via different channels. Many of those who maintained some contacts with their families provided
financial support to their parents and/or siblings.
x
1. Background
Introduction
Children are vulnerable to risks of sexual abuse/exploitation due to their innocence, tenderness, and
powerlessness. In Ethiopia and the capital Addis Ababa, children’s exposure to such risks is
exacerbated by poverty, family breakdown, peer influence, child migration and trafficking, commercial
sex work, the screening of pornographic films, and drug/substance abuse, to mention some. Studies
indicate that child sexual abuse/exploitation and child trafficking have been on the rise in the country
(MoLSA 2002; ANPPCAN-Ethiopian Chapter 2004; Ayalew 2006; Belete, et al 2006; Ermias 2007). A
significant number of migrants and trafficked children from the countryside had become commercial
sex workers in Addis Ababa (Lome 2002; Fekade 2006; Asham 2007). According to the official records
of FSCE, the number of children trafficked to the city increased from 213 in 2004 to 972 in 2008. Some
of the findings underscored that the sexual exploitation of children was particularly evident in urban
areas (MoLSA 2002; Ayalew 2006; Ermias 2007). In Ethiopia, cases of sexual abuse/exploitation are
surrounded by fear, shame, secrecy, and a culture of silence and indifference. This makes recovery
and reintegration of abused/exploited children and young people into family and society rather
difficult.
While acknowledging the existence and magnitude of the challenges as described above, the present
study1 explored whether all children exposed to risks of sexual abuse/exploitation succumbed to the
likely consequences and remained passive victims. The international literature reveals that while some
children exposed to adversities become helpless victims, others remain resilient to risks or
demonstrate competence to recover from dangerous situations (Palma and Balanon 2007; Ungar, et al
2007; Benard 1995; Masten, et al 1990). In this regard, children in Ethiopia cannot be exceptions. The
present study was undertaken to explore the common risks that expose children and young people to
sexual abuse/exploitation as well as the vulnerability factors that increase their susceptibility to these
risks. The most important focus of the study is the protective factors that enable children not only to
overcome these risks but also to undergo processes of successful transformation in their lives. Addis
Ababa was selected as the research site because it is a high-risk area for the occurrence of sexual
abuse, sexual exploitation, and related child trafficking.
As discussed in the methods section of this report, qualitative research methods, especially life history
interviewing and observation were employed. The research unequivocally revealed that many children
in the three kebeles of Addis Ketema Sub-City not only avoided or escaped from eminent problems,
but also turned the trajectory of failure in life into a positive outcome. The rich life experiences of the
children included in the study are expected to enhance our understanding of child resilience to sexual
abuse/exploitation. Thus far, very little was known about child resilience in Ethiopia, and this
constraint may have precluded the development of intervention strategies. The present research is
expected to contribute to the narrowing of the critical information gap and pave the way for learning,
awareness-raising, and program intervention using the resilience framework.
1
The present study was carried out in three kebeles of Addis Ketema, one of the 10 Sub-Cities of Addis Ababa.
1
The Study Area
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s largest metropolis, is a chartered City Administration that serves as the capital
of both the Oromia Region and the nation. The site was chosen in 1886 by Empress Taytu Betul and a
year later, the city was founded by her husband, Emperor Menelik II (Fasil and Gérard 2007). Historical
events, political changes, economic development, and demographic increment have transformed
Addis Ababa over the years. The changes that have occurred from 1886 to present can be summarized
in four major phases: the early period of establishment and consolidation, the intermediate period of
modernization, the socialist period of centralized administration, and the post-socialist period of
transition to market economy (Wubshet 2002). Over the years, several master plans were developed,
often with the help of foreign planners.2 Currently, Addis Ababa is divided into 10 Sub-Cities and 99
kebeles.
Table 1: Population, Sub-cities and Kebeles of Addis Ababa
Sub-City
Number of
Population Size
Kebeles
Male
Female
1 Arada
10
99’392
112’617
2 Addis Ketema
9
124’741
130’351
3 Akaki Kality
8
88’676
92’526
4 Bole
11
145’057
163’657
5 Gullele
10
129’239
138’142
6 Kirkos
11
103’314
117’677
7 Kolf Keranio
10
207’506
221’148
8 Lideta
9
96’221
105’392
9 Nifas Silk Lafto
10
148’892
167’216
10 Yeka
11
164’480
185’004
Total
99
1’304’518
1’433’730
Total
212’009
255’092
181’202
308’714
267’381
220’991
428’654
201’613
316’108
346’848
2’738’248
Source: Central Statistical Authority, 2008
According to the 2007 national census, the total population of Addis Ababa is 2,738,248 (CSA
2008:13). The total area of the city is estimated at 54,000 sq km, out of which 18,174 sq km is rural
(Wubshet 2002:101; Meheret 1999:2). The city, which stretches from 1800 to 3200 meters above sea
level, is located at 90° 2' N and 38° 45' E. The lowest and the highest annual average temperatures of
the city are 9.89°C and 24.64°C respectively. The annual average rainfall is 1178 mm (Dierig 1999).
Addis Ababa is the home of various ethnic groups: 47.05 percent Amhara, 19.51 percent Oromo, 16.34
percent Gurage, 6.15 percent Tigray, and the remaining represent other Ethiopian ethnic groups and
foreign nationals (CSA 2008:104-106). Regarding religion, 74.7 percent of the population are Orthodox
Christians, 16.2 percent Muslims, 7.8 percent Protestants, 0.5 percent Catholics, 0.1 percent
traditional believers, and 0.8 percent followers of other religions (CSA 2008:112). Earlier reports
indicate that some 93.6 percent of the men and 79.9 percent of the women in the city are literate
(CSA and ORC Macro 2005:35-36). Some 96.2 percent of the city’s households have tap water and
34.4 percent of the population own houses (Golini et al 2001).
2
The first guideline sketch of Addis Ababa was made in 1936 by the French Architect Le Corbusier. In 1936, two Italians, I. Guidi and C. Valle
prepared the second Master Plan. The British planner Sir Patrick Abercrombie prepared the third Master Plan, which was completed in 1956.
In 1959, Bolton, Hennesy and Partners (a British Consultancy Office) reviewed Abercrombie’s plan. In 1965, a French consulting team led by
L. De Marien prepared a new Master Plan. During the Socialist regime (1974-1991) a city plan was prepared by a Hungarian planner, C. K.
Polony. See Fitsum (2007) and Wubshet (2002) for details on the Master Plans of Addis Ababa.
2
The city's residents are engaged in diverse activities, such as trade/commerce, manufacturing and
industry, homemaking of different types, civil administration, transport and communication, social
services (education, health, etc.), hotel and catering services, and farming (CSA and ORC Macro 2005).
The same report revealed that 68.9 percent of the men and 44.2 percent of the women are employed.
UN-Habitat’s (2007:25) recent report, based on a 2002 study by the Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions, indicates that the informal sector, often located in slum parts of the city, employs
about 51 percent of the economically active labour force. Addis Ababa is the official diplomatic capital
of Africa with more than 90 embassies and consular representatives, which makes it the fourth
diplomatic centre in the world. The city has been serving as the Headquarters of the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) since 1958 and the Headquarters of the former Organization
of African Unity (OAU), now Africa Union (AU), since 1963.
Meheret Ayenew (1999:1) wrote, “Addis Ababa is a fast growing urban centre that is beset with the
problems afflicting most cities in the developing world, including extensive poverty, joblessness,
inadequate housing, severe overcrowding/congestion and an undeveloped physical infrastructure.”
According to Sandra Dierig (1999), pollution, poverty and environmentally induced hazards are among
the major problems threatening the health and life of the majority of the city’s inhabitants,
particularly the urban poor. The author wrote, “Especially in the last few years, urban poverty in Addis
Ababa has increased tremendously… an increase from 45-63% between 1993 and 1995…
Unemployment, very poor housing, sanitation and water supply, and insufficient healthcare are
rampant problems…. The number of homeless is said to be 40,000" (Dierig 1999:52). The reports by
Meheret (1999), Dierig (1999), Kamete et al (2001), Golini et al (2001), Wubshet (2002), and UNHabitat (2004; 2007) reveal the presence of many other problems: an estimated 85 percent of the
population is believed to live in slums; 85 percent of the housing stock is located in unplanned areas;
41 percent of the households earn less than Birr 13 per day; about 35 percent live below the poverty
line; 25.2 percent do not have indoor toilets; only 60 percent of the demand for water has been met;
unemployment rate is 30-35 percent; etc.
On the positive side, currently, Addis Ababa is witnessing phenomenal public and private investments.
The strategic development framework of the city provides a 10 year (2001-2010) policy and
development direction. Housing, slum upgrading, development of the inner-city, construction of
roads, establishment of industries and warehouses, and protection and development of the
environment are the six priority strategic development goals to be achieved during the 10 year plan
(ORAAMP 2002:48). The major transformations of the city are evidenced by the construction of public
schools, private hospitals, road networks, hotels (notably, Sheraton Addis), new airport, several high
rises in the inner-city, and the housing real estate in the outskirts (Gebre 2008). Moreover, banks,
shopping centres, colleges, healthcare services, and many other private businesses are flourishing
throughout the city.
3
Figure 1: The research site
4
Research Design and Methods
Selection of research site
Addis Ababa was selected as the research site because it represented a high-risk area for child sexual
abuse/exploitation and related child trafficking. This was established through regular police reports,
the prevalence of prostitution in several corners of the city (Bethlehem 2005), and the large number
of children trafficked to the city from different parts of the country (Asham 2007). The Merkato area,
especially the neighbourhoods of the bus terminal, in Addis Ketema Sub-City was selected as the
specific research site. Merkato is well known for widespread poverty, prevalent prostitution, sexual
offence cases, and drug/alcohol abuse. The location of the bus station in the middle of Addis Ketema
Sub-city made Merkato the destination of rural migrants and trafficked children from all directions.
After contacting six of the nine kebeles in Addis Ketema Sub-City close to central Merkato and the bus
station, three adjacent kebeles (namely, 13/15, 10/11/12, and 06/07) were selected because of their
suitability for the study.3
Selection of informants
Two categories of informants participated in the study. The first category consisted of 68 children and
young people aged 10-24. The second category comprised 30 adults: 10 parents, 10 community
representatives, and 10 representatives of NGOs working with children. The first category, which
consists of the 68 children and young people, is further divided into three sub-categories: vulnerable
and non-abused (high risk children not subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation); currently/recently
abused/exploited (those under abusive/exploitative situation at the time of the research); and
recovered (prostitute who quit sex work). Because of their age differences, children and young people
between 10 and 24 years old were expected to differ from each other in their experiences and
capacities to deal with risks of sexual abuse/exploitation. This warranted the division of informants
into three age groups: 10-13, 14-17, and 18-24.
Table 2: categories of informants by age group
Age
Vulnerable but NotRecently
Group
Abused
Abused/Exploited
Male Female Total Male
Female Total
10-13
3
5
8
3
5
8
14-17
3
6
9
2
8
10
18-24
3
11
14
1
8
9
Total
9
22
31
6
21
27
Recovered from
Exploitative Situation
Male Female Total
0
0
0
0
3
3
0
7
7
0
10
10
Prior to the informant identification and the interview process, the two female researchers spent
some three weeks familiarizing themselves with the research site and potential informants. The male
researchers also made their presence noticed by travelling around with NGO and kebele staff. Then,
potential informants considered suitable for the study were identified using four strategies. First, the
major NGOs that operate in Merkato area were contacted to obtain the list of potential informants
and secure entry into the neighbourhoods. Three individuals working for two NGOs and some
knowledgeable beneficiaries were employed as contact persons and part-time field assistants to help
with the informant identification and entry. Second, six kebeles were contacted, again, to identify
3
The Sub-Cities of Addis Ababa are divided into kebeles (lowest administrative tiers) known by numbers.
5
potential informants and help with the entry. Since the cooperation of three kebele offices was
sufficient for the purpose, it was not necessary to revisit the other three units. Third, during interviews
with parents and community representatives, informants were briefed about the three categories of
children/young people that were being studied. Then, they were asked to name children in their
neighbourhood, who fit in any of the categories. Fourth, child/youth informants were also asked
about their knowledge of other children in their situation (same category) or different situations (in
the other two categories). The first two strategies were employed early and simultaneously, while the
other two were pursued rather late, after securing entry into the neighbourhoods. All potential
informants identified through the four means were visited often more than once by the researchers
for suitability assessment. Those determined suitable for the study were revisited for the actual
interviews on dates/times of their choice.
Most of the parents were chosen based on the participation of their children in the study, while few
others were purposefully selected because of their prominence in their neighbourhoods. The
community representatives were selected based on their recognized knowledge of certain interests
and/or communities that they represented. The representatives of the major NGOs operating in
Merkato and those of little-known organizations were included in the research. The basis of selection
was their involvement in issues related to child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and/or child
trafficking.
Data collection
Two main data collection techniques were employed: observation and interview. The observation
method was employed to understand the socio-economic conditions of families; the types of
businesses in the study neighbourhood; the way the children spent their time and with whom; the
participation of children in religious programs; and other physical and social environments that
increased vulnerability or enhanced resilience.
The life history interview method was used to obtain the narrative reconstruction of the lives of the 68
children and young people in some coherent order.4 As established in Robert Atkin's work, the life
history method helps to understand a child's current situations and how they may have been
influenced by decisions that may have been made at another time and in another place. This approach
helps to produce thorough information about the way the children view their lives, their perception of
societal attitudes towards them, and the implications of these perceptions. Data were obtained by
getting young people to tell their individual stories in their own words, rather than by asking them
leading questions, and this was accomplished by beginning the interview process with the informant’s
early childhood experiences and then proceeding to the present.
The life history method is not the best strategy to solicit information from much younger children
because of their age and limited experiences. Therefore, those between 10 and 13 were asked to tell
about their current situations and their experiences from the recent past in free narrative style.
During the early contacts, they were asked questions that might interest them most (e.g., sports,
celebrities, and movies) and things they did prior to the interview. Open-ended questions expected to
invite them to share uninfluenced and undirected information were presented. All efforts were made
to ensure that the interviews were conducted in a relaxed and playful atmosphere. As the interview
4
Regarding the interview of children and young people, attempts were made to ensure that the male principal investigators interviewed
male informants and the female research assistants interviewed female informants.
6
proceeded, the researchers probed and systematically directed the nature of the questions so that the
exercise produced the desired research results. Information from the adults (parents, community
figures, and representatives of NGOs) was collected largely through in-depth interviews.
Data analysis and structuring
A number of factors have influenced the process of the data organization and analysis. Hence, the
structure of the report evolved to assume its present form as the research progressed. The review of
resilience literature was a crucial primary step taken to become acquainted with the current thinking
on the issue. This has made it possible for the research team to communicate with a good measure of
shared understanding about resilience, and it facilitated discussions with the International Steering
Committee (ISC). Moreover, the literature review has played an important role in conceptualizing the
problem, shaping the concept note, and later developing the research proposal in accordance with the
terms of reference.
To ensure in-depth understanding of resilience in children exposed to sexual abuse/exploitation, three
principal categories were formed: vulnerable and non-abused, currently/recently abused/exploited,
and recovered. To appreciate age-based differences and similarities in life experiences of the
informants, each category was sub-divided into three age groups (10-13, 14-17, and 18-24).
Subsequently, data collection instruments and specific life history interview questions were developed
in a manner that suited the said categories and age groups. It should be emphasized that the standard
concepts of resilience gleaned from the relevant literature had an influence on the identification of
the categories and the design of the data collection instruments.
However, discussions with the ISC also played a major part in the refinement of the research
procedure and the design of instruments. Insofar as the research design followed these important
steps, it is inevitable that the results of this exercise would ultimately surface in the process of the
data analysis and organization. Nonetheless, the stories of the children narrated during fieldwork
largely shaped the present structure of the report. Once the data collection was complete, members
of the research team held a meeting to discuss and determine the course that the data transcription
and organization should take, and whether the transcription should be done in English or Amharic.
Thematic areas were identified to guide data organization and both languages were used for data
transcription.
Once the data were organized and transcribed along thematic areas, the principal investigators took
assignments to review the data thoroughly and prepare tentative report outlines. A common report
structure was developed and agreed upon after merging the outlines in a manner that avoided
overlap, while ensuring that issues were not missed in the data reduction process.
Feedbacks/comments from the research assistants played a part in shaping the report structure.
Lastly, the principal investigators divided the chapters between themselves and embarked upon the
task of data analysis and write-up before putting the parts together to make a single report. The
report was written in such as way that the voices of the children are heard.
Challenges encountered and measures taken
The research team encountered a number of challenges that demanded careful attention and
appropriate measures. Some informants, particularly those who had been sexually exploited, provided
distorted stories. Attempts were made to convince such informants to provide genuine information.
Those who provided suspicious and contradictory information were deselected and the data
7
discarded. Interviewing children between the ages of 10 and 13 in the category called 'vulnerable and
non-abused' presented a special challenge. Since culturally, sexuality is treated with secrecy and
apprehension, young children felt uncomfortable with such terms as sex, sexual abuse, sexual
exploitation, and sexual harassment. Hence, the researchers used indirect expressions such as
inappropriate request and touch. Prior to inquiring about the personal experiences of the informants,
younger children were first told the experiences of other children. The interviews were conducted in a
playful fashion and friendly atmosphere in such a way that discussions moved back-and-forth between
serious talks and entertaining conversations.
Although different strategies were eventually devised to ensure their participation, identifying and
arranging meetings with maids and sex workers on 24-hour duty presented a challenge because it was
rather difficult for them to secure permission from the people they worked for. Since they engaged in
sex work at night, slept in the mornings, and socialized in the afternoons, conducting interviews with
the regular prostitute also demanded flexibility in interview times. Some informants came to
interviews while under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and this required re-interviewing them
when they were sober.
Some sexually abused children suffered from gossips and humiliation by peers and other people in
their neighbourhoods. The gossips and name-calling increased when NGO workers and other strangers
such as researchers visited such children. Hence, some abused children and their parents were
uncomfortable, if not unwilling, to participate in the research. In order to address their worries, the
researchers agreed to pretend that the visits were unrelated to the incidences of sexual assaults, and
to conduct the interviews at places and times convenient to the children and their parents/guardians.
A few informants consented to be interviewed but refused be tape-recorded or became tense by the
recording process. When efforts to persuade them or calm them down failed, the researchers shifted
to note-taking to capture the information provided. Many informants demanded payment for the
time they spent. Hence, it was necessary to pay informants a token to compensate for their time that
would have been used productively.
The original plan was to interview 90 children and young people and 30 adults. According to the plan,
each category would have 30 informants (21 female and 9 male), and each age-based sub-category
would have seven female and three male informants. As indicated in Table 1 above, the original plan
was not strictly observed because certain challenges warranted some adjustments. Regarding the
category called non-abused/exploited, for example, instead of 30 children and young people, 31 were
interviewed. Eight of the 31 informants came from the age group 10-13, nine informants from 14-17,
and 14 from 18-24. In the lower age categories, child resilience to sexual abuse/exploitation is largely
explained in terms of the ability of children to bear enticement and avoid the use of force. Since they
were young and still vulnerable, one can only hope that they will remain resilient. Those in the upper
age group seemed to have reached a stage where the risks were minimum or none and success was
attained or within reach. Hence, more samples were taken from the upper age group to increase
diversity and bring depth to the study.
Concerning the complicated category called currently/recently abused/exploited, the research team
encountered multiple challenges. It is complicated because, when unpacked, this category was found
to consist of four sub-categories: currently abused male/female, currently exploited male/female,
recently abused male/female, and recently exploited male/female. And, this is apart from the three
age-based groupings that apply to all categories. One of the challenges related to identifying currently
8
abused male and female informants. Since the experience of abuse was surrounded by fear and
shame, nobody came forward. Thus, the balance was totally biased towards currently exploited girls
and young women. Moreover, finding male informants for this category was generally difficult, as
male sexual abuse/exploitation is rare and underreported.
The major challenge related to the third category (recovered) was identifying male informants who
recovered from sexual abuse/exploitation for all three age groups. Incidences of male sexual abuse,
male participation in sex work, and homosexual orientations are recent developments in Ethiopia.
Rumours and media stories in the last few years shocked and disgusted the public, religious
institutions, and authorities. The incidences seem to be very rare and the social environment
discourages openness. Although the research team managed to locate a few male sex workers, they
refused to have face-to-face interviews because of the shame involved and perceived harsh
consequences from the public and authorities if their secrecy is unveiled. The second challenge was
that the team could not identify girls for the age group 10-13. At an early age, according to
informants, entry into abusive/exploitative situation is more likely to happen than recovery from it.
The research team witnessed crisis that three informants (Alem Behailu, Menelik Geremew, and
Dagne Aizo) encountered. They decided to secure them assistance from NGOs and succeeded partly.
Two organizations offered to accept and help two of the children (Alem and Dagne). Before we had
the chance to find him a sponsor, the third child (Menelik), was taken to a youth correctional facility
due to a pending attempted child molestation charge against him.
Ethical issues
The present study was conducted in accordance with the code of ethics related to research with
children. Generally, the ethical requirements relate to scientific validity, welfare of the participants,
and respect for the dignity of participants. Accordingly, the ethical norms for this study were designed
to respect human dignity, respect freedom and self-determination of the participants, obtain
informed consent, inform participants about the research, and keep the confidentiality of participants.
As part of keeping the confidentiality of informants, pseudonyms have been used throughout this
report. The consent of parents/guardians was secured for children younger than 16. All children were
informed that they could refuse to participate, or withdraw in the middle of the interview process,
and that they should not volunteer out of fear or respect for adults. Since exploring children's feelings
and traumatic experiences might trigger discomfort, the interviews were conducted with utmost
sensitivity. Informants were given written consent documents that provided details about the
research, responsibilities/duties of the researchers, the rights of informants, and the use of the
research results. Interviews were conducted after ensuring that the informants understood the
message and securing the signed consent letter. Parents/guardians signed the consent form for
children below the age of 16. In the case of unaccompanied children, the consent of adult figures
associated with or known to them was secured.
Literature Review
The scientific study of child resilience is a field of research endeavour that spans two and half decades.
The investigations undertaken during this time have increased the understanding of the subject by
giving fresh insights and enlightenment on various aspects of the issue as the years have passed by.
For example, the traditional approach toward child welfare used to focus on the investigation of risk
9
factors. As a result, the output and lessons learned from the investigative processes were intended to
inform the design of interventions aimed at mitigating the impacts of the risk conditions.
Nevertheless, observations indicated that not all children were susceptible to, or adversely affected
by, the risks they faced. Thus, such understanding and insights redirected the focus of attention to the
study of protective factors and resilience outcomes. In recent years, research activity has therefore
been geared toward the development of knowledge in the area, and a shift in the approach adopted
toward child-focused program design. Informed practice in devising interventions and the promotion
of resilience is thought to be a more effective approach in terms of enabling children to achieve
positive outcomes in their interactions with single or multiple risk factors.
Definitions
Researchers in the field have come up with a number of definitions that reflect the characteristics of
resilience from different angles and perspectives. Hence, a uniform definition that all investigators
accept has not been achieved. For this reason, for the purpose of the study at hand, it is deemed
appropriate to provide descriptions of the different facets of the conceptualization of resilience,
rather than focusing on a definition that does not after all encompass or reflect all the stated features
of the concept. Accordingly, in the conduct of the research, the investigators approached the subject
of child resilience from the point of view of resilience characteristics identified at the Oak Foundation
sponsored consultative discussion held in 2007.5 Therefore, the definitional characteristics which
guided the direction of the research are the following:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Resilience encompasses growth as well as resistance and coping in the face of adversity;
It is a long-term process, or a life path;
It may need adversity to develop, i.e., it develops in the face of adversity;
A resilient child copes with adversity better than he or she should;
Resilience should be seen as a process in interaction with the environment, not an inherent
quality in the child;
It needs more than positive qualities or resources – active use of resources is required;
It may be seen in individuals or in the group environment; and
It is never absolute, but varies with circumstances and time, and from person to person.
Child resilience to sexual abuse/exploitation
The vulnerability model, adopted in previous years, tended to view children as “weak, passive,
helpless, dependent, and incapable of doing things” (Palma and Balanon, 2007 quoting Warburton).
