Human trafficking in Malawi

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Malawi ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2005.^[1]

In 2010 Malawi was primarily a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution within the country and abroad. Most Malawian trafficking victims were exploited internally, though Malawian victims of sex and labor trafficking have also been identified in South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, and parts of Europe. To a lesser extent, Malawi was a transit point for foreign victims and a destination country for men, women, and children from Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe subjected to conditions of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Within the country, some children were forced into domestic servitude, cattle herding, agricultural labor, and menial work in various small businesses. Exploited girls and women become "bar girls" at local bars and rest houses where they are coerced to have sex with customers in exchange for room and board. Forced labor in agriculture is often found on tobacco plantations. Labor traffickers were often villagers who have moved to urban areas and subsequently recruit children from their original villages through offers of good jobs. Brothel owners or other prostitution facilitators lured girls with promises of nice clothing and lodging. Upon arrival, they charged the girl high rental fees for these items and instructed her how to engage in prostitution to pay off the debt. South African and Tanzanian long-distance truck drivers and mini-bus operators moved victims across porous borders by avoiding immigration checkpoints. Some local businesswomen who also travelled regularly to neighboring countries to buy clothing for import have been identified as traffickers. Reports of European tourists paying for sex with teenage boys and girls continued.^[2]

In 2010 the Government of Malawi did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it made significant efforts to do so. While the government maintained its efforts to ensure victims' access to protective services and prevent trafficking, adults trafficked for sex or labor exploitation and children exploited in domestic servitude and prostitution still did not receive the same amount of care as children exploited in forced labor.^[2]

The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017^[3] and in 2023.^[4]