FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM 8 Africa In Africa, over 50,000 victims are believed to be trafficked annually according to the US Department of States. Although the extent of trafficking is not well documented like elsewhere, poverty and low status of women are major contributing factors. In addition, wars and civil strifes engulfing countries like Sudan and Rwanda, as well as the indifference of some government’s make women and children vulnerable to trafficking22 Trafficking in children for labour is a serious problem in Togo and Benin as well as Botswana, Zaire, Somalia, Ethiopia, Zambia, Nigeria, Algeria. Victims are trafficked to Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana and South Africa. Africans, especially women from Nigeria are trafficked to Western Europe and the Middle East. North America Between 45,000 to 50,000 women and children are trafficked to the United States each year23. Most come from South East Asia and the former Soviet Union. About half are forced into sweatshop labour and domestic servitude. The rest are forced in prostitution and the sex industry. The United States and Canada are the major destinations for young children kidnapped and trafficked for adoption by childless couples unwilling to wait for legitimate child adoption procedures and agencies. The largest source country is Mexico. American men along with Europeans are reportedly the most numerous sex tourists in Central America (Costa Rica, Honduras), South East Asia (the Philippines, Thailand) and South Asia (India, Sri Lanka). Many companies operating in a number of large cities reportedly specialize in sex tours24. 22 Supra note 3, p. 8. 23 Testimony of Frank E. Loy, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, before the sub-committee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Senate Foreign Relation Committee, 22 February, 2000 in Francis T. Miko, Trafficking in Women and Children: The US and International Response, Congressional Research Service Report, The Library of Congress, May 2000. 24 Supra note 3, p.8.