However, there has of late been a shift to the resilience model which considers children as “having the
capacity to cope, adapt and overcome traumatic experiences” (Palma and Balanon, 2007 quoting
Warburton). Further, the resilience model views children as “active agents in their own development
and not as passive victims of adversity” (Palma and Balanon, 2007 citing Gilligan, 2001). From this
perspective, “the concept of resilience is often associated with successful adaptation, well-being,
positive functioning and competence in the face of uncertainty, chronic stress, and prolonged or
severe trauma” (Palma and Balanon, 2007 citing Luthar, 1993 and Egeland et al 1993).
The discussion of the subject in the context of the resilience model, therefore, begs the question: Who
then are resilient children? In the answer to this, Masten et al (1990) has identified three categories
5
‘Towards an Operational Definition of the Resilience Approach’. A working synthesis of an Oak-sponsored discussion held in 2007.
10
that can be described as resilient: Children who do not succumb to adversities, despite their high-risk
status; children who develop coping strategies in situations of chronic stress; and children who have
suffered extreme trauma or abuse and who have recovered and prospered. In order to expound on
what kind of children are resilient in connection with sexual abuse and exploitation, emphasis is given
to the discussion of risk and vulnerability situations,6 protective factors7 and recovery outcomes.
In order to understand and appreciate resilience in the context of child sexual abuse and exploitation,
one needs to investigate what kind of children are at risk, vulnerable, and can make use of available
protective resources to avoid succumbing to threats or manage the impacts. Children who are at high
risk of sexual abuse and exploitation are those who live in families, neighbourhoods or community
where the exposing factors to abusive and exploitative situations are common or widely prevalent. On
the other hand, vulnerable children are those who find themselves in situations which increase their
susceptibility to sexual abuse and exploitation, where the risks that lead to the same outcomes may or
may not exist. In the face of exposing factors, some children can still manage to avoid becoming the
victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. In other instances, children who may have succumbed to the
adversities manifest process or outcomes of successfully coping with the impacts or making a durable
recovery from adverse situations. Such children are the ones able to exploit to their advantage
resilience factors located within them, their families, or the community.
The assets or resources that enhance children’s capacity for resilience are described as individual
factors or personality traits, cognitive factors, familial factors, and sociological factors (Morales, 2007).
According to the same source, qualities referred to as individual factors/personality traits are selforganization, self-esteem, personal effectiveness, internal-external control, psychological endurance,
and drawing on positive emotions. Characteristics defined as cognitive factors are coping strategies
adopted by resilient children to effectively manage the impacts of adversities such as seeking
emotional support, disclosure to a third person (adult or sibling), and cognitive restructuring or
cognitive reframing,8 cognitive aptitude,9 and dispositional optimism.10 Referred to as familiar factors
are emotional attachment and familial cohesion, emotional security, warm emotional climate within
the family created by the quality of parent-child and conjugal relationships. Included among
sociological factors are (a) membership groups such as family, neighbourhood, community which
provide each other mutual support and require adherence to a group’s moral rules. These elements
favour or foster resilience in children and young people exposed to difficult conditions. The cultural
environment and the socio-political system also constitute membership groups that influence,
through their values and attitudes, what resilience might be; (b) peer relations which take on a new
significance during adolescence period can play an important role in healthy development and favour
resilience to the extent that they may exert positive influence on children and young people. In fact,
identification with peer group, where the identification is strong, can lead to a greater emotional
support which nurtures resilience; (c) socio-demographic factors relate to the variables of age, gender
6
Based on the definition of Newman (2004), risk refers to any factor or combination of factors that increases the chance of an undesirable
outcome affecting a person. Vulnerability is a feature that renders a person more susceptible to a threat.
7
Protective factors are the circumstances that moderate the effects of risk (Newman (2004).
8
Cognitive restructuring/cognitive reframing is a strategy that leads to a change in the understanding of the traumatic event and its
implications (Morales, 2007 citing Spaccarelli, 1994:41)
9
Resilient children often demonstrate a greater capacity for understanding and analyzing situations and a greater capacity for attention and
concentration (Morales, 2007).
10
Dispositional optimism refers to a stable, generalized set of expectations of positive things that will come to us in different areas of life and
at different times in our existence (Morale, 2007)
11
and socio-economic status. The same source (Morales, 2007, citing different authorities) explains that
the risks of psychological disturbance resulting from sexual abuse tend to vary in intensity and severity
depending on how young the victim was at the time of the experience. Poverty aggravates the risk of
suffering adverse conditions, intensifies the chances of experiencing psychological distress and denies
the resources needed to cope with adversities. Indeed, (Morales, 2007, citing Dumont, Widom et al
2007:15) states: “…the abused child who grows up in an economically advantaged neighbourhood has
more possibility of appearing resilient than a child who grows up in a disadvantaged neighbourhood”;
(d) spiritual and religious belief refers to active participation in the practice of a religious group or
membership of a system of beliefs. Identification with a spiritual fellowship for the purpose of seeking
divine backing can produce a therapeutic effect to recover from psychological stress that adults suffer
as a consequence of sexual abuse during childhood.
Core concepts in resilience research
In the literature, the discussions of resilience are premised on five core concepts: risk factors,
vulnerability factors, competence, protective factors, and developmental assets (Rutter 1990; Masten
and Coatsworth 1998; Kaplan 1999; Scales, et al 2000; Masten 2001). The complex interplay of these
factors is believed to ultimately determine children’s successful outcomes in the process of their
development into adulthood.
Risk factors are conditions internal or external to the child that are likely to aggravate the possibilities
of undergoing sexual exploitation and abuse as the negative outcomes of poor social adjustment.
Conditions identified as common risk factors include traumatic life events (such as the death of a
parent), socioeconomic disadvantages, family conflict, and chronic exposure to violence, and serious
parental problems such as substance abuse, criminality, or mental illness (Kaplan 1999 in Braveman
2001). A particular concern also identified as a major risk factor is having to grow up in poverty and
destitution as it presents numerous and serious threats to the child’s successful development.
Vulnerability factors pertain to the child’s characteristic features or environmental circumstances that
tend to increase a degree of susceptibility to the effects of a given risk factor. Vulnerability factors
predispose children to the impact of the risk processes, but do not by themselves result in negative
outcomes, sexual exploitation and abuse in this case, where the actual risk variables are not manifest.
Competence refers to children’s adaptive behaviour of various kinds that enable them to withstand
the knocks and blows of adverse conditions and to manage to exhibit resilience and overcome the
odds (Masten and Coatsworth 1998). Competence may be manifested in broader terms or more
specific areas that relate to psychological health and adaptation, or in the latter case, good
performance at school, healthy social relationships, etc.
Protective factors are the characteristics of the child or environmental circumstances that moderate
or counteract the potentially negative outcomes (such as child sexual exploitation and abuse to be
specific) of the risk variables involved (Rutter 1990). Protective factors operate in several ways,
although full agreement does not exist among researchers regarding their relationships with risk
factors. Benard (1995) grouped protective factors into three categories: caring and supportive
relationships, positive and high expectations, and opportunities for meaningful participation. Some
view or treat protective and risk factors as two different sets of variables, while others consider them
only as opposing points of a single continuum.
12
Developmental assets are individual or environmental factors that work to heighten the possibility of
attaining positive outcomes, in the face of threatening conditions for exposure to sexual exploitation
and abuse. Conceptually, strong relationships exist between protective factors and developmental
assets, while a wide definitional difference separates the two concepts in practical terms. Protective
factors are defined and understood in relation to risk processes, insofar as they operate to mitigate
the possible effect of risk situations. On the other hand, developmental assets find their expression
directly in terms of their connections with desirable outcomes. Where assets exist, the likelihood to
achieve positive outcomes is high.
On the whole, resilience is a concept that embodies two fundamental components: exposure to risks
and demonstration of competence and successful adaptation. Thus resilience represents a dynamic
process rather than a fixed character trait of a child. Hence, children who seem to demonstrate
resilience at one point in life may or may not do so with changing circumstances through later years.
The understanding of the concept as a process, a perspective which is increasingly gaining emphasis,
suggests that a child’s successful adaptation and demonstration of competence within the context of a
high-risk environment is an outcome of interactive processes between resilient factors located within
the child, the family, and the community.
Child resilience research in Ethiopia
The available information on the sexual abuse/exploitation of children in Ethiopia remains scanty and
fragmentary due to the absence of a comprehensive study on the subject. The studies conducted on
the issue to date provide not much more than an overview of the situation because of being limited in
their coverage and placing emphasis on specific geographic locations and child groups. As indicated in
the introduction, the existing evidence, no matter how small and scattered, reveals that the problem
has been prevalent and on steady increase around the country (FSCE 2003; 2008; ACPF 2005: MOLSA
2005). Major reported forms of child sexual abuse/exploitation in the Ethiopian context are sexual
violence including rape, sexual harassment, abduction, child trafficking, and exploitation of children by
engaging them in commercial sex (MOLSA 2005).
Similarly, research on child resilience to sexual abuse/exploitation is almost non-existent. The only
report that could be located and consulted is the consultancy research that was commissioned by Pact
Ethiopia and conducted on factors related to resilience of girl students in Amhara, Gambella and SNNP
Regions (Pact Ethiopia 2008). The major objective of the study was to identify the external and
individual factors that enhanced or hindered resilience among targeted girl students attending high
school in the three project regions. The research was undertaken as part the initiative known as Girls’
Empowerment and Management Project (GEM), implemented by Pact Ethiopia in 15 secondary
schools in the three regions, with an aim to enable 500 girl students to complete secondary education
and acquire leadership and life skills. In the rural socio-cultural setting where they grew up, the
beneficiary girls are reported to have experienced hardships and challenges that could have resulted
in their being sexually abused exploited. The adversities that the targeted girl students are said to
have endured range from early marriage and abduction to other forms of gender-based violence.
Policy and Legal Framework: Ethiopia
With a view to mitigating child sexual abuse/exploitation and addressing the various exposing factors,
the Government of Ethiopia has adopted a number of policy and legal instruments and ratified the
relevant international laws. Of particular interest in this regard is the government’s ratification of the
13
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC (UN 1989) and the African Charter on
the Rights and Welfare of the Child, ACRWC (OAU 1990). Indeed, the norms and standards that define
the domestic policy and legal frameworks geared towards fighting child sexual abuse/exploitation
have their origin in these UN and AU legal instruments. Thus, not only has the convention been made
an integral part of the law of land as per article 9(4) of the Ethiopian Constitution (Negarit Gazeta
1995), but it has also been domesticated through Proclamation No. 10 of 1992. Besides, with a view to
ensuring its wide dissemination, the UNCRC has been translated into 11 local languages. Likewise, the
government has ratified the ACRWC through Proclamation No. 283/2002. The ILO Convention 182 for
the Elimination on the Worst Forms of Child Labor is another relevant international law which Ethiopia
is party to, since it has ratified the convention and made it an integral part of its domestic legal
framework pursuant to article 9(4) of the constitution.
The Ethiopian Constitution addresses the rights of children in full endorsement of the UNCRC, as it
stipulates under article 36. In connection with exploitative practices directed against children, sub
article 1(d) states: “Every child has the right …not to be subject to exploitative practices, neither to be
required nor permitted to perform work which may be hazardous or harmful to his or her education,
health or well-being”. Moreover, the constitution provides for a general policy guideline by identifying
the best interests of the child as a fundamental principle that governs the design and implementation
of program interventions dealing with children. In this respect, sub article 2 reads: “In all actions
concerning children undertaken by public and private welfare institutions, courts of law,
administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the primary consideration shall be the best interest of
the child”.
The provisions of the constitution regarding children may have had a positive impact that is reflected
in a number of government polices and national plans of actions meant to, directly or indirectly,
promote and protect the rights and welfare of the child. Yet, a comprehensive policy devoted
exclusively to the prevention and tackling of the sexual abuse/exploitation of children has not so far
been enacted. In admission of this gap in the existing policy and legal frameworks, the National Action
Plan on Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (2006-2010), issued by MOLSA (2005) states:
“Although there are various policies and national plans of actions that touch upon the issue in specific
and limited sense, there is no single comprehensive policy dealing with the exploitation and abuse of
children in Ethiopia”.
However, although far from comprehensive, the Developmental and Social Welfare Policy of Ethiopia
concerns itself with the protection of children in general, and those under difficult circumstances in
particular. In a similar fashion, the Cultural Policy of Ethiopia addresses the issue of abolishing harmful
traditional practices, which traditional customs may well be the causes, predisposing factors and
manifestations of child sexual abuse/exploitation (MOLSA 2005). A review of other pertinent
documents such as the National Youth Policy, the National Education Policy, the Social Affairs Policy,
and the Policy on Woman may in one way or the other touch upon the sexual abuse/exploitation of
children, but fail to directly or broadly address the issue. Besides, the government has at different
times prepared and put into action a serious of national action plans that relate to the promotion and
protection of the rights of children. Among these are the National Action Plan for Children (19962000) and the National Action Plan on Orphans and Vulnerable Children (2004-2006). It is, however,
noteworthy that a National Acton Plan on Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (2006-2010)
represents a major step forward in the series, inasmuch as it makes direct mention of child sexual
abuse and exploitation and addresses it as its centre of focus, by setting out key prevention and
14
rehabilitation strategies. On top of this, it identifies four areas of intervention: Prevention of sexual
abuse and exploitation of children, protection of victims, rehabilitation and reintegration of child
victims, and coordination and monitoring of interventions.
In relation to legal frameworks, the country’s subsidiary legislations like the Revised Criminal Code of
2005 and the Revised Family Code of 2000 are significant improvements on their predecessor
legislations in that they contain specific provisions that deal with aspects and elements of child sexual
abuse and exploitation. As for the Revised Criminal Code, it discuses elaborately and imposes
punishments on specific offenses that it identifies as: trafficking in infants and young persons for the
purpose of prostitution, making a profession of or living by the prostitution or immorality of another,
exposing children to indecent acts, obscene or indecent publications and advertisements, child
pornography, rape where the victim is a minor, sexual outrage on minors and young persons,
seduction, and early marriage. The Revised Family Code is a result of the attempt to bring this legal
instrument into conformity with the constitution of 1995 and relevant international legal instruments
including the UNCRC. One major area of improvement is that the Revised Family Code incorporates
the principles of the best interest of the child as per article 3 (1) of the UNCRC and article 36 of the
Ethiopian Constitution. Secondly, the Revised Family Code reinforces the safeguarding of the family as
an appropriate setting for full and harmonious development of a child’s personality (MOLSA 2005).
The most significant contribution of the Code is nonetheless the setting of the minimum marriageable
age of 18 for girls, which used to be 15 under the repealed provisions of the Civil Code of 1960. All in
all, encouraging progress can be observed in the designing and enactment of polices and laws toward
the protection of children against sexual abuse and exploitation. Yet, a lot remains to be done to fight
and stop the practice in all its forms and dimensions. To that end, it is crucially important to ensure
strong government commitment, forthcoming donor support, effective coordination of efforts, and
the cooperation of stakeholders and actors.
15
2. Common Risk Factors in Merkato
The results of interviews conducted for this study indicate that the research area is rife with factors
exposing children to sexual abuse/exploitation. The focus of this chapter is on environmental
circumstances, generally those external to children, which act as common risk factors exposing them
to sexual abuse and exploitation. Of course, in the context of individual children, the experience of
sexual abuse/exploitation may be the outcome of a single common risk or two or more risk factors
working in combination. However, for the sake of convenience, factors identified as common risks
from the perspective of the research community are treated separately. In other cases, where the
overlap between common risks is such that one cannot be analyzed independent of the other, it may
be necessary to group these together.
Prevalence of Commercial Sex Work
The Addis Ketema area, where the research neighbourhoods are located, lies within one of the oldest
parts of Addis Ababa. As such, the area makes up part of the city centre where the capital’s largest
market (Merkato) and the main bus terminal are located. Wide prevalence of commercial sex is
among the characteristic features of the Addis Ketema area. Commercial sex has been practiced here
for generations. In fact, as informants pointed out, so widespread and predominant is commercial sex
in the area that community members generally tolerate it. Given the high prevalence and long history
of sex work in this quarter of the city, there is every indication that entry into the practice hardly
meets any deterrent. Senait Damte (18), a female sex worker living in a nearby neighbourhood in
Addis Ketema Sub-City stated:
“In my view, there is not much in the area that prevents children entering into
prostitution. Community members generally do not exclude sex workers. This is
not the case in other parts of the city. Peers and acquaintances normally shun
young girls who practice prostitution. Here it is different. Child prostitutes do not
become the objects of gossip and stigma. They may even find assistance from
fellow children who offer help to train them and facilitate their entry into sex
work.”
On top of this, sex work is considered as a means of earning money without much effort, as pointed
out by several of the child informants involved in the practice (Tihun Getachew, Brzawit Ketema,
Jemanesh Tamene, and Belaynesh Mengistu). Unlike other types of business common in that district,
the practice does not require the investment of resource in terms of initial capital and specialist
knowledge and skills. Besides the fulfilment of personal needs, sex work helps generate easy money to
support parents and siblings, as three young girls indicated (Senait Damete, Tiblet Dagne, and Hiwot
Getamesay). The story told by a presently recovered child prostitute is particularly telling. Hiwot
Getamesay (20) related:
“I belong to a family of many children. Several of us were born in quick
succession. My parents were too poor to support us through our education. It
was unbearable for me to see my brothers out of school for lack of money.
Prostitution was the only possible way I had to earn money. I could have found
work as a housemaid. But the money from domestic work would barely have
16
been enough to support my brothers. Sex work offered an income that enabled
me not only to help my siblings with their education, but also to take care of my
own needs.”
Unlike other kinds of job, sex work does not require certain conditions to engage in it. This makes
commercial sex an even greater risk to vulnerable children in the study area. Young girls who might
have taken up domestic service have instead ended up becoming child prostitutes, for not being able
to produce guarantors or certificate to prove their HIV free status.
Moreover, children born and raised in a family or neighbourhood where commercial sex is routinely
practiced find themselves at a high risk. Child prostitutes, parents and community representatives
interviewed for this study have drawn attention to this aspect of the issue. The case of a child
prostitute named Jemanesh Tamene (age 17) is worth mentioning in this regard. She said that she had
a 1 year baby girl. She is extremely concerned about the future of her little daughter. Raised by a
mother who is a sex worker, Jemanesh cannot imagine her daughter escaping the possibility of getting
involved in prostitution by the time she has grown up. Hence, Jemanesh intends to quit sex work
before her baby is old enough to learn to become a prostitute. As an alternative, she contemplates
handing her over to the custody of her mother who lives in her home village.
In sum, common presence, quick entry, and easy money make commercial sex attractive to vulnerable
children in the study community. As such the practice acts as a widely prevalent risk factor that
exposes children to sexual abuse and exploitation.
Crime and Delinquency
Different forms of crime and delinquency are rampant in the research community. These include
theft, robbery, burglary, and physical violence. Such delinquent and criminal behaviour is attributed to
common factors such as joblessness, substance and alcohol abuse, and the watching of violent and
pornographic films. Sexual harassment and abuse stands out as a single dominant type of criminal
activity routinely perpetrated by adults and young people alike on children and other targets. In
particular, child girls as well as boys faced constant threat of being raped by individuals or groups of
people. The following statistical data on the number of raped children in Addis Ketema Sub-City during
2005 to 2008 come from the Addis Ketema Sub-City Police.
Table 3: Reported cases of rape in Addis Ketema sub-city, 2004-5 – 2007/8
Year
Sex
Female
Male
Total
2004/5
53
4
57
2005/6
76
6
82
2006/7
65
6
71
2007/8
66
11
77
Total
260
27
287
Source: Addis Ketema Sub-City Police Department
The above figures do not, however, paint the actual picture of the magnitude of the problem. The
figures represent only a fraction of the rape cases perpetrated or attempted, since a huge proportion
of rape incidents go unreported to the police. The failure to report is blamed on a number of factors.
NGOs and parents involved in the study explained the underreporting in terms of cultural and
17
economic factors. On the cultural front, families of victims are reluctant to disclose rape cases for fear
of social stigma. Especially is the stigma severe when the rape has been committed by close relatives
such as stepfathers and siblings. Lack of open parent-child communication and not knowing what the
consequences might be contribute to the hesitation of children who are rape victims to confide in
their parents. In situations where fathers or stepfathers are the culprits, mothers come under
pressure not to report and seek legal action for economic reasons. They may be anxious that the
outcome of disclosure and pursuing the case will do the family more harm than good. Most families
cannot afford to lose husbands who are usually the breadwinners through arrest, despite being guilty
of domestic rape.
The findings of the research strongly suggest that the raping of child boys is a phenomenon that is
only beginning to manifest itself. In fact, the raping of male children is a type of criminal behaviour
that is more serious than is actually appreciated in the community. This view is shared by a range of
study subjects including parents, CBO representatives, religious leaders, teachers, NGO staff and
police officers.
The information obtained reveals that children who are the victims of rape mostly come from similar
family backgrounds. Accordingly, a large number of rape cases indicate that the child victims belong to
low income families or single parent homes headed by mothers or older siblings. Rape victims may
also be children who live under the care of guardians. Lack of follow-up, protection and support is
believed to be the main exposing factor. On the other hand, the rapists, in order to abuse the children
sexually, exploit their naivety and inexperience besides the effects of poverty and inability to defend
themselves.
Despite being a growing social menace, the legal action taken against rape is not encouraging. Indeed,
rapists are said to be emboldened by apparent impunity and inadequate response on the part of the
legal system. For similar reasons, victims and affected families are discouraged from bringing rape
cases to the attention of the law. A female legal advisor shared her observations on the same note:
“It is necessary that the full force of the law be used to deal with rapists. At the
moment, child abusers are not brought to book under the pretext that there is
no evidence. As a result, perpetrators are saying ‘what can the law do to me?’
On the other hand, families of victims decline seeking legal recourse by saying
‘what will I gain by doing so?’”
Substance and Alcohol Abuse
Substance and alcohol abuse is widely practiced in the research community by young people in
particular. Child and parent informants, as well as CBO, NGO and GO representatives expressed that
the problem is serious. In the context of the study community, substance abuse refers to the chewing
of khat,11 and the smoking of shisha and hashish. In regard to street children, substance abuse also
involves the puffing of petrol and the sniffing of glue for the sake of excitement or suppressing
hunger. The major types of alcohol consumed are a range of home-brewed drinks locally known as
tella, tej, and araqe. These alcoholic beverages are sold in ordinary drinking houses, visited mostly by
young people and adults of low income levels.
11
Khat, Cathula edulis, is a leafy drug that is chewed with stimulating effects.
18
It is no surprise that addiction and intoxication are the common results of alcohol and substance
abuse. Among other consequences, the practice influences the users toward criminal and delinquent
behaviour. Under alcohol and drug influence, young people and others are usually driven to manifest
sexual impulses. The evidence strongly suggests that such indulgence presents itself as a common risk
of sexual abuse to vulnerable female and male children in the area. A half-orphaned boy, Kebede
Alemayehu, age l1 and recently raped, stated:
“In our kebele, there are many drinking houses. Moreover, there are a number
of khat and shisha houses. Smoking tobacco is also common. A lot of minibuses
are parked in the area. During their slack hours, the minibus drivers and their
assistants heavily engage in these practices. Under the influence, they deceive
unaware children into their cars. One way they do this is by persuading the
children to buy something from the shop. Then they choke and rape the kids.”
Video Houses
The youth culture of spending time at video houses as a form of recreation is proving to be another
common risk of child sexual abuse. The fact that by far a vast portion of the film content consists of
pornographic material has become a particular challenge. In a small crowded neighbourhood of 1,973
homes, 99 were used for showing videos (17 operated 24 hours a day), 21 for serving shisha, seven for
selling chat, and numerous others for serving alcoholic beverages. As noted by a great number of the
informants, the young viewers of obscene films sooner or later imitate the actors, trying to adopt their
behaviour and styles in real life. As a consequence, they become tempted to engage not only in early
sexual activity, but also in sexual outrage including rape. The legal advisor mentioned earlier
commented:
“Video houses are ample in the area, some of them working round the clock.
Street children often spend the night watching films partly to avoid sleeping
rough in the open. The films screened are usually sexually provocative,
influencing the behaviour of the watching children so badly that they are
tempted to experiment what they have seen on their peers.”
Street Business
As the capital’s largest market and centre of the research community, Merkato and its vicinities bustle
with almost every form of business. Yet urban poverty and congestion persist as the distinguishing
marks of this part of the city. As a result, needy families find it to be an absolute necessity to practice
different forms of small business on the street as well as in the house, just to survive from day to day.
Nonetheless, much of the activity done to earn a living is bound to pose the risks of sexual abuse to
children.
Street vending/peddling
The sale of various small consumer items is a common sight in the crowded research neighbourhoods.
The things sold include fruit and vegetables, clothing, lottery tickets, roasted and boiled grain, sweets,
cigarettes, tissue papers, and plastic bags. The street vending is done mostly by children sent out by
their poor parents. Children may also do street peddling on their own initiative, influenced by peers,
or asked by other people.
19
Normally, the children spend long hours, often into the evenings, as they do street vending/peddling.
They may stay in the street at a fixed vending point, or keep moving around to sell their items
including in eating and drinking houses. As they do so, it is no strange an affair for them to experience
sexual harassment or seduction. Some adults exploit the children’s financial disadvantage and entice
them with the offer or promise of money to establish connections and trust with them. In these
situations, particularly child girls find themselves at a high risk of sexual violence and abuse. In this
regard, the story of a young girl named Selamawit Fikre, age 23, is very illustrative. Although she was
highly vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation as a child, she managed to succeed in her
education. Having graduated from the university, she currently practices law in a government
institution. She relates:
“I used to sell boiled maize on the street when I was about 12 years old. Of
course, street business involved risks. I met bigger boys who harassed me
sexually. Looking back, I realize that there was a chance for me to have taken
the wrong turn and ruined my life. Many of my friends, who used to work on the
street, later dropped out of school and became sex workers.”
Bed renting
A great many families in Addis Ketema neighbourhoods eke out hand-to-mouth existence from the
renting of beds in the family house. For this purpose, they partition their dwellings into small sections.
In these partitions, they put up structures that are in the form of double layer wooden beds to
economize on the available limited space and pack into it as many users as possible. Or they spread on
the floor sacks and straw-stuffed mattresses where individuals renting the rooms for the night are
made to sleep next to each other so close that they are forced to lie down on one side, and can hardly
turn around or change position.
The business of renting beds presents a tremendous challenge to child girls as a risk factor of sexual
abuse and exploitation. Most of the time, young or underage female children are made to do the job.
The children spend a great deal of time in the afternoons and evenings, as they seek around
customers looking for bed. The work generally keeps them late out on the street, often for as long as
past midnight. Oftentimes, this is the time when drunken men walk around and find the child girls.
Tired of waiting for customers out in the cold, the children may even fall asleep where they sit or
stand. Found in this situation, they are the likeliest targets of sexual abuse by drunken strangers or
passersby. In other cases, the girls are caught by street gangsters, who use seductive, persuasive or
forceful tactics to abuse them sexually.
Back home, the girls are not any safer from the risk of sexual violence and abuse. As has been proven
by a number of case materials, they remain vulnerable to sexual abuse by the same people they have
been brought from the street to rent beds. In addition, individuals who have established themselves
as regular or occasional customers exploit their familiarity and accountantship to rape the children in
the house. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the rape, such sexual violence generally leads
the victims to a life of sexual abuse and exploitation. The case of a 17 year old named Gezashegn Zeru
is selected for its relevance in this regard. She said:
“The work of bed renting is full of risks and challenges for children involved in it.
As we look around for customers, we experience sexual harassment and
molestation by gangsters and drunks. Customers also sexually harass us as we
20
walk together to the place of the bed. After we arrive at the place, many
customers try to force us to sleep with them.”
Congestion/Over-crowdedness
Congestion is a characteristic of impoverished neighbourhoods in Addis Ketema area. A census
conducted in one small neighbourhood called '32' reveals that there were 1078 official residential
units and 895 unofficially built/extended houses. Of the total 1,973 homes, only 164 were used for
purely residential purposes, others were partly rented out or used for different activities. In Merkato,
it is common for several families to share the same dwelling. The over-crowding of dwellings is
aggravated by the fact that most poor families rent beds to customers, who usually bring along
prostitutes to sleep with them, adding to the congestion. In such conditions, group and individual
privacy is almost impossible. Worse still, the circumstances increase the risks of child sexual violence
and abuse, perpetrated on children by relatives or bed renting strangers. In such overcrowding,
children sleep while adults practice sex in their hearing. Because of this, children are tempted to
experiment with sex at an early age. Such exposure and influence can result in child girls adopting a
lifestyle that places them at the risk of sexual abuse and exploitation.
Presence of Bus Terminal
The presence of the central bus station is a major factor that makes the Addis Ketema area a crowded
and bustling part of the city. For the same reason, migrant rural children are attracted to stay and
work in this surrounding. This is underscored by representatives of child focused NGOs operating in
the Addis Ketema Sub-City. After arrival, the child migrants mostly start work as domestic servants. In
the course of time, they get used to the urban environment and make contacts with people. Thus,
they change to work that offers greater income and better conditions. The types of work taken as
alternatives are usually brewing and serving tea and coffee at khat, shisha, or video houses, washing,
cleaning, and cooking in eating and drinking places, and renting and arranging beds in households
doing this business. But most often, such jobs put the children in risk environments that expose them
to sexual abuse and exploitation.
According to the informants at the child focused NGOs, brokers facilitate the contact between job
seeking child migrants and prospective employers. The brokers operate around the main bus terminal
and identify the migrants by their appearance. At the start, the brokers deliver the children to families
or businesses that hire them to do jobs largely of domestic nature. But sooner or later, such kinds of
work end up becoming stepping stones for the children to enter into prostitution.
21
3. Vulnerable Children and Young People
The main thrust of this chapter is drawing attention to the set of exposing factors that are internal to,
or closely associated with the specific family backgrounds or personal situations of children that
aggravate their susceptibility to sexual abuse/exploitation. In view of this, the points of analysis
pertain to the state of children coming from poor families, broken homes, and female or child headed
households. Factors relating to the children’s situation as migrants or trafficked, and living on and off
the street are also considered. These subjects are treated as individual units of analysis, despite their
overlap with poverty as cross cutting issue.
Children from Poor Families
Family poverty is a single major vulnerability factor of child sexual abuse and exploitation. The bulk of
the case material involving interviewed children corroborates this finding. Of course, individual
children involved in prostitution expressed different purposes for doing so. Thus, some said they
wanted to support poor parents or siblings. Others were compelled by the desire to fend for
themselves or obtain the material things that their peers had. A number of children were also urged
by their parents to earn an income for the family in this way. In any case, the underlying factor that
made the children vulnerable to prostitution is family poverty and destitution. The case of Menbere
Demere, age 13, is typical of children forced into commercial sex by family poverty. She relates:
“My father was a low-paid guard. Being a housewife, my mother had no income.
In the house, our parents always argued about financial problems. As a result,
there were misunderstandings and unhappiness. I was upset and disturbed by
the difficulties we had. I wished to do something about the situation. One day, I
decided not to return home from school. I began to spend my time on the street.
For one year, I survived on kifela12 (begging). Then I moved into prostitution. I
have been practicing this for two years.”
In addition, children from poor families are vulnerable to sexual abuse. Informants such as parents,
community representatives and NGO staff have given accounts of children exposed to rape because of
poverty. As they do street vending or daily labour, it is common for poor parents to leave their
children in the home by themselves, or under the care of neighbours. In these situations, children
become exposed to sexual abuse. The attackers may be the same individuals trusted to take care of
the minors or they may be people who know that there is no one around to watch or protect them.
Prostitute mothers often allow their children to spend time playing outside late into the night. They
do so to make sure that the children do not watch them practicing commercial sex. These
circumstances increase the children’s vulnerability to becoming sexually abused. The perpetrators are
mostly strangers, gangsters, and adults in the neighbourhood. A fieldworker from CHAD-ET
commented:
12
In the argot of street children, kifela refers to the act of begging around for money.
22
“Children playing around late at night are a common sight in the area. Strangers
may find this to be surprising. Normally, other children (whose mothers are not
prostitutes) are safe and asleep in their homes at this time of night.”
Children from Unstable/Broken Homes
Besides physical necessities, children want their parents to meet their emotional and psychological
needs. Unfortunately, however, too many families fail to fulfil this fundamental human need for their
children. As a result, countless children live in a home environment where they are not given love,
affection, and sense of security. As the evidence shows, such denial will sooner or later act as an
exposing factor to child sexual abuse and exploitation.
According to the research findings, unstable homes are characterized by marital disharmony, alcohol
abuse by either parent or both, or abusive behaviour towards family members. Broken homes refer to
single parent families headed by father or mother alone because of divorce or decease. Such problems
make it difficult for children to feel secure in the home. The pressures may even be so severe that
they force the children to leave home. However, this may only expose the children to extreme risk
processes. Eventually, the children are likely to face the risk of becoming sexually abused and
exploited.
The foregoing is substantiated by the information obtained from IFSO.13 This is an NGO working on the
prevention of child sexual abuse and the rehabilitation of sexually abused children. The findings of the
NGO indicate that the vast majority of sexually abused children reported to have come from poor
families, broken homes, families affected by serious marital disharmony, and where one parent or
both are alcoholic and/or abusive. According to the statistical data from the same source, out of the
210 cases of child sexual abuse, only 76 (36.2%) lived with both parents. The remaining 134 (63.8%)
were orphans or semi-orphans, lived with divorced parents, or were trafficked or migrant children. It
can, therefore, be concluded that when children become insecure because of family disharmony,
instability and breakdown, vulnerability to sexual abuse and exploitation is a likely outcome. The
following two cases bear out the forgoing.
Tihun Getachew, age16, shared the following:
“My father was alcoholic. He drank so heavily that he spent the income he
earned as a daily labourer on liquor. When he ran short of money to pay for
drinks, he forced my sisters to give him what they had earned by doing small
jobs. Not able to cope, my mother, not alive now, also started to drink. Both of
our parents being alcoholic, they stopped caring about us. As a result, my three
elder sisters had to fend for themselves by doing domestic and similar work. For
the same reason, I left home and ultimately became prostitute.”
Dagne Aizo, a boy of age 12, is left vulnerable by an alcoholic and abusive father. He relates:
“My father came home drunk and late almost every day. In that mood, I was not
comfortable to be around. I also suffered severe beatings in his hands, besides
other forms of mistreatment. He even did not spare any small amount of money
13
Obtained from a group interview held with the General Manger, Deputy Manager, and expert of IFSO.
23
I had to spend on his habit. One day, I found my wooden coin box broken and
empty of the money I had deposited. The one who did it was my father.
Moreover, he took from me by force my weekly wage of Birr 5, only to squander
it on alcohol.”
Children from Child-Headed Families
The death of parents as a result of AIDS and other causes is leaving an increasing number of children
orphans. Older orphans are thus forced to take over the responsibility of caring for younger siblings.
Because of this, many children have to carry the burden of heading a family.
In this state, the children become vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation, among other risks. In a
bid to get the necessitates of life for themselves and their siblings, they are forced to engage in
various small jobs such as running errands, street vending, and domestic work. As the children do
these jobs, they run a high chance of being sexually abused. Furthermore, there is a possibility of them
directly entering into prostitution. They perceive the practice as a means of earning more money
without much effort. The case of Tihit Mamaw, age 17 and currently recovered, is interesting and
illustrative:
“I belong to a child-headed family of six orphans, including myself. Our eldest
sister took care of us. She supported us with the income she earned by making
and selling tea. As the second eldest child, I felt I had an obligation to contribute
to the support of our family. Hence, I was determined to pay a sacrifice. So I
decided to practice commercial sex when I was only 14. To make sure I could do
so with anonymity, I moved to Nazareth Town. For a time, I managed to visit my
siblings regularly. I also provided them with cash from my earnings.”
Migrant/Trafficked Children
Studies indicate that child girls account for a large portion of the migrant population that continues to
flock from the rural areas to Addis Ababa. Besides, multitudes are trafficked to the capital by bus and
truck drivers, brokers and relatives who reside in Addis Ababa. In addition, children are trafficked from
rural communities by sex workers who migrated to Addis Ababa earlier and return to their home
village on holidays.
Once they arrive at their destination, their dreams and expectations of a better life fail to be realized.
Contrary to their hopes or the promises made by their traffickers, the city offers them little more than
small jobs like domestic service and daily labour. In turn, such types of work often expose the children
to labour and sexual exploitation. It is reported that domestic work in particular makes the children
vulnerable to sexual abuse. Most of the time, the perpetrators are said to be household heads
(husbands), older children in the family, visitors and neighbours. According to a study report
commissioned by Forum on Street Children-Ethiopia (FSC-E) in 2008, a significant number of migrant
children in their early teens work as domestics all around the city. Besides being exploited as child
labourers, these children suffer sexual abuse beyond the notice of the general public. After
experiencing sexual abuse, it is believed that many of these children enter into prostitution. The case
of Haimanot Mebratu, age 14 and orphan migrant from Gonder is typical. She narrates:
24
“I was persuaded to migrate to Addis Ababa by a female peer. I accepted what
she told me about the good things we could get in Addis Ababa. I grew up
hearing exciting stories about this city. So I had always wished to move to this
place. Upon arrival a certain lady directed me to a broker’s house. The broker
got me hired as a worker at a small hotel. After two months, I changed work to
become a dishwasher at a restaurant. Upon the suggestion of a fellow worker, I
left the restaurant to enter into sex work.”
Nonetheless, domestic work is not the only stepping stone to prostitution for rural migrant children. A
large number are picked up by brokers as they arrive at the bus terminal. Then they are delivered to
business owning ladies who hire the children to serve drinks at their brothels. It is reported that in too
many instances, the brothel owners get the children sexually abused by their customers to facilitate
their entry into prostitution.
The fate of trafficked children is no different. Still, the number of new arrivals through child trafficking
is said to be on the rise. The statistical data obtained from FSC-E substantiates this trend. The data
comes from the NGO’s Preventative and Support Program against Child Trafficking, a unit based at the
main bus terminal. The statistics obtained is disaggregated by year and sex. According to this source,
the number of trafficked children increased from 213 in 2004 to 972 in 2008.
Table 4: Number of Trafficked children by year and sex, 2004 – 2008
Year
Sex
Male
Female
2004
49
164
2005
79
332
2006
378
547
2007
230
464
2008
344
628
2008
344
628
Total
1’080
2’135
Total
213
411
925
694
972
972
3’215
Source: Child Trafficking Unite, FSC-E
It is alleged that community residents in the Addis Ketema area who come from rural villages exploit
their kinship ties to traffic rural children to Addis Ababa. To this end, they persuade their relatives in
rural communities to send them over their children. They promise their parents that they will raise the
children and give them education. As it often turns out, the relatives instead make the children work
as bar girls or get them to do bed renting. These kinds of work generally expose the children to sexual
abuse and later to commercial sex.
Street Children
Street children are faced with the risks of sexual violence committed by various perpetrators, not least
by fellow street boys. The interview conducted with the representatives of Forum on Street ChildrenEthiopia (FSC-E) underscores the same point. Older street children, some of them members of criminal
gangs, target younger peers who may be girls or boys. Especially, newly arriving homeless and
inexperienced migrant children become easy targets of sexual attack by senior and violent street boys.
Such violent behaviour is aggravated by substance abuse, under the influence of which the predator’s
gang rape their victims. The circumstances in which street children sleep together are the other
factors that cause them to practice group sex and sodomy in their ranks. Normally, street children
25
sleep in groups on verandas, sidewalks, in street corners and tunnels under bridges. In order to stay
warm, among other reasons, they mostly sleep close together. Alcohol and substance abuse is
common as well among the group as a characteristic of street life. In these conditions, many are
driven to sexually abuse and rape fellow street children.
Furthermore, street children are sexually abused by sugar daddies, drunken people, passersby, and
gangsters. Most often, the abusers find their prey through deception and trickery. They exploit their
poverty and desperation by offering or promising them financial and material gifts. Richer and older
men, referred to as sugar daddies, are particularly said to use such tactics to get the children into their
hands. In this way, they manage to drive the children away with them to a destination where they
abuse them sexually. The desire to find a place of stay for the night is another factor that causes street
children to become vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation. As a result, they negotiate sex for
free or at small payments.
Children Living in a State of Loose Family Control
In the opinion of parent informants, constant family attention and follow-up are essential to ensuring
the well-being of children in the face of adversities. On the contrary, loose family control can have an
adverse impact on the prospects of children, as the case of a currently sexually exploited 14 year old
girl illustrates. She reports:
“I was raised by my aunt who did not care to control the way I behaved. She
ignored the mistakes I made. She let me go out with my friends and did not
supervise where I stayed and when I got back. There were times when I spent
the night outside without her permission. As for her own children, she kept
checking whether they went to school and did things the way she wanted.
Looking back, I think my upbringing is responsible for my present situation as a
child prostitute.”
Figure 2: Risks and vulnerabilities to sexual abuse/exploitation in Merkato
26
4. Factors Averting Risks of Sexual
Abuse/Exploitation
Despite the presence of common risks in Merkato in general, and the specific challenges in their
immediate environments in particular, a number of children managed to avoid/evade risks, while
others further triumphed in their lives. In order to understand the reasons behind such child resilience
cases, the interview results of 31 children and young people are analyzed in this section. Eight of the
31 informants are from the age group 10-13, nine from 14-17, and 14 from 18-24. Comparatively,
more samples were taken from the upper age groups in order to increase diversity and bring depth to
the study.
The 31 informants are considered vulnerable based on the attributes discussed in part 2 and 3 above.
Of the total 31, 27 informants reported to be poor; 21 lost one or both parents; and seven were
migrants from the countryside. All lived in neighbourhoods where commercial sex was practiced,
pornographic films were screened, alcoholic beverages were consumed, and drugs (e.g., khat and
shisha) were used. Some even lived with family members and/or friends who were engaged in such
activities for a living. Some experienced enticement, intimidation, and/or other forms of sexual
advance. In spite of such odds, all remained resilient because of a combination of factors discussed
under 4.2 below.
Daily Routines of the Non-Abused
The category named 'vulnerable and non-abused' consists of students (non-formal, primary,
secondary, and tertiary education levels), bed renters, street vendors/peddlers, maids, college
graduates, salaried workers, and children neither working nor studying. Some informants engaged in
different activities, while others combined work and schooling. Due to the nature of their works that
require travelling and interaction with other people, bed renters, street peddlers, and some salaried
workers seemed to be more exposed to sexual assault than others. Comparatively, the risks for the
maids, regular students, and home-bound children appeared lower, as they spend most of their time
in safe places, namely, home and school. In this section, two illustrative accounts are presented to
shed light on the relationship between daily routines and resilience to sexual abuse/exploitation.
Alem Behailu (11) is an orphan who lived alone in a neighbourhood where prostitution is widely
practiced; alcohol and certain drugs were openly used; and pornographic videos are screened. Alem
spent her time attending non-formal education, staying at home, and visiting her friends. Her daily
routine does not show engagement in activities that could have exposed her to danger:
“I always attend classes [non-formal education] in the morning. Sometimes, I
attend the 3:00 pm program. Yesterday, I woke up in the morning, washed my
face, prepared and ate my breakfast, and then I washed my clothes. Then, I
cleaned my room and chatted outside with friends from the neighbourhood. In
the afternoons, I often go to my old neighbourhood. There is a woman [her late
mother's friend] who gives me food. I have friends there. After their school time,
I play with them and return home. Since they invite me to eat and drink with
them, I go there. Sometimes, they give me money. These friends of mine were
27
here the day before yesterday. One of them brought me Birr 2. They are
students. One of them, with the permission of her parents, sometimes comes
here to stay the night with me. She brings dinner for both of us from her home.
When my friend comes, I like to sleep in my house. In the past, I used to sleep at
the house of a neighbouring woman. When I slept here alone, I experienced
nightmares.”
Abebech Dana (13), an orphan, lived with her grandmother in a neighbourhood known for sexual
abuse against girls and boys. She was a student who supported her grandmother in street peddling.
Despite the risks involved in street peddling, the way Abebech's time and work were scheduled and
the way she associated with people helped her avoid the risks:
“Yesterday morning, I went to school. In the afternoon, I studied a little and
went to the market to sell injera. At night, we had dinner and studied a little
again, and went to bed. Today, after breakfast, I went to school and sat for
several exams - there were four tests. I did not do much in the afternoon. We
cancelled our plan to go to the market to sell injera because of the appointment
with you [the researcher].I help my grandmother by selling injera in the market.
I do this in the afternoon. In the morning or late in the afternoon, I buy firewood
for baking the injera and carry the bundles home. I used to help my sister sell
qolo [roasted grain]. Selling injera requires going to the market everyday in the
late afternoon. My grandmother advises me all the time about the dangers
awaiting girls. Since I behave very well, she is not strict on me. I do not go out
with people [boys/men]. I have no boyfriend, and I do not want one. I am young
and I will have time for everything in the future. I do not even have close friends
to hang out with. I do not like the behaviour of my age-mates in the school and
in the neighbourhood; they want to have boyfriends and go to unnecessary
places. I prefer going to the church. On Tuesdays, I participate in the choir and
on Sundays we learn God's words. They also teach us to be careful. In the school,
I participate in the Girls Club, where we learn about sexual abuse, early
marriage, forced marriage, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted
diseases.”
Perspectives of Children and Young People
Loving and supportive family
Informants noted that loving and caring relationships and the provision of material and emotional
support bring a sense of belongingness and security.14 Some children pointed to certain family
members as inspirational for providing thoughtful advice or for serving as role models. While some
recognized the role of their fathers and siblings as crucial in forming their personality, most
informants mentioned mothers and grandmothers as the main sources of support and guidance.15
Family support takes different forms. Some children noted that guidance or encouragement gave
14
Of the 31 informants, 23 claim to have come from loving and supportive families. Although the sample is not statistically representative,
the strong correlation between resilience and favourable family environments could not be reduced to accidental occurrence.
15
It appears that many children in Merkato are raised by single mothers.
28
them a sense of direction. In other words, the early parental advice/instruction remained vivid in the
memories of many children and served as guidance. Abdela Jemal, an orphan who lost both parents,
remembered that his mother not only loved him, but also advised him on how to get along with other
kids and avoid trouble. Alem Behailu, another orphan, mentioned that her mother told her to be
careful in choosing friends, to be serious when boys and men approach her, and to work hard to live a
dignified life. Lula Cheneke, who is from a very poor family, always maintained an optimistic view of
life, a quality that he claims to have inherited from his mother and grandmother.
It is also important to state the role of parents in promoting learning motivation. Maritu recounted
that her late parents inspired her to excel in education as a means to get out of difficult situations.
Tseday (a girl with physical disability) remembered her mother's advice that she could be as efficient
or proficient as able-bodied people if she worked hard in her studies. Children and young people with
high learning motivations spent their time reading books, and this contributed to their intellectual and
moral development, which in turn contributed to their resilience.
Some parents sacrificed personal interests for the sake of their children. When their respective
husbands passed away, Dejene's and Iyayu's mothers dropped out of school and decided not to get
remarried to ensure the welfare of their children. Selamawit Fikre recognized the positive contribution
of her family members, particularly her brother, to her success as follows.
“My father was a merchant. He died when I was in grade 1. That was a test of
life for the entire family. My mother faced difficulty in raising us. One of my
brothers completed medicine with difficulty. I am the youngest in the family, and
the problem was worse for me. Around the age of 11 and 12, I was on the street
selling boiled maize. At that time, my brother had already graduated from the
university and was working somewhere in the south. He learned that I was
selling boiled corn on the street when he came home for vacation. He felt very
sorry about it and promised to send some money to the family so that I could
concentrate on my studies. He pulled me out of a very dangerous situation. In
Merkato, it is hard to find role models to inspire you. But I have found so many
of them from the books that I have been reading. Through reading, I learned
what people are capable of doing. I rediscovered myself from the books. My
brother is also my role model. [He] followed my father's advice [to read books]
and excelled in education. I also wanted, and still want, to be smart like my
brother. He has been my role model. Thanks to my father's efforts and my
brothers' determination, I began to read books earlier than many of my agemates. Two of my brothers played important roles in getting me into the reading
habit. They used to choose and bring different books for me. The reading habit
contributed immensely to my personality and success in education.”
It is equally important to note that some children exhibited resilience despite the absence of love and
support in their families. Dagne Aizo, a migrant from Arbaminch, lived with a violent and physically
abusive father. His mother deserted them because of his father's behaviour. Thanks to a barber who
offered to help, Dagne was safe and continued with his education. Imnet Ahmed, a migrant from
Harar, was on ill terms with her father, who was very controlling and physically abusive. She moved to
Addis Ababa with a young baby born out of wedlock. Despite her desperate economic situation, Imnet
preferred bed renting for sex work. Loving and caring environments were disrupted rendering some
29
children utterly vulnerable. Due to parental death, Hilina Giday and Dejene Esatu moved from loving
and supportive family environment to one that was quite difficult to bear. In spite of the setbacks,
both children managed to remain resilient, partly drawing on the earlier advice of their deceased and
other protective strategies.
Peer influence
Most people want to be connected with others, and thus choose friends who accept them and whom
they also accept. Children like to be with their peers, and peers tend to influence each other's
attitudes, interests, and actions. Peer influence could be positive or negative. Although some
informants avoided association with peers due to perceived negative pressure, the majority reported
to have benefited from healthy peer relationships. Peer pressure motivated some to succeed or
encouraged them to embrace appropriate social behaviour. The experiences/advice of peers helped
some to deal with practical problems. Tseday Deme (19, orphan, migrant, and poor) reported to have
developed a sense of purpose and future thanks to her friends who served as role models and sources
of inspiration. She had goal orientation, educational aspiration, and hope in a bright future. Tseday
described the role of peer influence in her educational pursuit as follows:
“The positive influence of good friends has been helpful in directing my daily
routine along the right line and keeping me focused. I was closely associated
with school friends. I observed that these friends of mine, who had families to
provide them with what they needed, were purposeful and determined to
achieve big results in their education. Their desire to achieve something for
themselves had a powerful positive impact on me. Their example [exemplar
efforts] motivated me to imitate their behaviour and adopt a similar pattern of
thinking regarding my performance in school and future plans. I devoted a large
portion of my time to attending school, studying at the library and going to the
church.”
Many children displayed the ability to locate protective resources (knowledge, experiences, materials,
etc.) at the disposal of peers and other friends. They sought and effectively secured such resources to
deal with challenges that they encountered. Sara (17) lived in a house often rented to strangers and
prostitutes. She explained how her best friend (AZ, a former prostitute) prevented her from becoming
a prostitute:
“On the street and in the neighbourhood, it is common to be bothered by men.
When this happens, first I tell her [AZ, her friend], 'This guy said this, so what
shall I do about it?' She advised me to be serious. I am closer to her than my
family. Since we are age-mates, there is nothing that we hide from each other.
The relationship I have with [AZ] prevented me from becoming a commercial sex
worker. She [AZ] was not like this [before she became a prostitute]. She had a
good body [healthy and fit]. She did not want to join [commercial sex]. I talked
to her [about prostitution]. She did not have a good feeling about it. Thank God
she is out of it. I learnt [about the bad side of prostitution] from her and others.”
In some cases, the opinions of the child's peers seemed to carry more weight than those of parents
and siblings. This is mainly because, according to the informants, peers tend to understand the
dreams and concerns of each other more than parents and relatives could possibly appreciate. Fatima
30
Solana (18), who prefers to handle problems on her own whenever possible, noted that she shares her
concerns with her friends rather than with family members. She stated:
“In Merkato, men are the main problems of women. They would insult you.
Some want to fight. Generally, Merkato is a very difficult place for women. From
your house to the shop, you would encounter many things. One would stop you
or grab your arm. When you treat them peacefully, some get angry. Usually I
prefer to be silent, think about what happened, why it happened, how it
happened, and if there is anything I could do about it. When there is a problem, I
would tell my friends. I wouldn't talk to my family. I do not tell my brothers and
sisters, who are very close to me. I think that the problem will get worse if I tell
them. What they may suggest as a solution may not be acceptable to me.
Therefore, it is better to discuss with friends who are equal to you.”
Personal qualities/strategies
Most children and young people in Merkato (particularly the girls) were aware of the high risks of
sexual abuse/exploitation. Hence, they had to pursue different strategies to protect themselves
against sex offenders. Hilina Giday (14), who was responsible for renting her uncle's 11 rooms every
single day, sometimes stayed late on the street waiting for customers looking for rooms. She heard
that girls engaged in the bed renting business were sexually attacked at night. One of the problems
she repeatedly encountered was the customers' demand and pressure to sleep with her. Hilina had
what resilience researchers call 'critical consciousness' to understand the threat around her and
devise a strategy to overcome it. Moreover, she also had educational aspirations and achievement
motivation. She narrated her encounters and her strategies as follows:16
“I leave the house to look for customers at 7:00 pm and wait outside until all
rooms are taken. Sometimes, it could be over by 8:00 p.m. Sometimes, I may
have to stay up until 4:00 am. One of the problems I encountered was
customers' request to sleep with me. I refused. I kept quiet even when they
insulted me. There were some who tried to entice and trick me. For example,
they would say, "Baby, come. I will do whatever you want; I will give you Birr 50,
which I wouldn't offer to prostitutes; let me do anything you like to sleep with
you; come, it will not take a minute and your family would never know."
However, I [always] said no. When they asked me to sleep with them, [I replied],
"If you want a woman, I can bring you a prostitute." I heard that most girls are
attacked late at night, when it is dark. I stayed on the street only when there is
light. What I want is education. If I study well, I know that I will succeed through
education.”
Many girls (e.g., Bizunesh, Senbet, Wongelawit, Hilina, and Kasanesh) reported to have evaded risks of
sexual abuse/exploitation through self-imposed restrictions on physical movement, dress style, and
entertainment.17 Since certain corners of Merkato at certain times are considered to be dangerous,
the girls reported to be taking precautionary measures such as travelling in groups and taking
alternative routes. Some girls reported to have refrained from wearing short and thin dresses which
16
17
According to the study, Hilina's story represents a typical challenge that most children working at night faced.
For leisure, these girls seem to spend time with family, play with friends, sleep, read novels, write, paint, and take walks with friends.
31
are believed to be sexually provocative. There is a growing realization on the part of many people that
alcohol, drugs, and videos (especially pornographic films) have been used to perpetrate sexual acts
against unsuspecting children. Hence, many young girls reported to be conscious of these traps. Yodit
Bentew (12) was a student living with her mother and siblings. The economy of the family was based
on selling boiled grain on the streets of Merkato, and Yodit had to take part after school hours. Her
strategy to avoid an unexpected tragedy was to go to safe places, deal with dependable customers,
and return home before it gets late. She said:
“Now, I am 12… I am a student of grade 8. My family makes a living by selling
nifro [boiled grain]… I sell nifro. I do not know when I started it, some two or
three years ago, I guess. I work after school. My mother, my sister, and I sell in
different places from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm or 9:30 pm. Then, we gather where my
mother would stay. All of us have customers, not so far from each other. I sell
near Amede [a place], in a house where draft beer is sold. The owner is a very
nice man. He advises me to know myself and avoid bad things. In that house, the
customers are government officials and people with lots of money. I do not think
people who want something else [sex] would go there.”
A good number of children and young people displayed the ability to act independently and make
their environment as safe and productive as possible. The common language used by the majority was
'keeping oneself busy' with a determination to achieve certain goals. 13 year old Hanko Tilaye stated,
"I keep myself busy by doing homework, playing with friends, or sleeping." Dejene noted, "Keeping
myself busy as a parking attendant, electrician and student has benefited me a lot. I simply do not
have the time to think about engaging in harmful practices. My fellow children who are idle have to do
these things to keep themselves occupied." Fatima, in an elaborate remark on this issue, said:
“One can be protected [against sexual abuse]. Do you know how? First, you
convince yourself. You must have a goal. When you have a goal, you would
strive to achieve that goal than pay attention to other things. But if you are
purposeless, you will be paying attention to what your friends did, what
happened in the society, and then you ask yourself, 'How about me?' A friend
would come and tell you what she did with her [boy] friend, and you get jealous.
If you have a purpose, you wouldn't care about such talk. The reason I have not
been exposed to sexual abuse is that I kept myself busy. The other source of my
strength is my love of reading. There are things that you learn by reading. Each
book has its own story and a message behind it. Knowledge is acquired by
discovering that message.”
Street peddlers, bed renters, and commercial sex workers constitute the majority of prey to potential
sex predators. These groups, therefore, often cooperated to protect each other against offenders.
They also operated in close collaboration with the owners of the rental rooms,18 who were expected
to come to their rescue or call the police when they are in trouble with men. From this, it is apparent
that the resilient children possessed problem-solving skills that involved networking or mutual
cooperation against common threats.
18
Some owners are reported to place pressure on the girls to accept the demands of some customers.
32
Religious affiliation and faith
Spirituality seems to serve as an environment that fosters child resilience to adversity. Many of the
informants seemed to follow some kind of religious guidance and frequented places of worship, while
others, including those who rarely visited religious places, mentioned God as the ultimate protector
against sexual predators. For the strictly religious adherents, the notion of sexuality is something
surrounded by fear, taboo, prejudice, shame, and discomfort.
Many informants reported having participated in the Sunday schools of the Orthodox and Protestant
Churches. Lula stated:
"From childhood, I have developed a fear of God, which has been nurtured and
strengthened by constant church attendance and Bible reading. Out of devotion
and keen interest to know about other Christian faiths, I discuss the words of
God with friends who are Protestants."
Dejene, another informant, noted:
"In my belief, religious devotion is a powerful means of protecting children
against risks. When attending the church service, children are exposed to
spiritual instruction and council that exerts a positive influence on their thought
and action. I can testify about this from my own experience."
Tseday noted:
"The church also has a role to play in shaping a person’s spiritual life. Usually, I
go to Saint Michael's Church where I listen to spiritual instruction and gain
knowledge that helps me to lead my life in the right way."
Benjamin stated:
"I was participating in the church. I learnt a lot about life, God's words, and
things that are expected of any Christian. I joined Sunday school and studied
ethics and church secrets, for which I was awarded a certificate."
Kasu Merid, whose story is narrated under 4.2.5 below noted:
“When I encounter a problem beyond my control, my first reaction is weeping. I
believe that God brings challenges to test my strength. Whatever happens, no
matter how bad, it could be for good. I believe that my destiny is ahead of me,
not behind me. So, I do not want the past to destroy my future. I am positive
about life. Even when something goes wrong, I think that it is for good. If you
are patient and if you do not give in, the bad times will pass and the good days
will come. When I have time, I go to the church to pray and listen to God's
words. By doing so, I learn about good behaviour and good manners. I also save
myself from spending time in unnecessary places that could later hurt me.”
Religious prohibitions of alcohol, drugs and prostitution and strong cultural values associated with
such prohibitions serve as protective factors. Alcohol is forbidden to the followers of Islam and
Protestant Christianity. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which is rather silent on drinking, prohibits
33
the use of stimulants such as khat and shisha, which are widely used by Muslims. According to
informants, the use of alcohol and drugs tend to make children vulnerable to sexual
abuse/exploitation. Religiosity was recognized to have helped many children avoid alcohol and
substance abuse thereby minimizing such risks. Prostitution is associated with immorality, disease,
and shame; and the prevalence of such perceptions in the family, in the neighbourhood, and in
religious institutions have had protective effects.
External support
The protective qualities and strategies of resilient children were enhanced by supports obtained from
external sources that children and young people managed to secure. In this regard, the contributions
of NGOs, church organizations, and individuals were mentioned. Hanko, Benjamin, Dejene, Tseday,
Woynareg, and Maritu explained how the support of CHAD-ET helped them pursue their lives and
goals. Dejene said, "In the worst of cases, I turn to CHAD-ET officials for assistance and counselling.
They usually provided me with the necessary help. They suggested solutions, advised me on how to
cope, what to do or where to go for further assistance." Maritu Wale, an orphan and now a university
student, reported how CHAD-ET assistance helped her and her brother as follows:
“[We] survived on the monthly financial support of Birr 100 and provisions in the
form of grain and edible oil from CHAD-ET. Since I have joined Haramaya
University, our neighbours who live next door and who were close to our parents
are assisting in facilitating things for my brother and me. They take care of my
brother by receiving the financial and material support from CHAD-ET and
making sure that his needs are fulfilled and that he attends school regularly. In
addition, they also send me money to Haramaya from the financial assistance
provided [by adding] to it a little of their own. They are such caring neighbours
to my brother; they give him the support and follow-up needed to relieve me of
worry and concern about his well-being, [so that I can] concentrate on my
studies with undivided attention.”
Some children and young people secured highly needed protective support from other people. Kasu
Merid (17) started to live on the street due to a disagreement with his brother, who brought him from
the countryside at the age of 10. He could have been assaulted and his dreams for educational
attainment would have been shattered had it not been for the critical assistance he obtained from
some people. He said:
“The first three days [after leaving his brother's house], I was on the street in the
rain without any food and any clothing. On the third day, my brother's sister-inlaw saw me on the street at night, when she was going home from a small khat
shop that she owned. The next day, she gave me a copy of the key to her khat
shop and told me to sneak in the shop every night to sleep. She trusted me with
all her property in the shop. We kept the secret that I was sleeping in the khat
shop for a long time. After leaving my brother's home, I continued with my
education with much greater determination. While I was in the khat shop, my
brother's sister-in-law gave birth. One day, I went to her residence to visit her.
On that day, she had an argument and a fight with her husband, who became
violent and caused her finger to bleed while trying to pull out a gold ring. I
confronted him physically, in her rescue. Because of this, he asked me to vacate
34
the khat shop. Once again, I had no place to sleep and went back to the street
for the second time. This time, I started to sleep in the school classroom without
the knowledge of teachers and the school guards. Later on, however, the
teachers and the guards knew that I was sleeping in the classroom. The guards
allowed me to sleep there without any worry. A Physical Education teacher gave
me his office key to sleep there. The main problem was finding food to eat.
There was one female teacher, who sometimes brought me dinner to school at
night. The timing was very critical because I was kicked out of the khat shop
when the time for the 8th grade national examination was approaching. The
good news was that I continued with my education until the exam week, sat for
the exam, scored a high average, and successfully passed to the 9th grade. Next
to God, there were some important individuals who helped me get through the
difficult time. Their helping hands extended my hopes and got me to where I am
now.”
Workalem learnt during her teens that she is an adopted child. When the son of her adopters made
repeated sexual advances against her will, Werkalem decided to move out and live with a friend. She
stated:
“I do not know where I was born. Since they raised me, I consider them relatives.
The reason why I left the house had to do with a heavy workload, the decrease
in my school results, and the pressure from her [the adoptive mother's] son. He
used to come to the place where I slept and take off the blanket. After this
happened three or four times, I left the house, as I thought that he might
destroy my life. I knew my friend with whom I now live. I started to live with her
when she said, "I am living alone, we can live together." [Now] I am not exposed
to sexual attack.”
Clubs at schools
Schools provided learning opportunities not only through curricular instruction and library facilities
but also through the establishment of different clubs. Many informants reported having learnt how to
protect themselves against sexual offenders by joining HIV/AIDS clubs and/or girls clubs. Sara
Gebremichael (17) recounted:
"I worked in a girls’ club, I am a participant [of the club]. What I learnt there was
very useful for self-protection. What I learnt include the reasons why people get
into such problems [sexual abuse/exploitation], details about the development
of human organs, mate selection, and many others."
Woinareg (15) stated that she learnt about self-protection from CHAD-ET's counselling programs
offered every Saturday. She also learnt about reproductive organs and sexuality as a member of the
girls’ club at her school. Other girls, such as Abebech, Yodit, and Kasanesh learnt about sexual abuse,
early marriage, forced marriage, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases at school.
Some schools have mini-media through which students are given advice of various kinds or are
informed about, among others, certain precautionary measures. Few informants also indicated that
the mass media helped them learn about the risks of sexual abuse and exploitation and the strategies
to avoid them. According to Dejene Esatu, for example:
35
"Listening to the radio and reading newspapers are among the good habits that
have proved to be protective. Through these media, I have been able to keep
myself informed about factors that can expose children to dangerous behaviour
and its consequences. As a result, I have learned to be cautious and watchful of
anything that can pose a threat or put me at risk."
General precaution
Some children developed protective habits/qualities without knowing the existence of risks of sexual
abuse/exploitation. All grown up boys included in the sample noted that as children they were
unaware of risks of male sexual abuse. The 13 year old Hanko Tilaye did not know about the sexual
abuse of boys during the research time. He avoided the risks by taking precautionary measures for
other worries. He noted:
“Theft is a major problem in our neighbourhood. Houses are broken into and
property stolen. The gangsters rob children when they are sent to shops to buy
things. Walking alone is not safe for children and girls. We do not go out at
night. I heard that girls are sexually abused in other neighbourhoods.
Sometimes, those coming from the countryside are sexually abused by people
who promise to find them jobs. I never heard about boys being abused. I never
thought that there was a risk of being sexually abused because I did not know
that something like that existed.”
Perspectives of Parents, Community Figures and NGO Representatives
Perspective of parents
All parents interviewed for the present study agreed that personality development of children starts in
the family environment. However, whatever behavioural traits acquired in the family may be shaped
and reshaped when the child walks into the outside world. Most recognized that because of poverty
and tremendous challenges outside of the family, parenting has become a difficult task. All parents
involved in the study were extremely bitter about the leniency of authorities towards
alcohol/drug/substance abuse among the youth, the wide distribution and display of obscene
materials (uncensored pornographic films), suspected sex offenders, organized urban gangsters, and
human traffickers. A strict measure against these challenges is believed to reduce incidences of sexual
abuse/exploitation significantly.
On the issue of parenting, different parents raised different views and concerns. Some stressed that,
despite the presence of external challenges, parents could still do better to protect their children. The
following comment by Iyayu's mother touches on issues raised by many parents:
“A wheat seed dies to bring life to another seed. Parents should sacrifice to save
their children. There are things beyond our control. For example, we cannot
control the movement of drugs and the kinds of videos shown in video houses.
However, we can advise our children; give them love and all the assistance they
need; make them our priorities. Physical punishment or scolding does not work.
It makes them liars and secretive. If you want your children to open up, you
should be the role model. The problem is that there are many children without
36
an adult figure in the family. There are migrants. Such children need NGOs or
government assistance.”
For parents whose children were sexually abused or exploited, the ordeals were unexpected and
dramatic or complex and uncontrollable. A father whose son was raped by a man said:
"My son’s experience is hard to believe and imagine. No one would have
conceived that he would have been subjected to such a cruel and immoral act.
Otherwise, I would have taken every possible measure to prevent [it]."
According to a mother of another victim (a boy):
"I believe that I am raising my children with the utmost care and attention. It is
only one, of my five children, who became a victim. It never occurred to me that
such a thing would befall him."
Both parents became vigilant after the devastating incidents that they had never expected to happen.
A mother of two female commercial sex workers and one street boy explained how difficult it was for
her to command respect from, and discipline, her children. The fact that she was poor and a prostitute
made it much more difficult for her to protect them. She reported:
“I have taken serious measures to prevent the girls from becoming prostitutes
and the boy from living on the street. I tried to advise them over and over again.
It did not work. I scolded them. It did not work. I used physical punishment. That
never worked, either. There was nothing that I did not try to save my children
from danger. The problem is that I cannot command moral power to advise my
children on ethics and cultural values. They do not listen to me. They ask: who
are you to tell us what to do? My 14 year old daughter has attended counselling
programs. However, she did not stop commercial sex work.”
Another view came from a guardian of a migrant girl. The informant explained why she failed to stop
the girl from commercial sex. She noted:
"I tried to advise her to try jobs other than prostitution. But other jobs require a
guarantor and the HIV/ADIS test. She did not have a guarantor, and nor did she
want to take the HIV test. On the other hand, prostitution does not require any
condition."
Parents were asked to characterize the quality of resilient children or factors that helped children
remain resilient to sexual abuse/exploitation. According to lists obtained from different parents,
resilient children are those who care about themselves, have a purpose/goal, respect parents, listen to
adults, have a few good friends, frequent the church, read books, come from loving/supportive
families, love education, are patient and tolerant, have self-confidence, are raised in families that are
less controlling, have personal strength, are conscious and quick minded, have the courage to discuss
matters openly, are under close family supervision, are not poor, and are born lucky. Most parents
mentioned positive family roles, goal orientation of children, positive peer influence, learning
motivation, and religious affiliation as the key factors.
37
Perspectives of NGOs and community representatives
Community and NGO representatives were also asked about the characteristics of resilient children.
What they mentioned as protective factors were consistent with those outlined by children and
parents. Like the parents, many representatives of NGOs and communities complained about the lack
of political commitment and weaknesses in the legal system to clampdown on sex offenders; the
failure of the neighbourhoods to be vigilant; and the feeling of shame that discourages victims and
their families to report sex offenses. Many noted that the traditional protective mechanisms have
been eroded and that many community level institutions rarely addressed the problems of sexual
abuse and exploitation. A priest stated:
"I shall admit the fact that the church does not have a special program designed
to address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. We shall work on that front in
the future."
Regarding a solution, the community representatives maintained a unanimous view that all should
join hands to protect children. The comment of Paul sums up the views of most informants:
“Parents in Ethiopia do not share information with children. The usual tendency
is to scold and punish them rather than discuss with them openly and advise
them. Communities do not seem to worry much about sexual abuse/exploitation
taking place in the neighbourhoods. This has to change. People should not wait
to react until the problem knocks at their doors. Some religious institutions
encourage multiple marriages. Some discourage the use of condoms. If a poor
man has several wives and several children, you can imagine the difficulty
awaiting such families and children. So, religious institutions should teach that
those people who do not have the resources to raise their children properly
should not have many children. At school, there are teachers who think that
their responsibility is to read books for students. Teachers should play important
roles in positively influencing the behaviour of children.”
The informants also raised commendable initiatives/developments. On the positive side, they
recounted the establishment of new initiatives designed to provide protection to children. For
example, a Deputy Chairman of a community-based organization acknowledged that NGOs have
programs to support poor families, thereby reducing the vulnerability of children; schools have girls’
clubs and anti-AIDS clubs to fight, among others, sexual abuse/exploitation; and some idir
organizations contribute funds monthly to provide children from poor families with school uniforms
and supplies. This view was consistent with a comment of an NGO director, who stated that
government enactment of laws pertaining to child rights/protection, the sensitization activities of
girls' clubs, and the support provided by NGOs to individuals, families, and communities have been
helpful. Some of the informants representing NGOs indicated their current and/or planned projects
designed to address the issue of sexual abuse/exploitation.
Intra-Category Differences and Similarities
Informants between 10 and 24 years old were divided into three age groups (10-13; 14-17; and 18-24)
with anticipation that they might differ from each other in their experiences and capacities to deal
with risks of sexual abuse/exploitation. However, the study does not reveal unique features that
38
correspond to the three age groups. Instead, a number of differences and similarities between
younger children and grown-ups were observed. Regarding the similarities, almost all informants have
knowledge about sexual abuse/exploitation, although a few appeared not to know about sexual
attacks against boys. Most mentioned names of family members, relatives, friends, or fellow residents
recently or currently subjected to sexual abuse/exploitation. Second, the overwhelming majority of
children and young people in this category were not using addictive substances such as khat, shisha,
cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages. It is important to underline that these substances are believed to
increase vulnerability to sexual attack. Third, most of the informants mentioned the role of the family
or certain members of the family as having a protective effect. Some also recognized the help of
relatives, friends, teachers, and school clubs.
The study revealed age-based intra-category differences as well. First, the older groups (15+)
mentioned that the media, books, and the social environment (e.g., expectations of community,
religion, etc.) influenced their behaviour and/or broadened their horizons. The effects of the media,
reading, and social expectations were not felt by smaller children. Second, when asked to express
their aspirations, the smaller children mentioned professions that are highly valued in society and/or
those directly relevant to practical social problems that they witness (e.g., medical doctor). On the
contrary, the aspirations of the grown-ups were rather measured and realistic, and most of them
admitted to have changed their wishful thoughts as they grew up and discovered their limitations. For
example, Imnet Ahmed (19) reported abandoning her old dream of becoming a medical doctor in
favour of an achievable goal - becoming a merchant. In order to realize her new dream, Imnet
reported she is saving Birr 200 to 300 per month.
Third, regarding protection against sexual attack, the smaller children believed that they could avert
risks of sexual abuse by avoiding laughing, cuddling, and talking to boys/men. Hence, they appeared
overconfident and dismissive of possible future assault. Yodit Bantew (12) is one of the overconfident
girls engaged in street vending. She said:
"So far, I have not encountered anything. I do not send wrong signals [to men].
It all depends on how you behave. [The problem is] when you laugh/smile at
their provocative talk."
Maritu Birru (13) believed that cuddling and playing around with boys/men can expose girls to sexual
abuse, and she said she refrains from these acts to avoid the risk. Hilina Giday (14) stated that she
does not think she will encounter [sexual assault] in the future because she returns home on time and
refuses men's requests to sleep with her. The smaller children's idea of risk and protection seem to
have been shaped by the crude family instructions that they should protect themselves by keeping
distance from boys/men and the erroneous societal tendency to blame the victim.
The older groups on the other hand, believed that any woman can be attacked at anytime, and it
takes more than behavioural reservation to prevent sexual assault. Gezashgn Zeru (17) who serves tea
in a neighbourhood video screening room, stated:
"Although I did not conclude that it will happen, I ask myself that what if it
[rape] happens to me? I get scared. Working in a video room is difficult because
it is crowded with adolescents. I do not want to work here [video room] forever."
Imnet (19), noted:
39
"I experienced [rape] attempts in the past. I am worried that I could be attacked
in the future because of the nature of my work and the place I sleep at night.
The owner of the rental rooms [if offered money] could conspire with the
customers to get me into an abusive situation."
Selamawit Fikre (23), said:
"I might be attacked by someone, someday, and somewhere. Rapists are not
always strangers. They do not necessarily go for younger girls or single women. I
think all women face the risk."
40
5. Recovery from Sexual Exploitation
Reflections of Recovered Young Women
As indicated earlier, people want to belong to a community. The need for belongingness seems to
increase when one feels isolated, rejected, lonely, and distanced from familiar environments. As it
seems, vulnerability and desperation tend to force some children and young people to accept views
that they would otherwise reject or question under ordinary circumstance. In other words, out of
frustration, due to negative peer influence, for reasons beyond their control, and sometimes with
honourable intentions (e.g., to help family), some children engage in risky behaviour such as
commercial sex work. While some continue with their engagements in such risky behaviour, others
manage to pull themselves out of exploitative situations. This section examines the recovery of 10
young women from commercial sex work. Most informants reported that different factors impaired
their judgments about the risks involved in their activities. Poverty and family problems were
mentioned as the main reasons behind their decisions to become sex workers. Moreover, prior rape
experiences and negative peer influence activated their risk-taking potentials. The following discussion
focuses on factors that led to recovery, strategies employed, turning points, support obtained, and
relapse experiences/worries.
Motivation for recovery
Although they expected material betterment, none of the 10 informants liked sex work. All of them
considered it a shameful, degrading, and risky activity. Many soon realized the gap between their preentry expectations (e.g., material betterment, freedom, etc.) and the reality that awaited them on the
ground (e.g., abuse, exploitation, humiliation, isolation from loved ones, health risks, etc.). Therefore,
some of them thought of the idea of quitting rather early, though the actual process of recovery
demanded time for material, social, and psychological preparation. The underlying desire to quit
commercial sex work was the need to disengage oneself from an activity surrounded by social stigma,
health risks, and different forms of abuse/exploitation.
Some informants (such as Amenech, Azenegash, Saba, and Atsede) decided to quit sex work due to
certain health problems they had and/or major health risks they feared. As soon as she left home
because of poverty and disagreement in the family, Azenegash Fedlu's (15) friends (prostitutes)
rushed her into commercial sex work in less than 48 hours. Azenegash gave up this risky business after
one year and returned home when she was diagnosed with a kidney infection. She said:
"I left the business [sex work] because of sickness. When I went to the health
station, I was told that I had a kidney infection. Then, I decided to stop the
business and return home."
She believed that sexual intercourse exacerbates kidney wounds. The 18 year old Saba Garuma
became a sex worker out of economic desperation and lack of a place to stay following the death of
her mother. She decided to give up sex work due to health problems that made it difficult for her to
wait for customers on the street. Saba added that her current boyfriend's (former customer)
insistence to stop prostitution and live with him as partners partly influenced her decision. Atsede
Esatu (18), who came from Fiche town, north of Addis Ababa, in search of a job as a maid, started
commercial sex work after her employers refused to pay her salary for three months. Prostitutes living
41
in the neighbourhood encouraged her to join the business rather than work as a maid for free. She
quit due to sickness and fear of HIV/AIDS. As indicated in Section 2, Amenech (18), who started
domestic work for a living, was raped twice before she became a prostitute and once afterwards. She
quit the sex work when her health situation deteriorated due to HIV/AIDS. She stated:
"Now I stopped the business. It is not good for those with HIV. It makes one
weaker. I was told that sex is not good. I experienced pain after every sexual
intercourse: exhaustion, trouble with my knees, internal discomfort, and
headache."
Four informants (Tihit, Tigat, Tizita, and Aziza) reported quitting sexually exploitative situations due to
a lack of interest and worries about various risks. As discussed earlier, Tihit (17), started sex work at
the age of 14 to help her elder sister, who was responsible for raising five younger siblings upon the
death of their parents. Tihit was unhappy with sex work. After five months into the business, she
started to seriously think about the risks. One day, she thought of going to the Middle East to work as
a maid rather than staying in the risky activity. Tihit recounted:
“I was in the business for five months. Afterwards, I could not bear it…. There
were lots of problems. On the one hand, I did not want my brothers and sisters
to run hungry. On the other hand, I was worried of losing my life. I did not want
to die claiming that I was helping my family. At one moment, I thought of asking
my relatives to send me [cover the visa and transportation cost] to an Arab
country. I volunteered for an HIV/AIDS test with a plan to ask them to send me
to an Arab country if the result was negative, and remain a prostitute if it was
positive. When I took the test, you never know God's will, I was free [the result
was negative]. Luckily, I got the visa [to Dubai] within a month.”
Tigat Zerihun (18), who lost her father as a child, was sent to Addis Ababa (by her brother to work and
generate income) at the age of 6 or 7. After working as a dishwasher in a restaurant in Addis Ababa,
she returned to the countryside to live with her mother and uncle. However, she was re-sent to Addis
Ababa to live with her aunt. She could not live at her aunt's home, as she was on bad terms with her
cousins. Out of desperation and negative peer influence, Tigat joined the world of commercial sex,
which she hated and soon abandoned. Worries of HIV/AIDS infection and advice from another friend
(a former prostitute) highly influenced Tigat's decision to stop practicing commercial sex. Tigat stated:
"I started business when I was 15/16. While practicing it, I quarrelled with my
friend [who swayed her to sex work]. When you realize that the work is awful,
you complain. I complained to her, we quarrelled. Finally, I decided to stop. I had
no intention [to become a prostitute]. When friends push, you get into it, hoping
for better."
Tizita Ayalew (18), who had left home due to an argument with her brother following the death of her
mother, became a prostitute at the age of 17 out of desperation. She recovered after six or seven
months into the business. Customers' demands to have sex in unnatural styles and without condoms,
among others, discouraged her from pursuing the business. Aziza Kenedy (18), who came from the
countryside due to a minor argument with her father, started life in Addis Ababa as a dishwasher.
Three months later, she became a commercial sex worker. She got tired of it and abruptly quit after
two years in the business when she was offered a bed-renting job.
42
Hiwot Getamesay (20) who started sex work to help her brothers complete their studies, decided to
stop after accomplishing her mission. Although her family kicked her out because of her engagement
in the 'shameful activity,' she continued to send money to prevent her brothers from dropping out of
school due to poverty. The time they finished their studies coincided with three other developments
that facilitated her determination to quit. First, one of her best friends saved Birr 3000, disengaged
herself from sex work, and left for the Middle East to work as a maid. Before she left for the Middle
East, her friend arbitrated between Hiwot and her family to ensure their reunion. Second, two other
friends of Hiwot's (sex workers) suffered major injuries during fights with customers: one lost her eye
and the other sustained a broken tooth. Hiwot took this as a divine warning to her. Third, she was
accepted by CHAD-ET as a peer educator (for which she was paid Birr 75/moth), given skills training,
and hired as a staff member of the organization.
Strategies employed/steps taken
Two former sex workers (Aziza and Tizita) recovered without prior plan and preparation. This is
because they enjoyed opportunities and support that they never knew, received, or considered
important. Aziza disengaged herself from commercial sex work the day she was accepted by Naod, a
young man who has a small NGO dedicated to supporting the recovery of prostitutes. Likewise, Tizita
quit the day she got the bed-renting job.
For others (such as Tihit, Tigat, and Hiwot), however, the recovery experiences represented a well
thought-out and step-by-step process. Tihit's plans involved step-by-step actions: taking an HIV/AIDS
test to know if she was free of the virus; confronting her uncle about her sex work story head-on and
challenging him with a request to cover the cost of her trip to the Middle East; quitting sex work and
going abroad. The plan worked for her. Tigat needed five months from the day she decided to stop sex
work. This is because she did not have any alternative means of livelihood to fall back on. While
practicing sex for a living, she started to sell boiled potatoes. In the course of the five months, she
managed to secure dependable customers to buy her potatoes and other items. Then, she quit. Tigat
recounted:
“What you see after entering [commercial sex work] is not good. You could get
pregnant when the condom breaks, and then you would suffer more as a single
mother. I decided to quit and survive by selling qolo [roasted grain]. Thank God,
selling potatoes is good. I did not quit the business [sex work] immediately after
deciding to start this work [selling potatoes]. While selling potatoes, I was
practicing sex for money, as I had to pay house rent. Now, I stopped [the sex
work]. What else do you need, if you can pay house rent and fill your stomach?
In the past, my dream was to be a merchant, to sell things on the street. I
started to cook potatoes near the house I rented. It took some five months [to
quit sex work]. Quitting was very difficult. For the time being, you would think
about the money [needed to live]. It took five months because the potato
business, until people got used to it, did not have a market. Since there was
house rent and the cost of food [to be covered], it was necessary to stay [in
commercial sex business] until the [potato selling] business was established.”
Hiwot's strategy to get back home was also a step-by-step move. First, she started to visit her family
more frequently than ever before, in order to re-establish an emotional connection. Second, she sent
elders (arbitrators) from the neighbourhood and her friend to convince her family to let her return
43
home. Although the negotiation lasted for about six months, her efforts paid off in that the family
accepted her. Azenegash had difficulty in deciding to quit sex work. Originally, she left her family
partly due to poverty, which remained the same by the time she was considering quitting. She was
worried not only about the poor quality/quantity of food at home, but also about her addiction to
khat and cigarettes. Moreover, she had to make sure that her family was willing to accept her return
home. Her elder sister conveyed her message that she was sick and determined to quit sex work. The
family received her back. Later on, her parents asked her to take an HIV/AIDS test, and the result was
negative. Mekdelawit (14), who left home around the age of 9 due to an argument with her mother,
became a prostitute after a while. She quit the business when Naod accepted her in his temporary
shelter for recovering sex workers.
Turning points
Entry into commercial sex work and quitting the profession may be explained in terms of causal
factors and turning points that mark the transition from good-to-bad and bad-to-good. The 10
recovered former commercial sex workers shared their experiences about moments or events that
turned their lives around for better or worse. This section discusses specific moments that triggered
the descent of these young women into abusive/exploitative situations and those that motivated or
facilitated their recovery.
Starting sex work
The 10 young women lived in family environments with parents, siblings, and/or other close relatives.
The transition from a family environment to the world of sex work may be discussed at two levels: the
decision to leave home and that to become a prostitute. The study reveals that five of the 10
informants (Amenech, Aziza, Mekdelawit, Tigat, and Tizita) left their homes because of
disagreements/quarrels with family members. Although the individual stories are different, lack of
patience/understanding and failure to resolve family matters peacefully led to adverse situations.
Amenech's father asked her to leave when she tested positive for HIV/AIDS. Aziza regretted leaving
her family over a minor problem with her father, who behaved difficult when he got drunk.
Mekdelawit left home after a furious argument with her mother over an allegation by her teacher that
she was cuddling with boys in the school. Mekdelawit denied the allegation and left home out of fear
and anger. Tigat lived with very loving and caring aunt, but she decided to run away because of
disagreement with her cousins. Like with many others, the experience of Tizita reveals how frustration
built up over long period culminated in a decision that adversely affected her life. She explained how
she left home and started sex work as follows:
“I do not know my father. My mother raised me. She has a son from another
man. Now, my mother is not alive. I could not live in harmony with him [her
brother]. He got married in the house [that belonged to both]. We could not be
in harmony, we quarrelled often. When he started to beat me up, I eventually
got angry and left the house. Then, I had no place to pass the night. With some
money that I had, I found accommodation. When the money was finished, I
stayed a night on the street. Then, I started the business.”
Three informants (Azenegash, Hiwot, and Tihit) left their homes mainly due to economic reasons. As
discussed under 5.1.1 above, Hiwot and Tihit claim to have planned to take the risk and sacrifice to
support their siblings, while Azenegash abandoned her home without any clear plan. The remaining
two informants (Atsede and Saba) left their homes for different reasons. Atsede was sent by her
44
family to work in Addis Ababa (as a maid), while Saba was kicked out of a rental house when her
mother (the breadwinner) died.
Except for Hiwot and Tihit, the eight recovered young women did not leave their homes to engage in
sex work. The study shows that six (Atsede, Azenegash, Aziza, Tigat, Saba, and Tizita) had no intention
to become prostitutes. However, they were swayed into the profession and coached by friends,
neighbours, and acquaintances, who were themselves, prostitutes. After leaving their homes, it
appears, these young women got disoriented, frustrated, and sought advice from the wrong people.
Amenech started sex work because of heavy pressure from her employer and co-workers in a local
bar. Azenegash's experience, which could be considered typical, illustrates that entry into sex work is
rather fast and easy:
“I started business on my second day after leaving home. I started it at age 13
and stopped at 14. I got into it through my friends. They convinced me to work
with them. We stood on the street, with makeovers and wearing cosmetics. A
man approached me and asked how much I charge. I told him, 'Birr 20 for short
[one round] and 40 for all night.' The man agreed, and we went to a room. My
friends were looking out for me in case the guy tried to hurt me. In the room, he
asked me to drink some alcohol, and I declined. I told him that it was my first
time and the drink could make me sick. He tried to convince me. Then he
ordered beer to the room and we started drinking. I repeated that it [sex work]
was my first time. He was a good man. He gave me the money and allowed me
to go home. My friends were happy and I stood on the streets, waiting for more
business. Some other guy came along and I asked Birr 25 for short. He agreed
and asked to find a bed [room]. I took him to my neighbourhood. He paid for
short and for the bed. He wanted me to sleep with him again. I told him that he
needed to pay another Birr 25. I made Birr 90 and I was encouraged. Then we
went out into the street. One of our friends went for a short, but took a long
time. We all went to her room. There was some kind of dispute. We told the man
to go or we would beat him up. We all carried razor blades to use in case of
trouble. He went away and we went to Merkato Hotel, and started to drink
beer. [There] we all got customers and went out for overnight.”
Quitting sex work
Many informants noted that certain moments triggered their decision to abandon prostitution. Tihit,
who left home to practice prostitution in Nazareth to help her family, stopped sex work on the day
she was tested negative for HIV/AIDS. She noted, "I was disgusted by the business the moment I was
declared free [of the virus]. I stayed for one week [without engaging in sex work], during which my
friends covered my expenses. I decided to return home. My friends gave me Birr 20 to cover the
transportation back to Addis Ababa." The good news about the test result marked the turning point
for Tihit. Ironically, bad news about health status also turned the life of Azenegash around. A diagnosis
of a kidney infection triggered her decision to quit sex work. The first time she got sick, she did not
care much about her health. She resumed sex work as soon as she got well. During her second visit to
the hospital, she was diagnosed with a kidney infection, and was told that sexual intercourse would
exacerbate the infection. Azenegash believed that the sex work caused the infection, and decided to
quit the business right away.
45
Tizita wanted to quit sex work due to the multiple risks involved. However, she did not know when
and how to stop. It was her violent encounter with a strange customer that made her decide on
quitting the business suddenly and take up a job as a bed-renter. She said:
“I met him [a customer] on the street near Daniel Hotel. He asked me to drink
with him and reserve a room at Daniel Hotel. However, we rented a room from a
private owner in my neighbourhood. He paid, and when we were about to make
love, I saw him tearing the condom. When I asked what he was doing, he said
that he does not like it. I told him that I had been careful so far, and that I could
not have intercourse without [condoms]. Then he choked me and I struggled
hard. The owner of the house arrived with a stick [to her rescue]. The owner's
sister, who was living in the house, also came. We could not out-power him. The
police arrived and as we all walked [to the police station], they were punching
and scolding him. When we arrived at the police station, he showed them an ID
card. He was a police officer. Then, they [the police] asked, 'How could you dare
to go to that neighbourhood?’ When I was expecting them to take a legal
measure against him, they warned him not to go to that neighbourhood again
and set him free. I was disappointed and decided to quit [sex work]. I was crying.
An old woman inquired what had happened to me. Upon learning the story and
my desire to quit, she asked if I was interested in bed-renting work. I said yes
and started the job.”
Support obtained
Support obtained from family members, friends, and/or NGOs played vital roles in inspiring,
encouraging, facilitating, and consolidating recovery from sexual exploitation. Many informants
reported to have obtained assistance in the form of ideas, encouragement, funds, materials, and/or
training. The financial or material support gave them economic security, at least in terms of meeting
their immediate needs. Assistance extended in the form of sponsorship for education, skills training,
and trip to the Middle East addressed their worries about the future. The very act of considering
commercial sex workers for some kind of assistance elevated their self-esteem and reassured their
social relevance. Those who received support (especially assistance from NGO) felt connected to and
accepted by the society.
Seven of the 10 informants have not been reintegrated into their respective families. Neither have
they received any family support. Three informants (Azenegash, Hiwot, and Tihit), however, have
been reintegrated and received different forms of support from their respective families. For example,
Tihit's travel to Dubai was covered by her uncle and her elder sister, who contributed Birr 5000 and
Birr 2000 respectively.
Seven informants reported receiving assistance from their friends as follows. Tigat mentioned that her
friend (former prostitute) supported her recovery process through advice and by providing a helping
hand in her potato business. Aziza indicated that her friend's (a student) advice and encouragement to
give up sex work influenced her decision to quit. Tizita was thankful to an old woman who offered her
a bed-renting job on the day she had a trouble with the police officer. Tihit received financial and
moral support from her friends (commercial sex workers) from the day she was tested negative for
HIV/AIDS to the day she left Nazareth town, a week later. Hiwot acknowledged her friend (exprostitute) for serving as a role model and for facilitating her reunion with her family. Saba's decision
46
to abandon sex work was partly influenced by her boyfriend's strong desire to see her quit. Azenegash
stated that she would not have pulled herself out of sex work had it not been for her friend's (a
prostitute) offer to cover certain expenses. She explained:
“I went to my friend and told her that I had no khat, no money, and that I was
frustrated and wanted to return [to sex work]. She promised to give me Birr 10 a
day for my addictions. 'Birr 1 for cigarette and Birr 9 for khat is enough,' she
said. She made me stop thinking about going back to the streets. My family
would not take me back had I left a second time. She convinced me not to do it.
She told me that I could have breakfast and lunch with her and chew khat with
her. Then, I went back home. She is still doing ‘business’. She warned that I
would die if I restarted sex work. So, I stopped.”
Four informants recognized the contributions of NGOs to their recovery. Tizita was lucky to have met
Zemi, a businesswoman dedicated to supporting recovering prostitutes through education and skills
training. Accordingly, Tizita received support to continue with her education. Zemi asked Tizita to
contact and list prostitutes willing to quit sex work and take up formal education or skills training. She
said, "While working as a bed renter, accidentally, I met Zemi and I told her that I wanted to continue
with my education. She supported me and now I am in grade 8 at school. Zemi encourages me by
giving clothing. When I complain about hardships, her workers also give me money so that I do not
return to the previous work." Aziza was also supported by Zemi. She received training in hair dressing.
Mekdelawit linked her decision to stop sex work to being accepted by Naod's shelter for recovering
prostitutes. She was into the business until the day she was accepted to the shelter.
The effect of NGO support on Hiwot deserves special mention. Her involvement in CHAD-ET (as a peer
educator, skill trainer, and staff) was crucial in terms of preventing relapse. Working for CHAD-ET, as a
regular staff, boosted her self-esteem and social acceptance in the family and the neighbourhood. As
a peer educator, she was proud to be of help to others. In the future, she wants to help children in
exploitative situations. She noted:
“Now I make a monthly salary of Birr 300. There is pleasure in knowing that
people treat me like a salaried employee. I feel contented when I dress up and
go to work in the morning and get home at dusk. My parents and my brothers
greet me in and out of home, calling me by my nickname. It is a gratifying thing
to get recognition. My objective is to help girls and grown-up women in this kind
of life get out, as I have seen the ugly face of it. I had suffered terrible
discrimination. I know the stigma attached to commercial sex workers by the
community. I want to teach young girls how to break out of this habit. I want to
be a change agent.”
Relapse incidences and worries
The recovery experiences of seven informants were fairly smooth in that none of them reported major
challenges in quitting sex work, incidences of relapse, and/or worries about their future. However,
two informants (Amenech and Hiwot) reported to have experienced relapses, while one informant
(Azenegash) appeared uncertain about her future. Amenech experienced four relapses. She stopped
sex work when she got sick and resumed whenever she recovered.
47
Upon deciding to quit, Hiwot sent elders to convince her family to accept her back. It took her family
six months to accept her request. In the meantime, Hiwot continued to sleep with men for money.
She continued to see her old customers even after returning home and while working as a peer
educator. She used the CHAD-ET work as an excuse to stay overnight. According to Hiwot, detaching
oneself from habits such as sex work [especially from] regular customers presents a very difficult
challenge.
Azenegash's life was full of despair. Poverty remained a major challenge in her family, and she was
often on bad terms with her siblings. It was not clear whether she wanted to stay with her family or in
Addis Ababa, for that matter. For some reason, her dream to go to the Middle East to work as a maid
appeared a remote chance. She also mentioned about going to the regional towns in Ethiopia to work
as a sex worker - a disturbing revelation of possible relapse in the future.
Daily routines of recovered young women
Of the 10 recovered young women, four (Atsede, Azenegash, Aziza, and Tizita) were engaged in bed
renting and three (Amenech, Saba, and Tigat) in petty trade/street vending. Hiwot seemed to earn
relatively more than most others as she worked for CHAD-ET as a regular employee and engaged in
bed renting on a part-time basis. Tihit seemed to be in a much better financial position for she saved
money in the Middle-East by working as a maid. Mekdelawit was enrolled in regular school with the
help of an NGO and her mother. Although the daily incomes of the bed renters and street vendors
were significantly lower than their earnings as sex workers, all but Azenegash expressed strong
determination not to slide back to prostitution. The daily routines of two informants are presented
below to show a glimpse of their lives, the social environment in which they operated, and the upsand-downs they experienced.
Tizita, who was happy with her new life, operated under busy daily schedule. She said:
“Zemi [a business woman who supports recovering prostitutes] asked me to list
the names of commercial sex workers who would like to quit like me. She gives
training in hair dressing to those who do not want to enrol in school. She helps
them in getting jobs, too. Every night, I contact those girls whom I knew and
those willing to change, and I give the list to Zemi. In the morning, I make the
[rental] beds and do other things. In the afternoon, I go to school. Then [at
night], I go out early to rent the beds. After that, when the business workers
[prostitutes] come out, I go there and take their names. Between 7:00 pm and
9:00 pm, the beds will be rented out as they are not many. I hand the money
over to the [land]lady. After 10:00 pm, I talk to business [sex] workers to find out
those interested in education. I walk around to talk to them, and they come to
me, saying, "She worked with us in the past and now she has changed." This
registration work does not take more than an hour [a day]. So far, I changed
about 28 children. Now, all are not in the business [sex]: some are trained by
Zemi, others are students.”
Saba, who also became busy with her new life, was optimistic about the future. She stated:
“My present friend advised me to quit and I did. He gave me Birr 100, with which
I bought chickpeas, potatoes, cigarettes, peanuts, and service plates [to start
street vending]. I sell these items every night on the street in front of my rented
48
house. Although the income is not comparable [to what she earned as a
prostitute], if I stay late at night, I earn Birr 10 to 15 per day. I work from 5:00
pm to 1:00 am. He also helps me, meaning, he pays the house rent, Birr 150.
Now, we live together. While quitting the business, I used to visit my friends
[prostitutes] in the Berenda area. I did not want to cut off our friendship.
However, I was not doing business because I hated that life. Now, I chew khat
once in a while. He also chews. He brings Birr 30 to 40 [per day]. So far, we do
not have children. My old neighbours know that I gave up the sex work. They see
me selling items on the street. They say, "That is good, keep it up." I stay on the
street until 1:00 am. I do not believe that staying late would expose me to other
things [sexual assault] because Areqe [liquor] is sold in the area and there are
lots of people on the street. There are bed renters. I stay with them. There is a
demand [for her goods]. I sleep in the morning. Then, I purchase, prepare, and
sell the goods. Tomorrow, change will come. It does not occur at once. This is
what I think.”
Perspectives of Parents, Community and NGO Representatives
Parents, NGO representatives, and community leaders were asked questions about the kinds of
children/young people with greater propensity to recover from sexual abuse/exploitation, and the
social environment conducive for recovery. Different informants provided lists of personal qualities
and the appropriate social contexts under which recovery may be expected. A community
representative (a nurse) explained:
"Those who were forced into abuse/exploitation, those who were not addicted
to drugs, and those with goals to reach tend to recover."
According to a guardian of a migrant prostitute:
"Those who started commercial sex work against their interest out of
desperation and those who received counselling from NGOs would quit the sex
work easily."
A priest remarked:
"If they [sex workers] are provided with proper education [religious] and
material support, they would recover. Children need a welcoming environment.
Like the Church does, families and communities should welcome them to
facilitate their recovery."
A representative of a local NGO working on children noted:
"Recovery is facilitated when the victim has the confidence in his/her future,
when support is available from other sources, and when the family or close
relatives are supportive and welcoming.”
According to data gathered from the majority of informants, factors that facilitate recovery from
sexual abuse/exploitation may be grouped into three: the presence of motivation and determination
to recover on the part of the victim, the availability of external support to facilitate the recovery, and
49
the existence of a welcoming environment to ensure reintegration into family and society. Most
informants were cautious about the dynamics of recovery because once recovered does not
necessarily mean a done deal. Hence, they underlined the need for a favourable environment and
external support to prevent risks of relapse.
With this fundamental understanding, certain NGOs claimed to be working on the recovery of sexually
abused and/or exploited children in a variety of ways. CHAD-ET conducts recovery programs for
vulnerable and sexually exploited children through the provision of different forms of skill training.
IPSO works with families to build a strong and loving family environment, with communities to make
them more responsible and vigilant, and with disadvantaged children to enhance their problem
solving skills. Sexually abused and vulnerable children were the direct and primary beneficiaries of
OPRIFIS, an NGO that provided a safe home, psychological support, education, medical support,
reunification, child rights, capacity building, to list some. The organization also worked with families,
communities, and local organizations that work with children. FSCE provided support to sexually
abused and exploited children. These included washing and laundry services, health and sex
education, medical treatment, non-formal education, play and recreation, guidance and counselling,
reintegration, and skill training. In addition to providing counselling services to sexually abused
children, ANPPCAN carried out legal advisory work and follow-up that included producing witnesses to
give testimony to the police, encouraging children to supply information, and follow-up on the legal
course of action.
Intra-Category Similarities and Differences
Recovered young girls could not be identified for the age group 10-13. At early age, entry into
exploitative situation is expected rather than recovery. Among the 10 young women between the
ages of 14 and 20 included in the sample, there was no significant age-based difference. Instead, they
seemed to have a lot in common. For example, eight young women became sex workers when they
were between the ages of 13 and 15. All of them expected material betterment and social freedom.
However, all soon hated the business because of health risks and different forms of abuses, not to
mention the social stigmatization. They realized the huge gap between their expectations and the
reality, and hence wanted to quit as soon as they could.
The study revealed location-based differences in the process of entry into prostitution. Of the 10
informants, six were from Addis Ababa and the remaining four came from the countryside. The four
from the countryside (Atsede, Aziza, Amenech, and Tigat) worked as maids or dishwashers, at least for
three months, before taking up the sex work. On the other hand, the six from Addis Ababa
(Azenegash, Hiwot, Mekdelawit, Saba, Tihit, and Tizita) became prostitutes soon after leaving their
homes. Children living in Addis Ababa are aware of the risks of commercial sex work, and the
availability of other means of making a living in the city. It is not clear why they made prostitution
their first choice. The other difference is that some young women from Addis Ababa returned home
after their recovery from exploitative situations. For instance, three of the six informants (Azenegash,
Hiwot, and Tihit) negotiated with their respective families and managed to secure successful
reintegration. On the other hand, none of the four village girls returned home after their recovery. For
those from Addis Ababa, it is relatively easy to maintain close contact with family, negotiate to get
back home, and find alternative means of living.
50
6. Victims of Sexual Abuse/Exploitation
This chapter lays emphasis on the different forms of abuse and sexual exploitation meted out to
children. In regards to child prostitutes, the chapter considers the coping strategies they use to deal
with problems related to sex work and day-to-day living. Other aspects of their life such as the nature
of relationship with family and effort made to escape sex work are also discussed.
Forms of Abuse and Sexual Exploitation
Physical abuse
Based on the information provided by child prostitutes, it can be said that physical abuse of sex
workers is a characteristic of the practice. The perpetrators include customers, gangsters in the
neighbourhood and senior prostitutes. It is reported that customers use different pretexts to resort to
physical violence. Thus, they may refuse to pay the negotiated sum after sex, practice sex with
condom, or may demand an unconventional form of sex. Atsede Esatu, age 18, described the situation
in this way:
“Some men demand sex for free. Or they refuse to pay after they had sex. Others
steal money from the prostitutes. Intoxicated on alcohol or khat, a lot of men
practice aggressive sex, or ask for unconventional forms. Prostitutes who refuse
or challenge their customers risk physical abuse and brutalities.”
With the intention of getting sexual and financial advantages, gangsters who live around use physical
attacks or threats to force child prostitutes to do their bidding. Currently sexually exploited Jember
Feleke, age 17, related this bitter experience:
“A young boy asked me to sleep with him for free. I refused to go to bed without
money. Then he started verbal abuse. But he could not threaten me into
accepting his demand. Then he drew a razor blade and ran away after making a
big cut on my neck.”
Older sex workers are also reported to commit physical abuse on younger and less experienced
prostitutes. Mentioned as a reason is that the senior sex workers may want to force the younger
children to share with them what they have earned from sex work. When the children refuse and
resist, their seniors respond with physical violence to retaliate or pressure them to compromise.
Sexual abuse of young girls
Gang rape represents one of the serious forms of sexual abuse that child prostitutes experience.
Normally, one man negotiates sex with a prostitute. But when she goes to sleep with the man, she
may find a number of his friends waiting to have sex against her will. Currently recovered Hiwot
Getamesay, age 20, shared this firsthand experience:
“One day, I agreed to sleep with a young man who was familiar with me. When
we arrived at the place, I saw six young boys who were waiting. Once I got into
the room, the young boys raped me one after another. Some of them refused to
51
wear condom. When it was over, I had a sore body and walked back home with
great pain.”
According to the children who are currently exploited, a number of customers demand to have sex
without condom. Initially, some men may agree to wear condom. But in the room, they start to argue
against doing so. Or they wear the material only to remove it before the act. Others offer a greater
sum of money to persuade the prostitute to accept unsafe sex. The case of Tihun Getachew, age 16, is
one out of numerous stories descriptive of condom-related sexual abuse:
“I slept with a man after he agreed to wear condom. He did so in the first round.
Later, he tried to do sex without one. When I refused, he began to beat me up. I
reported to the police, but they did not help. Indeed, the police made fun of me,
and sent me away without sympathy.”
Condom-related sexual abuse is known to be associated with the risks of HIV and other STIs,
unwanted pregnancies, abortions and related health complications.
Another form sexual abuse involves pressuring child prostitutes into practicing anal and oral sex,
widely viewed as alien and unconventional in the cultural context of the study community. Generally,
the child prostitutes are shocked and outraged at the thought of attempting such acts. But often they
face the risk of physical abuse as a result of reluctance or refusal to follow these procedures. Besides,
unconventional sex can have serious health implications for the children. This is because, according to
the child informants, such sex is usually practiced without condom.
Sexual abuse of male childrenen
Although not very common, the rape of male children is another form of child sexual abuse prevalent
in the research community. As a result of being raped, the victims have to endure painful emotional
and psychological consequences. Of course, the degree of the trauma, the coping mechanisms used,
and the pace and extent of recovery may vary from one victim to another.
The emotional and psychological impacts range from anger and resentment to hate, depression,
anxiety, sense of insecurity, hopelessness and the drive for revenge. These negative emotions weigh
heavily on the children so that they find it difficult to concentrate and remain stable. Also it becomes a
challenge for them to mix with their peer group. In extreme cases, their problems may deteriorate
into mental health cases that require professional therapy. Mequanent Temesgen, age 12, described
his situation as follows:
“My peers gossip about me around school and in the neighbourhood. They tell
each other that I was raped. Some even shout insults making mention of my
experience openly. I get annoyed and upset at such gossip and name-calling.
This morning I was similarly harassed and verbally abused by my school mates.
So I stayed away from class in the afternoon.”
A review of the responses by male children who were raped underscore that the social stigma
attached to this form of sexual abuse has far-reaching consequences. In the local cultural context, the
social stigma against raped boys is much more severe than against girls. As a result, victims are
discouraged from disclosing what happened to the most intimate of family members. Given this, the
emotional recovery of some raped boys may be attributed to their belief that no one knows about
52
their rape. Sani Kemal, age 16, observes that he has not disclosed his case to anyone, which is helping
him to cope successfully:
“I know children in my community who are said to have been raped by the same
man who abused me. These children are constantly teased and harassed by their
peers. The children are irritated, embarrassed and troubled by such
mistreatment. It also makes it difficult for them to forget about the rape. I do
not experience these problems since my friends do not know that I am a victim
as well.”
Sexual exploitation of child girls by brothel owners
The study area is notorious for the commonness of brothels. These brothels are operated mostly by
ladies who were themselves sex workers. The brothel owners hire child prostitutes to work at their
place on conditions. Most of the child prostitutes who work under these ladies are young girls who
migrated or were trafficked from the rural areas. Although some of the children approach the ladies
on their own, a large number of them are, however, delivered to the brothel owners by brokers. As for
children who come from the Addis Ketema community, the main reason why they join brothels on the
terms of the ladies is the desire to operate in secret from relatives. The lady bosses are commonly
referred to as balluka. The term signifies their ownership of the business. It also denotes their position
as the sharers of the income of the sex workers.
Usually, the children operate under the brothel bosses on the basis of two working arrangements. In
the first case, the ladies allow the children to occupy a small room at the brothel for which they pay an
agreed amount per day. The payment ranges from Birr 30 to Birr 50 daily. Location of the brothel, its
condition, and the attitudes of individual brothel owners are the main factors that determine the rent.
A child prostitute who operates on these terms has to pay the rent daily whether she has got an
income or not.
The second type of working arrangement is yekul (equal share of income). In this arrangement, the
child prostitute is required to share with her boss half of the income that she gets from every client
she sleeps with in a day. Children forced into this arrangement are mostly the ones who cannot afford
to have their own beds and household utensils. The bosses make available these things for the
children as part of the deal. The children may agree to operate for 12 or 24 hours. The bosses make
sure that the children sleep with as many customers as possible to maximize the size of their income.
To achieve this, the ladies impose restrictions on the children’s social contact, sleep and leisure time.
Jemanesh Tamene, age 17, describes how exploitative yekul arrangement is:
“I operate day and night at a brothel. My sleeping time is when I share bed with
a customer. I keep waiting for a customer at the door of the brothel whenever I
am not with a man. I am not allowed to have a break and join my friends at
coffee party. Nor does the lady permit me to sleep when I get too tired for lack
of rest. She controls my work and income by counting the clients who sleep with
me. She peeps through a hole in the shared wall to find out whether I am alone
or with a man. She also counts the used condoms to calculate the amount of
money I have earned.”
Brothel owners (balluka) were interviewed to capture their opinions on the subject of child sexual
exploitation. They did not describe their business as exploitative. Still, they acknowledged that that
53
they benefited from the child girls involved in prostitution. A brothel owner, who hires two child sex
workers, remarked:
“I see to it that the child girls I hire are smart and attractive. I prefer to rent my
rooms to sex workers since it brings me more income. If I rented them to other
people, I would earn no more than Birr 600 monthly. But I get twice as much per
room from the sex workers. So the child prostitutes are a source of income for
us. For this reason, we refer to them as minibus taxies.”19
Coping with Day-to-Day Life Situations
The category of currently exploited children includes young prostitutes operating in different
situations and coming from diverse backgrounds. Some are literate with limited exposure to formal
schooling. Others are migrants from the rural background, often with little schooling. The way they
practice prostitution also differs from child to child. Many operate on the street where they wait and
get the customers. Others are based at brothels where they share the money they earn with the room
owners. Depending on the working arrangement, the child prostitute may operate for 24 or 12 hours
each day. There are a few involved in bed renting during the day, and sex work during the night. Some
street girls go out for sex whenever they find a man who pays for their meals and a place to spend the
night. Although not too many, there are young prostitutes who are also child mothers. Most of the
child prostitutes are alcohol and substance users - addicts to one or another type of substance. Still,
there are very few who say that they are not involved in any form of substance/drug abuse. In spite of
this, the vast majority of the child prostitutes practice a daily routine of life which has a regular
pattern. The following two cases illustrate a typical day in the life of child prostitutes.
Case one (Tiblet Dagne)
“Past midnight (at about 1:00 am), when the police chased us away from the
street, I returned to my place to sleep. This morning, I watched a collection of
video film clips. The previous day, I helped my mother with housework until 4:00
pm. Then I went to watch film at the cinema. About 8:00 pm, I was out on the
street to do business. As I was standing and waiting around, a young man
approached me. He asked me if I would sleep with him. I agreed and he invited
me to dinner. He also offered me drinks. But I refused. I saw the boy was too
drunk. When he insisted, I pretended to drink. But actually, I was emptying the
glass on the floor. As we were in bed, I stole the money he had, and got out of
the room leaving him asleep. Three days ago, I woke up late in the morning. In
the afternoon, I went to the video house and stayed there until 8:00 pm.
Afterwards, I slept with a man overnight and earned Birr 80. I have a friend
nicknamed Mitta. She had no luck that night in dong business. So the next
morning, I ate breakfast with her.”
Case two (Tihun Getachew)
“Yesterday I did not do business. It was the same the previous night. Three days
ago I had some luck. I slept with two men at different times and got Birr 30 each
19
The analogy is that sex workers generate income for their bosses like the taxies do for their owners on daily basis.
54
time. But I am bored today as I was yesterday. I had to ask people for money to
go to video house yesterday. Before that, I had been to the hairdresser’s. A
certain boy paid for my lunch. The same boy offered me khat which I agreed to
chew to relieve myself of boredom. Today I had decided to sleep in all the time
since I am without money. I only left bed when they woke me up for this
interview.”
Children practicing prostitution employ various strategies to cope with problems that they face in the
course of their life. The children select and adopt coping mechanisms that they feel are best-suited to
the particular kinds of problems that they experience. The actions meant to deal with challenges may
be taken by individual children or in groups.
Resource sharing and mutual assistance
Mutual assistance and resource sharing is one of the coping strategies that currently sexually
exploited children adopt to manage economic hardships. It seems that the adversities that are
common to the exploited children forges in them a group identity and sense of solidarity. A
manifestation of this is the tendency among the children to extend mutual support, share resources
and come to one another’s rescue.
By its very nature, commercial sex does not guarantee the child prostitutes a source of income that
they can rely upon or even predict. Hence, certain days of the week may only be better than others in
terms of the number of customers who pay for sex. Even then, it is not that the child prostitutes keep
the earnings entirely for themselves. Many have to share it with exploitative room owners. A large
number of others must meet the costs incurred by different habits and needs on a daily basis. In these
situations, it is not uncommon for the children to be penniless. However, it is in the nature of the
business that some earn well on certain days of the week during which others may earn little. Those
who have managed to earn well support their friends who have not been so lucky. Thus, they share
meals with them, spend time together at coffee parties or khat chewing ceremonies, or join in other
activities. Besides, as a common practice, the child prostitutes swap clothes and lend money to each
other as a means to deal with the shortage of clothing and finance.
In connection with this, Tihun Getachew says:
“Things are too difficult for me when I run short of money. It is only me who
knows how I made it yesterday. I become so worried and disturbed when I have
no cash to spend. I get confused and do not know what to do. These days, there
is not much business and we earn little. I do not know why this happens.
Business goes up and down. It becomes too hard to manage if I go without work
for two days. I pay Birr 15 daily to rent a bed. I cannot afford to cover the cost
on my own each day. So I have to live in a room with another girl who shares the
rent with me. Hence, on the days when I have not earned any money and my
friend has, she pays the rent. Other times when I have got income, I take my
turn to settle the bed rent.”
Zuriash Fasika, another teenage girl currently in a state of sexual exploitation, adds:
“Normally, we support each other. Whether we operate in rented rooms or on
the streets, we do not make difference between ourselves. Those of us who live
55
and work in rented rooms help children who do sex work on the streets by giving
them clothes to wear or money to spend to the extent we can. Our habit is such
that whatever money some of us earn on a given day, we spend it in groups with
others on meals, khat, and drinks. We do so in the hope that God will take care
of our needs the next day. As usual, we prepare ourselves to go out and try our
luck on the street when evening comes. Of course, not every one of us may be
lucky enough to make it. Still, if one fails another of us succeeds. The practice of
mutual assistance and resource sharing binds us together as a group.”
In other cases, forms of mutual assistance or cooperation involve defending a friend who has come
under attack by an abusive customer, or fighting back in her support. In regards to this, a child
prostitute named Roman Tesfahun, age 19, remarked:
“When I face men who insist on having sex with me for free and by force, I resist
their advance. When they do not relent, I shout for help. My friends who hear
me shouting gather from wherever they are around the corner. Then they join
me as I try to defend myself and force him out of my place. If he is too strong for
us to overpower, a friend will report the case to the police patrolling the area so
that they come and deal with him.”
Maintaining relationships with ‘boyfriends’ or ‘husbands’
As stated earlier, child prostitutes are faced with the threats of sexual and physical violence posed by
gangsters and bullyboys. In order to cope with these problems, they identify themselves with a certain
boy or man as a ‘friend’ or ‘husband’. Such relationship, as they say, spares them the experience of
physical abuse in the hands of gangsters and difficult customers. It is common for such boys to say
that this or that child prostitute belongs to such and such boy or man. Knowing this, the gangsters are
deterred from harassing a child prostitute identified with or belonging to somebody of their ranks as
his ‘girlfriend’ or ‘wife’. The child prostitute who enjoys such protection reciprocates in the form of
free sex, gifts of money or supply of food, drinks, cigarettes and khat to the boy or man playing the
role of ‘husband/protector’. In this respect, Jember Feleke, who is currently sexually exploited,
explains:
“I have a boyfriend. His presence protects me against harassment and attack.
The boys and young men in the neighbourhood involved in harassing and
attacking girls respect one another’s interests and do not engage in provocative
acts. They leave me alone by saying “this is the wife of (Mr. X)”. So they show
me respect for his sake. They want to avoid a fight with him that may possibly
result if they harass or attack me. Still, when he is not around, a friend of his can
harass and give me a lot of trouble.”
On the same note, Emebet Zeleke goes on to say:
“I am in a relationship with a certain young man who resides in this
neighbourhood. I started and continue to maintain the relationship so that he
protects me against gangsters and trouble making customers. In return for such
service, I give him part of the income that I have earned by selling my body. He
spends the money he receives on drinks and khat. I cannot refuse giving him
money which he demands as a matter of right. In case I sometimes do not do so,
56
he challenges me by saying “where is the cash from the work you have done?”
When he feels that I have not given him enough money, he complains of being
cheated and may even beat me up. Still, I cannot manage without him since he
comes to my rescue when bullyboys or difficult customers give me a hard time.
Since he lives nearby, I send for him when I need his help. He shows up at once.
He kicks around the trouble makers and drags them out of my place.”
The avoidance of risk situations
From experience, child prostitutes are generally aware of what kinds of situations can pose risks as
they practice commercial sex. Hence, they are careful to choose surroundings, customers or means of
travel that they assume are less likely to cause them harm. Accordingly, the children are cautious
about going out for business at distant places or in unfamiliar rented rooms. Similarly, they tend to
avoid a ride accompanying customers in their car. The following cases told by child prostitutes
underscore that risk avoidance is another coping mechanism that they use to deal with potentially
dangerous situations.
Case one (Tihun Getachew)
“I have heard stories about children being driven by customers far away to be
raped and abandoned in the forest. Even more horrifying are the ones I heard
about, the so-called the hyena-men. The [hyena-]men are alleged to eat up or
leave the girls that they have taken in their car stricken with shock and fear. It is
said that after such an ordeal the children suffer the consequence for years. As a
result, I never take a ride with customers in their car. Even in the neighbourhood
where I live, I go with the man as long as he walks with me only to a familiar
place.”
Case two (Senait Damte)
“As street prostitutes, we identify people who practice sex styles and habits alien
to our culture. So when a fellow child sees a man whom she knows to have this
tendency or habit approaching or conversing with me, she signals to me to
watch out. At this, I tell the man that I am waiting for another customer, just to
avoid him safely. After his departure, I ask my friend why she suggested that I
avoid him. Then her likely reply is that the man is the one who asked to do anal
sex on her on a previous occasion.”
Refusing sex without condom
Child prostitutes report that they have to cope with the demand and use of force by customers to
have sex without condom. Indeed, they indicate that this is one of the common forms of sexual abuse
meted out to them on a routine basis, as stated earlier in this chapter. The children use different
means to protect themselves against such abuse and the risks involved. The mechanisms employed
include persuading the man to wear condom, carrying their own condom, and declining to sleep
except on the condition of safe sex. To make sure that customers are wearing condom, some of the
children said that they insist on watching them doing so. To prevent the risk of the condom being
removed by accident or on purpose, a child prostitute said that she insists on making sure that her
man wears a layer of two condoms. In situations where these mechanisms do not work, the children
reported that they take additional and serious measures. Among these are dashing out of the room,
returning the money paid in advance, and shouting for help. In regard to this, Getenesh Hailu said:
57
“When a man refuses to use condom, I try to persuade him otherwise. I tell him
that it is in the interest of both of us. But if he continues to resist and resorts to
force, I dash out of the room not even taking time to put on my clothes. At any
cost, I avoid sex without condom. Some men offer more money to make the
child prostitutes accept their demand to have sex without condom. In my case, I
never give attention to such enticements or coercion. I shout to get help or
report the matter to the police.”
Stealing from customers
Cheating and robbery are said to be among the crimes committed by customers against sex workers.
Child prostitutes retaliated through acts of stealing, but not necessarily from the same offenders.
Driven perhaps by their perception that most men are similarly abusive/exploitative, besides the
motive to use every opportunity to maximize their income, they cheat or steal from all unsuspecting
customers. Most of the children who were interviewed reported that stealing from customers is a
common practice. The following quote from a 14 year old, Tiblet Dagne, represents a scenario of how
the children steal from their customers:
“After making a deal with a man to sleep with him overnight, I receive the
payment in advance. I make sure that we go to a sleeping place where I know
the women in charge of arranging and renting the rooms. Usually, we work
hand-in-hand with such women and street boys that roam around. Supposedly
to fetch water for use in the room, I get out pretending to talk to the woman.
Knowing what I am up to, the women lets me disappear from the place. I waste
no time to escape by running as fast as I can. In case, the man suspects or finds
out and runs after me, the street boys who understand the matter from my rush
stop him. They ask him what has gone wrong, pretending to help and calm him
down. Actually, they do that to allow me time to get away so that the man will
not be able to catch up with me. Of course, I will afterward have to share part of
the stolen money with the street boys and the woman responsible for the room.”
Coping with problems related to work and life
Children involved in commercial sex try to manage the problems they face in their daily life in different
ways. 12 of the 21 currently sexually exploited children stated that they engage in various habits that
they believe will make them forget their problems. The common habits that the children practice
when faced with difficulties are chewing khat, drinking alcohol, breathing in ganja, and smoking
tobacco and shisha. When confronted with a serious challenge, Haimanot Mebratu said that she
would cope with it in this way:
“I resort to breathing in ganja to help me forget all about the problem. When I
chew khat after puffing on ganja, I am relieved of my concerns and anxieties.”
Zuriash Fasika added:
“Chewing khat makes us feel stronger to withstand sexually vigorous and
aggressive men who have themselves chewed khat. Without chewing khat, it is
difficult to cope with men who can inflict pain and harm because of being
sexually too energetic. But when we have chewed khat and feel stronger as a
result, we withstand the impact and cope with the harm inflicted.”
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10 of the 21 children mentioned going to church and praying to God as one of the mechanisms they
use to deal with life’s problems. They may employ this mechanism in addition to other coping
methods, or as a sole means of coping with difficulties. Bezawit Ketema relates:
“When I am upset, I weep bitterly and implore my God to come to my rescue. I
can discuss the problem with my friends, but most of the time they will only
gossip around and spread my secret to others rather than helping me to solve it.
Hence, what is helpful is only to cry to the Lord. He can free me from this
situation at some unexpected day. I never get involved in the smoking habit. I
hate smoking completely. When I encounter a problem, I only resort to drinking
alcohol to help me forget about it.”
However, although the children may have faith in God, not all of them still consider themselves
worthy enough to attend church. Feelings of guilt resulting from their practicing prostitution cause
them to perceive themselves as being too unclean to be true believers. Jemanesh Tamene stated:
“I consult a close friend about problems other than financial difficulties. But
never have I been to church since I started commercial sex. I hope to resume
attending church once I am out of this kind of life. I do not even stop to look and
salute when I walk past the church. This is because as long as I remain in
prostitution, I continue to engage in sinful practices and lead an immoral life.
While I was living with my parents as a small child, I liked to go to church
regularly, though, at present I have completely given up doing so. For example, I
do not fast although this is a major fasting season. I cannot imagine doing it
living the kind of life in which I sell my body for money. Still, I continue to
petition God in my heart and refrain from visiting the church.”
Discussing personal problems with friends is another coping mechanism, as reported by five of the 21
children currently in the state of sexual exploitation. Menbere Demere said:
“When something troubles or outrages me, I prefer to talk it over with my
friends. This helps to calm me down or lay my worries to rest. However, if my
anger or anxiety persists, then I resort to drinking. Afterwards, I forget about it
completely.”
As indicated earlier, some child prostitutes cope with problems by crying, using this as one of their
mechanisms to manage situations that upset, worry or enrage them. Stated as further coping
mechanisms by certain children are sleeping, singing or listening to music when faced with troubling
thoughts or circumstances.
Relationships with the Family
Children involved in commercial sex by and large continue to practice it without the knowledge or
approval of their families, particularly parents and siblings. For this reason, they make sure that they
operate at a place where they can remain anonymous, and practice out of the sight and notice of
relatives and acquaintances. Hence, in the case for example of children whose origin is around the
research area, they make it a point to do their business in a neighbourhood or part of the Addis
Ketema community away from their place of birth and upbringing. The stigma associated with the
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cultural taboo against prostitution is the factor that forces the children to operate hidden from their
families.
Therefore, it is common for the children to lie to their families about their job. Those who maintain
contact with their parents tell them that they are working as waitresses or cashiers in the service
industry such as restaurants, cafes, and hotels. As for the children from the rural areas, they claim to
do domestic work in private homes, or cleaning and washing at places like hotels.
In spite of hiding the truth about their means of livelihood, however, many of the children, particularly
the natives of Addis Ababa, maintain relationships with their families. Depending on individual
children, the degree of their ties with their families may be close or loose. The relationships may take
the forms of paying visits from time to time, especially on holidays or other occasions marking
different family events, making phone calls, and supporting parents and siblings with material and
financial gifts. Based on the stories told by some of the children, it is possible to observe that there are
many who maintain even stronger family ties. For instance, three of the children interviewed, all
practicing prostitution currently, stated that they support their families as often as they can. They said
that they contribute money to supplement the family budget, or assist their siblings in their education
by covering school expenses, as well as by buying them school uniforms, educational materials and
cloths.
Nonetheless, not all of the children have similarly positive or strong relationships with their families.
Some mainly from the rural communities said that they had lost all contact with their families. As a
result, parents and relatives back in the home villages have no idea of their whereabouts. In the case
of children who have lost family contact, the reasons may be family break-up because of the death of
parents, or parental disapproval of engagement in sex work.
Efforts Made to Recover
In view of sexual abuse and exploitation that they suffer, it is no wonder that the vast majority of child
sex workers show an interest to get out of prostitution. Thus, a number of them make an effort to that
end.
Some may show an interest to get out of prostitution, but may not do enough in practice. The reasons
vary according to their individual circumstances. Some expressed that stopping sex work as a means
of income is difficult as child mothers. They assume that, with a baby to take care of, an alternative
source of livelihood is difficult to find. A couple of the children interviewed said that they did not
succeed in their effort to find domestic work because householders are reluctant to hire children who
have babies to care for. In this regard, Jemanesh Tamene said:
“So far I have not made any serious effort to stop prostitution. But I am
intending to do so in the future. At the moment, there is no one who will hire me
with a child under my care. The instant they see that I have a baby, they will say:
‘Is she going to do our work or care for her baby? I am thinking of transferring
my baby to the care of my parents after sometime, and consider trying other
activities even peddling.”
What prevents others from putting forth the effort to make successful recovery, despite their interest,
is the concern that they cannot manage to get money to finance their various habits such drinking,
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smoking, and khat chewing. In the case of Tihun Getachew for instance, her effort to make recovery
was thwarted by her addiction to alcohol and substance. Tihun said:
“I have tried to get out of commercial sex. As an alternative means of survival, I
started work as domestic, but I could not manage to continue. The main
problem was that I was addicted to alcohol, khat, and smoking. It was difficult
for me to practice these habits working in a private home. So I had to quit the
job days after I started it.”
Other children pointed out that the difficulty of making sufficient savings that enables a successful
recovery process was a constraint that stood on their way. They were concerned that lack of
necessities would mean either a return to prostitution or starving to death. Many of them may try to
deposit from their earnings with the intention of saving up enough money to shift to other types of
business. But income from commercial sex is not reliable. They may not do work and thus not earn
money for several days. During this time, they are forced to survive on their savings meant to help
them pull out of sexual exploitation. Others expressed that the difficulty of not getting a guarantor
made it impossible to find other jobs such as domestic work. Hence, they could not take a courageous
step to escape from their situation.
Still, there are some children who are determined not to give up on their efforts, despite discouraging
factors and the patience needed to achieve the desired outcomes. As regards her experience,
Emawayish Zena says:
“I am fed up with commercial sex. That is why I have obtained a passport in
order to migrate to an Arab country for work. I processed it as an option to try
work opportunities abroad, if it is not possible to find job here because of not
having a guarantor. I was encouraged by a woman who works as an
employment agent. As long as I could afford the costs for passport, visa and HIV
test, she promised that my employment would be facilitated. However, after I
met these requirements, I was asked to pay Birr 2,000 to go to Qatar, and Birr
6,000 to fly to Dubai. But I cannot afford the travel cost to either destination.”
Intra-Category Similarities and Differences
An attempt was made to examine similarities and differences in the range of experience and patterns
of response to situations among children who are currently sexually exploited. From a close scrutiny of
the research data, it was not easy to establish clear differences across the three age groups (10-13,
14-17, and 18-24). The commonalities across these age groups are so dominant that they overshadow
any shades of differences that may exist. Hence, re-categorizing the children as junior (10-17) and
senior (18-24) was deemed a more practical approach to discern and recognize the existing similarities
and differences.
Accordingly, a number of salient intra-category similarities were identified and captured that cut
across the mentioned two broad age groups. To begin with, a regular pattern is observed in the daily
routines of both the junior and senior child prostitutes. An overwhelming majority of the children in
the two age groups spend a large portion of the day sleeping, after working overnight. In the
afternoons, they mostly spend their time by socializing at coffee parties, chewing khat, watching video
or playing and chatting in groups. By evening they start preparing for the night’s routine of sex work.
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Another outstanding and cross-cutting intra-category commonality is that the parents have no or little
knowledge about what the children are doing to eke out their living. Especially are they ignorant
about the children practicing prostitution. Nor are the children willing to let their parents and relatives
know of their involvement in commercial sex. The range of experience of junior and senior children is
also similar in respect to the kinds of physical and sexual abuse that they are victims of as prostitutes,
as discussed earlier in this chapter. Moreover, the two groups of children in this category adopt
closely resembling strategies and mechanisms to cope with the threats and acts of abuse coming from
different abusers and exploiters.
In regard to intra-category differences, the variations observed seem to be tendencies rather than
patterns of behaviour or characteristics that define the respective age groups. In the case of the junior
children, particularly those whose origin is in Addis Ababa, entry into commercial sex tends to be
direct and automatic. This is to say that they jump into the practice without first trying other activities
as a means of livelihood. Senior children, especially of rural background, however, got involved in
small jobs such as domestic work and cleaning and washing in the hotels, before they shifted to
commercial sex. Another mentionable difference is that some child prostitutes in the junior age group
generally appear not to exhibit a keen desire to quit. The 13 year old Menbere Demere stated:
“I have never tried to pull myself out of this work. I have not experienced a way
of life better than this one. So, I am carrying on with this practice. I am getting
the money I need for my survival from this practice. Hence, I have not thought of
trying other jobs such as serving as a waitress. May be, I will embark on some
kind of business provided someone offers me the capital.”
Similar sentiments are echoed by the remarks made by seven other junior child prostitutes (Birkenesh
Aschalew (13), Tihut Temegen (13), Zuriash Fasika (15), Tihun Getachew (16), Jemanesh Tamene (17),
Jembere Feleke (17), Haimanot Mebratu (17). By contrast, senior child prostitutes exhibit the desire
and exert the effort to get out as soon as possible. To that end, they make savings from their income
to shift to an alternative means of livelihood or get the money to cover their travel cost so as to go
and work in Arab countries. 20 year old Samrawit Abeje explains her plan to stop commercial sex in
this way:
“Side by side with sex work, I wash laundry for customers. Since the fasting
season began, I have not practiced any of my addictive habits. I was sprinkled
with holy water at the church and made an oath to abstain from such acts and
non-fasting food during this period. The elderly woman who is renting me a
room advises me to give up prostitution and try other business instead. I am
intending to take up work as domestic servant in the Sudan. But I need Birr
2,000 to 3,000 to process my employment.”
It is worth noting that, because of their tender age, the junior children look more attractive to sex
customers, as compared with their seniors. Such self-perception gives them the confidence that they
are needed for their comparative physical appeal. 16 year old Tihun Getachew had this to say:
“My customers are mostly elderly men. They are interested in me because I am a
teenager. Most of the prostitutes in the area where I work are senior to me by
age. As a result, men generally prefer me to them for sex. I am operating in
Piazza area. It requires wearing high quality clothes and make-ups to practice
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commercial sex in this part of town. But this does not concern or worry me
much. Most men simply take me out seeing that I am much younger.”
As for the senior prostitutes, competition is high among them as they try to outshine one another in
the quality of their dress and make-ups. Notable points of contrast are also apparent between the
junior and senior child prostitutes in regards to future ambitions. In the case of the former, it is
evident that they are inclined to plan for resuming school and realizing a professional dream
commonly shared by their age mates, such as becoming a nurse or a physician. As for the latter,
pursuing education is not on their priority list, probably because of considering themselves as being
too late for it, or unable to succeed after many years of quitting school. Instead, they seem to think
that it is easier for them to perform better and improve their life in small business activities or
vocational skill training and practice like hairdressing, tailoring, and cookery.
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7. Cross-category Similarities and
Differences
An analysis of cross-cutting features among the three categories of children and young people reveals
the following similarities and differences in their experience.
Vulnerable versus Currently Abused/Exploited Children
It is noteworthy that children who are at risk and those currently abused/exploited can be found in all
three age groups established for the purpose of the research. There is, however, a point of difference
between the two categories in relation to connection with the family. As for vulnerable children, they
generally live with their parents/guardians and therefore get family attention and follow-up. As a
result, they have the benefit of attending school in most cases. It is the opposite with children
currently abused/exploited. By and large, they start practicing commercial sex after they leave home.
Therefore, their families may not have knowledge of their whereabouts or what they are doing, let
alone follow-up on them and make sure that they are secure. In a state of sexual abuse and
exploitation, it is generally unlikely, if not impossible, for such children, to attend school and make
progress.
On the other hand, those currently abused/exploited develop and employ various mechanisms to
cope with problems. This characteristic is apparently a product of their exposure to or experience of
adversities that require the adoption of strategies to manage and survive through sex work and the
difficulties surrounding it. The use of alcohol and substance abuse as a coping mechanism
distinguishes the currently abused/exploited from the vulnerable, since these habits are closely linked
with their way of life and sub-culture as prostitutes. Vulnerable children also need to cope with
problems that they face. But their coping behaviour largely does not involve addictive habits, and is
limited to consulting friends/family members/relatives, turning to the church/God, engaging in more
than one type of activity to support oneself, and inquiring to understand more about things that they
are not knowledgeable about.
The two categories of children also differ in regards to their future ambitions and aspirations. As far as
the vulnerable are concerned, their plans and wishes centre around successful completion of school,
and achieving a professional career of some type usually emulating individuals that they consider as
role models. In the case of the currently abused/exploited, particularly the senior children, their
ambitions and goals focus on extracting themselves from the state of abuse and exploitation, and
improving their life in a certain kind of business engagement.
Vulnerable versus Recovered Children
A large number of the vulnerable school children engage in small jobs such as bed renting and street
vending/peddling during out-of-school hours and the weekends to support parents and themselves.
These children said that they did not see becoming involved in prostitution as personal threat or
concern. Indeed, some of them totally ruled out such a possibility or outcome. They explained that
routinely observing the bitter experiences that other child prostitutes have to endure in their
neighbourhood, it is unthinkable for them to get into a similar situation. It seems that the same risk
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environment in which they live and which exposes them to sexual exploitation has taught them a
lesson to protect themselves against becoming the victims of this eventuality. The following case
narrated by the 17 year old Gezashgn Zeru, vulnerable young girl doing bed renting, is particularly
telling and representative of the views shared by her fellow children:
“I am not tempted to become a prostitute, although I daily practice the work of
bed renting, which is exposing by its nature. There is a lot for me to learn from
the experiences of children who operate as prostitutes in the area. It is easy to
weigh the advantages and disadvantages from my observations and the
conversations of the prostitutes themselves. Their common subjects of talk are
the abuses perpetrated on them by the men with whom they sleep. Most of
them have unpleasant stories to tell, some of which involve horrifying incidents
such as being attacked for refusing unsafe or abnormal sex. Another common
experience that I observe is that many of the young girls go out for sex work in
the evening well-dressed and looking good, only to return the next morning with
bruised faces as a result of beatings by their customers. There are times when I
get into a dilemma and hesitate to give up the work of bed renting and start
prostitution. This happens when I become frustrated by problems related to the
bed renting business. Yet the hardships faced by child sex workers and my
observations of their bitter situation come to my mind. Then I stop thinking in
that direction. I tell myself that, however desperate I may be, I will go for
domestic work rather than becoming a prostitute.”
Similarly, most of the recovered children are positive that they will not relapse into the kind of life
situation of which they have bad memories. Surviving on institutional support, assistance of husbands
or boyfriends, or activities such as bed renting and street vending, the children still seem exposed to
the risk. Yet, having firsthand experience of the adversities associated with sexual exploitation, they
appear determined not to return to the practice once again. The position that these children generally
maintain is that their decision is based not simply on observations, but on personal experience. Hence,
they said that they would never imagine themselves practicing commercial sex, after extracting
themselves from that state. But they added that access to support to enable them engage in some
form income generating activity would facilitate and strengthen the process of their recovery.
Many vulnerable children live with their parents/guardians and enjoy the advantage of receiving
family attention and support. Having left home and spent a time in prostitution, the recovered
children have detached themselves from their families and maintained loose ties with parents and
relatives. There is also a line of contrast between the two categories in regards to age. Children
regarded as vulnerable exist in all three age groups ranging from 10 to 24. As for recovered children,
they are mostly found in the senior age group because the moment of recovery likely comes after a
child has spent some years practicing prostitution.
Currently Abused/Exploited versus Recovered Children
An important commonality that currently abused/exploited and recovered children share is that, in a
large majority of cases, they have lost ties with their parents/guardians. As a result, they no longer
receive or enjoy the parental guidance, affection, and follow-up that they may at one time have had.
65
Despite having stopped practicing commercial sex, most recovered children do not re-establish their
relationship with the family.
It should be mentioned as a point of similarity that children in the currently abused/exploited and
recovered categories share common attitudes toward sexual abuse and exploitation. This is a result of
the fact that they have both been subjected to common experiences of physical and sexual abuse as
sex workers. When they discuss or give accounts of their experiences, both portray their encounters in
a similar language and with the same degree of emotion and sense of bitterness. Even though they are
recovered, children who have extracted themselves from sexual exploitation live with disturbing
memories of different forms of abuse that others continue to face.
In respect to age, currently abused/exploited children come from different age groups ranging from
12 to 24. However, most of the recovered children belong to the senior age group of 17 years and
above. As far as future ambitions are concerned, the currently abused/exploited children focused on
pulling themselves out of sexually abusive and exploitative situations. As for the recovered, they are
mainly concerned with reinforcing and maintaining their present status. Their efforts focus on the
avoidance of sliding back into prostitution, while working hard to improve their situation in other
activities.
Comparison/Contrast of the Three Categories of Children
It must be mentioned as a strong similarity that the children in all three categories identified the same
situations in their community as common risk factors of sexual abuse and exploitation. The common
risks pointed out by one or the other of the children include common presence of sex work, wide
prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse, the existence of video houses which screen plenty of
pornography, and bed renting business, among many others.
Despite variations in the levels of their knowledge and the means by which they obtain the
information, the children in the three categories are aware of sexual abuse and exploitation. Many of
the smaller children in the vulnerable category said that they did not know of anyone who had been
raped, and were not themselves approached by anyone in this way. Moreover, they did not have
knowledge about the practice of sexual exploitation, and particularly of the raping of boys by men. But
still these children identify, recognize and express what they consider as exposing situations. In their
view, such attitudes or situations are: not rejecting sexual overtures or provocation by men, not
frowning upon tendencies towards sexual abuse, flirting behaviour, and missing school to visit
shisha/khat houses. Other areas of resemblance relate to the future ambitions of the children. When
stating what they desire to become or achieve in the future, the interest to go and work in Arab
countries has been mentioned by a certain number of children in all categories (3 in the vulnerable
category, 6 in the currently abused/exploited category, and 2 in the recovered category). In addition,
the desire to help the vulnerable and the abused/exploited children is a future aspiration expressed by
children in the three categories (6 in vulnerable, 4 in currently abused/exploited, and 3 in recovered).
Worth noting as a difference between the currently abused/exploited children on the one hand, and
the vulnerable and recovered on the other is that the former adopt as a group a regular pattern or
style of living on day-to-day basis. It is in the nature of the practice of prostitution that the children
generally stay awake and are active during much of the night and take rest during the day. Their daily
routine of life is, therefore, shaped by the way of doing things that they follow by night and by day.
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Thus, they spend the night getting themselves ready for business and practicing sex work. Most of the
time, they sleep in during the day. In the afternoons they spend time in groups chewing khat, drinking
coffee, and watching films at the video house, among other activities. As for vulnerable and recovered
children, their daily routines vary according to the nature of the activities that they engage in during
the day, which range from attending school to carrying out different kinds of jobs. Hence, children in
these two categories do not practice a consistent pattern of living that defines them as a group.
Instead, they follow daily routines required by the particular kinds of activities that they pursue.
Deserving mention as distinctive of the currently abused/exploited children is their group
characteristics of mutual assistance and resource sharing. Such cooperation may be attributed to the
threats and adversities that they face in common in the form of physical, verbal and sexual abuse and
exploitation. They are usually targeted for abuse by their customers, bullyboys in the neighbourhood,
boyfriends/husbands, room renting ladies, and allegedly even the police. In addition, they have to
cope with negative social attitudes and the resulting stigma and contempt toward prostitution. In
general, the problems they face are compounded by a variety of factors, which necessitate them to
develop multi-faceted coping mechanisms to manage and respond to difficulties. In the case of the
vulnerable and recovered children, exposure to abusive and exploitative situations of the same degree
of intensity or magnitude is not evident. This may explain why a similar degree of group solidarity and
support system is not in evidence. The coping mechanisms that they employ to deal with difficulties
are limited and not so elaborate.
In regards to awareness about sexual abuse and exploitation, cross-category differences are observed
in the way the knowledge is obtained. In the case of the vulnerable children, they learn about these
problems through their observations of what happens in their immediate environment. In addition,
the media, TV and radio in particular, are other sources of the same information. Vulnerable children
attending school have an opportunity to get informed about such issues by way of different school
clubs. On the other hand, currently abused/exploited and recovered children are not only more
knowledgeable and conversant about sexual abuse and exploitation, but their source of knowledge
and understanding is a lived experience.
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Figure 3: Links between risks/vulnerabilities, protection and resilience
Non-Abuse/Exploitation
Risk and
Vulnerability
Factors
Presence of
protective
factors lead
to
Resilience in
Children
Recovery
Abuse/Exploitation
No Recovery
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8. Conclusions
The Merkato area in Addis Ababa has a host of risk factors that expose children and young people to
sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. Some of the risks include crime and delinquency, the prevalence
of commercial sex work, the screening of pornographic and other violent films, street business, peer
influence, congested pattern of residence, and widespread drug/substance abuse. As a result, many
children have become victims of sexual abuse/exploitation. Certain children and young people are
more susceptible to these risks because of circumstances such as extreme poverty, parental death,
family disorganization, neglect, migration, trafficking, and streetism. Despite the presence of the risk
and vulnerability factors, many children and young people in Merkato remained resilient to sexual
abuse/exploitation due to the presence of various protective factors. These include personal qualities
of individual children plus the role of the family, peers, school clubs, NGOs, religious institutions, and
private citizens.
Regarding personal qualities, many children and young people developed critical consciousness to
understand threats around them and devised appropriate strategies to overcome those threats. Many
children developed the ability to operate in teams, a strategy devised partly to protect each other
against sex offenders. A good number of them also possessed the ability to act independently and
make their environment as safe and productive as possible. They kept themselves busy with different
activities (e.g., education, work, and creative venture), and these strategies helped them not only
build their futures but also keep distance from dangerous situations. These remarkable personal
qualities affirm the view that children are active players who have their own ideas/views and who
make choices or take actions independently.
A loving and caring family environment represented another protective factor in that it served as a
safeguard against any desire to seek affection, material support, security, and guidance from outside,
which might have exposed children to risks of sexual abuse/exploitation. Many children and young
people stressed family love, inspiration, and sacrifice as crucial factors that reduced their exposure to
risks. Outside the family context, positive peer influence served as a protective factor. Peer pressure
motivated children for success, encouraged them to exhibit appropriate social behaviour, and kept
them away from risky situations. Some high-risk children also demonstrated competence in locating
and accessing protective resources (given in the form of ideas, motivation, funds, materials, and/or
skills training) at the disposal of such institutions as schools, NGOs, religious organizations, and the
private sector. From this it is evident that resilience is a product of actor competencies as well as
relations and interactions of different factors and environments.
Some children and young people managed to avoid dangerous situations, while others could not
withstand the pressure/temptation that subjected them to abuse/exploitation. While some managed
to disengage themselves from risky sex work, others continued to practice it. Many sex workers
wanted to quit because of the social stigma, health risks, and abuses by customers. However, the
actual recovery is reported to be rather difficult without adequate preparation and/or external
assistance to ensure a dependable source of income. Most sex workers explained that their income
from sex work was so insufficient and highly variable that they could not save money for investment
beyond meeting survival needs. Despite such challenges, however, there were still some who
managed to set aside money to embark on activities intended to contribute to their recovery. Some
recovered former prostitutes decided to quit as soon as they discovered alternative means such as
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jobs, training opportunities, and shelter. It can be argued that most prostitutes in the study area
would quit sex work if they were provided with support schemes that addressed their short-term and
long-term life concerns.
Most sex workers and those who recovered from the business reported that poverty and family
disharmony forced them to leave their homes and become prostitutes. Others left home for reasons
such as parental death and the cumulative effect of poverty. The majority of girls did not leave their
homes with the intention of becoming prostitutes. Out of desperation and frustration, they were
rather swayed into sex work largely by peers who were working as prostitutes. After entry, some
exhibited features of resilience by pulling themselves out of the exploitative situations. Recovery from
sex work for some was represented by reunion with families and reintegration into society. Efforts
made to assist the recovery of former prostitutes significantly elevated their self-esteem and
reassured them about their social relevance.
It is important to note that most recovered former commercial sex workers received help from their
friends rather than from families or NGOs. Despite the absence of meaningful external support, the
recovery experiences were largely smooth. Exposure to risks of sexual abuse/exploitation could be
reduced through economic assistance to vulnerable individuals and families.
The study revealed that unattended children, namely, migrants, trafficked children, orphans, those in
child-headed households, and those living on the street are highly exposed to sexual
abuse/exploitation. Risks might be addressed with more active monitoring to identify the most
vulnerable children among this already vulnerable group, and report cases of sexual
abuse/exploitation earlier. It is also important to provide these unattended children with the
assistance they need such as educational opportunities, skills training, income generating activities,
and problem solving skills.
Most informants (children and adults) indicated that some families and most neighbourhoods failed to
act as protective agencies. Some families turned deaf ears and blind eyes to risks of sexual
exploitation; neighbourhoods are less vigilant and little concerned about sex offences; the feeling of
shame discourages victims and their families to report such offenses; and, in many cases, victims of
sexual assault are blamed and ashamed. Their protective role might be enhanced through awareness
raising work, enhancement of the capacities/mandates of neighbourhood organizations (e.g., idir), etc.
For the majority of the children and young women in sex work, recovery was rather difficult for
various reasons. However, this does not mean that they all are passive victims or powerless losers.
The study revealed that many have adopted coping strategies that range from legally and morally
unacceptable activities (e.g., stealing and drug use) to socially and economically appropriate
behaviours (e.g., sharing resources and saving money).
Quitting sex work seemed to be the dream of every prostitute included in the study. Most commercial
sex workers and those who recovered from the exploitative situations underlined the presence of the
strong desire among many prostitutes to disengage themselves from sex work, which is surrounded by
stigma, health risks, and different forms of sexual abuses and exploitation. Many are reported to be
practicing prostitution for lack of dependable alternative means of making a living. When the
alternatives existed, some took the opportunity to recover.
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Children, parents, community leaders, and NGO representatives expressed their dissatisfaction with
the legal system in preventing sexual assault and bringing the perpetrators to justice. Most felt that
the system is ineffective in taking measures against organized gangsters, drug/substance abusers,
pornographic film distributors/screeners, child traffickers, and sexual predators. There seems to be a
need to make kebele administrations and law-enforcement agencies (e.g., the police and the court)
key players or primary partners in the effort to strengthen child protection.
The crowded neighbourhoods of Merkato are filled with numerous children, many of whom were
born out of wedlock and being raised by single mothers. Mothers working as prostitutes are reported
to be practicing sex wok in the presence of their children. Access to good family planning services
might be useful in reducing the numbers of unwanted pregnancies.
The study revealed that most young women who recovered from sexual abuse/exploitation continued
to live in risky situations. Many were not reintegrated with families. Most village girls were ashamed
to return home after recovery because they have lost contact with their families and lacked the
economic resources and skills to start new lives in their respective villages. Given their present
economic and social circumstances, one cannot rule out possibilities of relapse.
The study showed that children in peer groups influenced each other's attitudes, interests, and actions
positively or negatively. Some became victims of sexual abuse/exploitation because of their
association with bad friends while others were prevented or rescued from such adversities by good
peers.
Religious institutions have leverage on their followers. The major religious institutions in Merkato
have educational programs that involve moral instruction. A significant number of non-abused
children reported that their involvement in religious programs contributed to their resilience to sexual
abuse/exploitation.
Some schools (not most) have girls’ clubs and anti-HIV/AIDS clubs. A good number of informants
reported to have learnt how to protect themselves against sexual offenders after joining these clubs.
Besides sexual abuse/exploitation, the club members discuss such issues as sexuality, early marriage,
forced marriage, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases.
The study revealed that individuals and businesses could make significant contributions to child
protection efforts. A case in point is Ms Zemi Yenus, the owner of NIANA Business, who provided skills
training in hair dressing to more than 2000 sex workers. Merkato is a centre of business in Addis
Ababa, and the business community in the area might be mobilized to play their part in supporting
vulnerable children and facilitating the recovery efforts of commercial sex workers.
Child protection initiatives and programs in Merkato could focus on prevention strategies designed to
reduce the risks and vulnerabilities; measures to address the concerns of children in distress; and a
learning process to gain knowledge not only from the experiences of resilient children but also the
commendable works of individuals, families, communities, and organizations. It needs to be stressed
that schools, NGOs, CBOs, religious institutions, and the private sector have the potential to make
significant contributions to child protection, alongside the involvement of such key players as kebele
administrations and law-enforcement agencies.
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Annex 1: Interview Guides
Interview Guides for Different Categories of Children
Category 1: children currently/recently abused/exploited
Questions for children aged 10-13
1. Tell me what you have done today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday (Probe: ask about
school/education, play, visit, sports/games, films/videos watched, helping family, work, etc.)
2. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, family job, previous/current
residence, migration experience, whether one is attending school, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
5. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
6. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses, chat, alcohol, etc.)
7. Does/did anyone hurt/bother you at the moment or recently? (Probe: after confirming sexual
abuse/exploitation, ask how it started (forced, enticed) and continued).
8. If sexual abuse/exploitation was involved, do/did your parents and neighbours know about it?
If yes, how did they know, what was their reaction, and how did it affect your relation with
them? If no, why did you keep it secret?
9. If currently abused/exploited, did you try (are you trying) to get out of the existing relations? If
yes, when and what happened? If no, why didn't you try to get out of it? Tell me if you need
any specific form of support to get out of the situation.
10. If recently abused/exploited, how did you to get out of it? (Probe: ask the moments of turning
point, strategies employed, assistance obtained, incidence of recurrence, etc.)
11. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for one's dream before, during, and after the
abuse/exploitation encounter; specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as education,
business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; the experience of someone who
recovered; any effort made so far; etc.)
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Questions for children aged 14-17
1. Tell me what you have done today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday (Probe: ask about
school/education, play, visit, sports/games, films/videos watched, helping family, work, etc.)
2. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, socialization, educational
attendance/attainment, family relationship, religious affiliation, ethnic background, economic
status of family, previous/current residence, migration experience, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
5. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
6. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses chat, alcohol, etc.)
7. Did anyone make a sexual advance to you? Did you ever experience sexual intercourse?
(Probe: after confirming sexual abuse/exploitation, ask how it stated and continued).
8. If sexual abuse/exploitation was involved, do/did your parents and neighbours know about it?
If yes, how did they know, what was their reaction, and how did it affect your relation with
them? If no, why did you keep it secret?
9. If currently abused/exploited, did you try (are you trying) to get out of the existing relations? If
yes, when and what happened? If no, why didn't you try to get out of it? Tell me if you need
any specific form of support to get out of the situation.
10. If recently abused/exploited, how did you to get out of it? (Probe: ask the moments of turning
point, strategies employed, assistance obtained, incidence of recurrence, etc.)
11. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for one's dream before, during, and after the
abuse/exploitation encounter; specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as education,
business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; the experience of someone who
recovered; any effort made so far; etc.)
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Questions for children aged 18-21
1. Tell me about yourself from birth to present (place and date of birth, socialization, educational
attendance/attainment, family relationship, religious affiliation, ethnic background, economic
status of family, previous/current residence, migration experience, etc.)
2. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. What kinds of things are most challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
5. What did/do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses drug, chat, alcohol, etc.)
6. Did you ever experience sexual abuse/exploitation? If yes, tell me where, when, and how it
happened and continued? (Probe if forced by people/situations, enticed, etc.)
7. Did/do your family/neighbours know about your sexual abusive/exploitative situation? If yes,
how did they learn, react, and the effects? If kept secret, why?
8. If currently abused/exploited, did you try (are you trying) to get out of the existing relations? If
yes, when and what happened? If no, why didn't you try to get out of it? Tell me if you need
any specific form of support to get out of the situation.
9. If recently abused/exploited, how did you to get out of it? (Probe: ask the moments of turning
point, strategies employed, assistance obtained, incidence of recurrence, etc.)
10. Do you know anyone who has recovered from abusive/exploitative situation? If yes, could you
tell me details about the person(s): who, how, when, where?
11. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for one's dream before, during, and after the
abuse/exploitation encounter; specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as education,
business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; the experience of someone who
recovered; any effort made so far; etc.)
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Category 2: abused/exploited, but recovered/recovering children
Questions for children aged 10-13
1. Tell me what you have done today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday (Probe: ask about
school/education, play, visit, sports/games, films/videos watched, helping family, work, etc.)
2. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, family job, previous/current
residence, migration experience, whether one is attending school, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
5. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
6. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses chat, alcohol, etc.)
7. Did anyone hurt/bother you in the past? (Probe: after confirming sexual abuse and/or
exploitation, ask how it started and continued).
8. Did your family/neighbours know about your sexual abusive/exploitative situation? If yes, how
did they learn, react, and the effects? If kept secret, for how long and why?
9. How did you get out of the abusive/exploitative situation? (Probe: what contributed to the
decision, turning points, incidence of relapse, support received from others, etc.) (Probe: ask
whether the child sought help, when, how or agencies reached out to child).
10. Did you encounter any problem/challenge after recovery? If yes, mention all. (Probe: ask if
challenges are economic, social, and/or psychological; ask if the child was back or worried of
getting back to the abusive/exploitative situation and why; etc.)
11. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for one's dream before, during, and after the
abuse/exploitation encounter; specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as education,
business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; the experience of someone who
recovered; any effort made so far; etc.)
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Questions for children aged 14-17
1. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, family job, previous/current
residence, migration experience, whether one is attending school, etc.)
2. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
5. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses chat, alcohol, etc.)
6. Did anyone make a sexual advance to you? Did you ever experience sexual intercourse?
(Probe: after confirming sexual abuse/exploitation, ask how it started and continued).
7. Did your family/neighbours know about your sexual abusive/exploitative situation? If yes, how
did they learn, react, and the effects? If kept secret, for how long and why?
8. How did you get out of the abusive/exploitative situation? (Probe: what contributed to the
decision, earlier plan, persuaded by someone, turning points, steps taken from the decision
day, incidence of relapse, other details about recovery, current income level, current
relationships with family, etc?)
9. Do/did you receive any form of support from people/agencies to recover? If yes, give details
about the support. Ask whether the child sought help or an agency reached out to the child,
when, and how.
10. Do/did you encounter any problem/challenge after recovery? If yes, mention all and the kind
of support you need. (Probe: ask for the nature of challenge; if the child was back or worries
about getting back to the abusive/exploitative situation; etc.)
11. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for one's dream before, during, and after the
abuse/exploitation encounter; specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as education,
business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; the experience of someone who
recovered; any effort made so far; etc.)
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Questions for children aged 18-24
1. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, family job, previous/current
residence, migration experience, whether one is attending school, etc.)
2. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
5. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses chat, alcohol, etc.)
6. Did you ever experience sexual abuse/exploitation? If yes, tell me where, when, and how it
happened and continued? (Probe if forced by people/situations, enticed, etc.)
7. Did your family/neighbours know about your sexual abusive/exploitative situation? If yes, how
did they learn, react, and the effects? If kept secret, for how long and why?
8. How did you get out of the abusive/exploitative situation? (Probe: what contributed to the
decision, earlier plan, persuaded by someone, turning points, steps taken from the decision
day, incidence of relapse, other details about recovery, current income level, current
relationships with family, etc?)
9. Do/did you receive any form of support from people/agencies to recover? If yes, give details
about the support. Ask whether the child sought help or an agency reached out to the child,
when, and how.
10. Do/did you encounter any problem/challenge after recovery? If yes, mention all and the kind
of support you need. (Probe: ask for the nature of challenge; if the child was back or worries
about getting back to the abusive/exploitative situation; etc.)
11. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for one's dream before, during, and after the
abuse/exploitation encounter; specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as education,
business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; the experience of someone who
recovered; any effort made so far; etc.)
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Category 3: vulnerable but non-abused/exploited children
Questions for children aged 10-13
1. Tell me what you have done today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday (Probe: ask about
school/education, play, visit, sports/games, films/videos watched, helping family, work, etc.)
2. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, family job, previous/current
residence, migration experience, whether one is attending school, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
5. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
(Probe: ask if there is prostitution, alcoholism, crime, economic hardships, etc.)
6. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses chat, alcohol, etc.)
7. Are there people in the neighbourhood who make inappropriate advances to children like
you? If yes, do you know children who are sexually abused/exploited? Tell me what happened
to them. Tell me if someone has tried to approach you too. (Probe: ask who, where, when and
whether the attempt was to force, lure, etc.)
8. What exposes young children to people who make inappropriate advances? (Probe: ask for
what the child considers risks and if he/she could talk about avoiding them.)
9. Do you think that you may face sexual abuse/exploitation in the future? If yes, what makes
you think so and what kinds of support do you need to avert those risks? If no, what is the
source of your confidence?
10. Where/how did you learn about protecting oneself from abusers/exploiters? (Probe if family
members, peers, religion, school, etc. played role).
11. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as
education, business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; any effort made so far;
etc.)
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Questions for children aged 14-17
1. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, family job, previous/current
residence, migration experience, whether one is attending school, etc.)
2. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
(Probe: ask if there is prostitution, alcoholism, crime, economic hardships, etc.)
5. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses chat, alcohol, etc.)
6. Are there people in the neighbourhood who try to sexually abuse/exploit children/youth like
you? If yes, do you know children/youth who are sexually abused/exploited? Tell me what
happened to them. Tell me if someone has tried to approach you too. (Probe: ask who, where,
when and whether the attempt was to force, lure, etc.)
7. What do you think exposes young children/youth to sexual abusers/ exploiters? (Probe: ask
for what the informant considers risks and if he/she could talk about avoiding them).
8. Do you think that you may face sexual abuse/exploitation in the future? If yes, what makes
you think so and what kinds of support do you need to avert those risks? If no, what is the
source of your confidence?
9. Where/how did you learn about protecting oneself from abusers/exploiters? (Probe if family
members, peers, religion, school, etc. played role).
10. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do you plan to achieve it? When did you
form this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as
education, business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; any effort made so far;
etc.)
11. Did you receive any support to pursue your dream? (Probe: ask if one obtained/obtains idea,
material, financial, technical, etc. help from family, relatives, and other sources).
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Questions for children aged 18-24
1. Tell me about yourself and your family (place and date of birth, family job, previous/current
residence, migration experience, whether one is attending school, etc.)
2. Did/do you work to support yourself/your family? (Probe: the type of work, since when, how
often, income level, work-related challenges, coping strategies/opportunities, etc.)
3. What is the nature of your relationship with you family over the years? (Probe: ask if the
relationship is caring, supportive, conflicting, broken, dysfunctional, etc.)
4. What kinds of things are difficult or challenging for you growing up here or where you were?
(Probe: ask if there is prostitution, alcoholism, crime, economic hardships, etc.)
5. What do you do when you face difficulties in your life? (Probe: ask how difficulties are
handled, if humour is employed, if one counts on others, if one uses chat, alcohol, etc.)
6. Are there people in the neighbourhood who try to sexually abuse/exploit children/youth like
you? If yes, do you know children/youth who are sexually abused/exploited? Tell me what
happened to them. Tell me if someone has tried to approach you too. (Probe: ask who, where,
when and whether the attempt was to force, lure, etc.)
7. What do you think exposes young children/youth to sexual abusers/ exploiters? (Probe: ask
for what the informant considers risks and if he/she could talk about avoiding them).
8. Do you think that you may face sexual abuse/exploitation in the future? If yes, what makes
you think so and what kinds of support do you need to avert those risks? If no, what is the
source of your confidence?
9. Where/how did you learn about protecting oneself from abusers/exploiters? (Probe if family
members, peers, religion, school, etc. played role).
10. What do you aspire t become in the future and how do plan to achieve it? When did you form
this goal/hope in your mind? (Probe: ask for specific strategies dreamt/pursued, such as
education, business, and out-migration; the influence of role models; any effort made so far;
etc.)
11. Did you receive any support to pursue your dream? (Probe: ask if one obtained/obtains idea,
material, financial, technical, etc. help from family, relatives, and other sources).
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Interview Guides for Parents of Three Categories of Children
For parents of children currently/recently abused/exploited
1. Does your neighbourhood present any challenge for children to grow up without being
abused/exploited? If yes, what are the vulnerability and risk factors? (Probe: check if poverty,
prostitution, etc are mentioned; ask if the risk has always been there or new.) If no, what
makes this neighbourhood safer/better than others? If there are worse places, specify the
location(s) and explain what makes them worse.
2. Has your child(ren) ever been abused/exploited? If yes, when/how, how did you learn about
it, how did you react to it, and how did it affect your relation with your child?
3. What could have been done to avoid it? Whose fault do you think it was? (Probe: ask if the
abuser/exploiter, the child, the family, or any other agency was held responsible).
4. What is the current situation of your child? If currently abused/exploited, did you try (are you
trying) to get her/him out? If yes, what did you do and what happened? If no, why not? If
recently abused/exploited, how did he/she get out of it? Does she/he face risks of relapse?
5. All children are not victims of child sexual abuse/exploitation. Some remain resilient, while
others try to recover from such ordeals. What explains the behaviour of resilient (non-abused)
children? How about the behaviours of those try to recover from abuse and exploitation and
those who continue to be abused/exploited?
For parents of abused/exploited, but recovered/recovering children
1. Does your neighbourhood present any challenge for children to grow up without being
abused/exploited? If yes, what are the vulnerability and risk factors? (Probe: check if poverty,
prostitution, etc are mentioned; ask if the risk has always been there or new.) If no, what
makes this neighbourhood safer/better than others? If there are worse places, specify the
location(s) and explain what makes them worse.
2. Did anyone abuse/exploit your child? If yes, when/how did it happen, how/when did you
learn, how did you react to it, and how did it affect your relation with your child?
3. What could have been done to avoid it? Whose fault do you think it was? (Probe: ask if the
abuser/exploiter, the child, the family, or any other agency was held responsible).
4. How did your child recover from the abusive/exploitative situation? (Probe: ask if the child
helped herself/himself, helped by parents/relatives, helped by agencies, etc.)
5. All children are not victims of child sexual abuse/exploitation. Some remain resilient, while
others try to recover from such ordeals. What explains the behaviour of resilient (non-abused)
children? How about the behaviours of those try to recover from abuse and exploitation and
those who continue to be abused/exploited?
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For parents of vulnerable but non-abused/exploited children
1. Does your neighbourhood present any challenge for children to grow up without being
abused/exploited? If yes, what are the vulnerability and risk factors? (Probe: check if poverty,
prostitution, etc. are mentioned; ask if the risk has always been there or new).
2. Do you know any abused/exploited child(ren) in your neighbourhood? If yes, when/how did it
happen, how did you learn about it, and how did you react to it?
3. What could have been done to avoid what happened to the neighbour’s child(ren)? Whose
fault do you think it was? (Probe: ask if the abuser/exploiter, the child, the family, or any other
agency was held responsible).
4. How did your child avoid risks of sexual abuse/exploitation? (Probe: ask if it has to do with
child's personality, family help, culture, religion, school, help by agency, etc.)
5. All children are not resilient to sexual abuse/exploitation. What explains the behaviour of
resilient (non-abused) children? How about the behaviours of those try to recover from abuse
and exploitation and those who continue to be abused/exploited?
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Interview Guides for NGO Representatives
1. What is the particular area of concern that your project strives to address in relation to child
issues?
2. How serious a problem are child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation in the area of your
project intervention?
3. What forms do child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation take in your project community?
(Probe: the forms of the practice for female and male children and older girls and boys).
4. What are the factors that expose children and young people to sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation in the area where you operate? (Probe: external circumstances such as family
problems, environmental situations or internal factors existing within individual children)
What are the factors that expose particularly male children and young boys to sexual abuse?
5. Which of these factors are more or less likely to expose children in your project localities to
the problems of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation and why?
6. Have you observed children who manage to avoid becoming forced or lured into sexual abuse
and sexual exploitation, regardless of living in the risk situations? What type of children are
the ones that manage to do so? What factors or qualities (in the children, in the family,
neighbourhood, school, or the wider community) help to protect these children?
7. What type of children are those that are particularly vulnerable to becoming the objects of
sexual abuse and sexual exploitation? Why do such children succumb to these adversities,
whereas others of like age, and family and environmental background happen to avoid them?
8. Have you made observations of children who have succeeded in extracting themselves from
sexually abusive and sexually exploitative situations, once they have experienced living under
these circumstances? What do you think lies behind the success of these children in pulling
themselves out of these situations?
9. Have you witnessed cases in which children slip back into the life sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation, once they have successfully lifted themselves out of the situation? How common
is such experience and why does it happen at all?
10. Based on your observations and lessons from project implementation, what types of support
do children require to stay out of sexually abusive and sexual exploitative situations, succeed
in pulling themselves out in case they find themselves forced or enticed into the problems,
and avoid the possibility of relapse after getting out?
83
Annex 2: Thematic areas for data
organization and transcription
Vulnerable, Non-Abused/Exploited
1. Daily routine
2. Family and personal background
3. Nature of family relationship
4. Type of work done to support family and self
5. Difficulties/challenges in the neighbourhood acting as vulnerability factors to CSAE
6. Behaviour/coping strategies when faced with problems
7. Knowledge about sexual abuse/exploitation/any children who may have been victims
8. Protection of self against sexual abuse/exploitation (including personal experience and
assistance obtained)
9. Worry of becoming abused/exploited
10. Future aspirations and methods of achievement
Currently/Recently Abused/Exploited
1. Daily routine
2. Family and personal background
3. Nature of family relationship
4. Type of work done to support family and self
5. Difficulties/challenges in the neighbourhood acting as vulnerability factors to CSAE
6. Behaviour/coping strategies when faced with problems
7. Experience of abuse/exploitation or worry that it may be repeated
8. Knowledge of parents/neighbours about the situation
9. Intention or attempt to get out of the situation and support obtained
10. Future aspirations and methods of achievement
84
Recovered/Recovering
1. Daily routine
2. Family and personal background
3. Nature of family relationship
4. Type of work done to support family and self
5. Difficulties/challenges in the neighbourhood acting as vulnerability factors to CSAE
6. Behaviour/coping strategies when faced with problems
7. Experience of abuse/exploitation or worry that it may be repeated
8. Knowledge of parents/neighbours about the situation
9. 9 Process of recover
10. Pre-recovery challenges/opportunities
– Moment of recovery
– Post-recovery challenges/opportunities
– Support obtained
11. Future aspirations and methods of achievement
85
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