![]() The Government of Gabon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking however, it is making significant efforts to do so. West Africans between the ages of 18 and 25 are forced into domestic servitude or prostitution in Gabon. There is also evidence that some traffickers have moved their operations to Lambarene to avoid detection in Libreville, as well as of the involvement of Nigerian syndicates in bringing trafficking victims into Gabon. In some cases, child victims report that their families had turned them over to intermediaries promising employment opportunities in Gabon. Most child traffickers are women, who serve as intermediaries in their countries of origin. Traffickers appear to operate in loose ethnic-based crime networks. The majority of victims aboard the M/S Sharon were young girls, a departure from previous patterns of trafficking in the region. Increased coastal surveillance, especially following the October 2009 arrival of the M/S Sharon carrying 34 child trafficking victims, reportedly caused traffickers to change their routes to estuaries and rivers when transporting children. Girls are subjected to conditions of domestic servitude and forced labor in markets or roadside restaurants. ![]() The majority of victims are boys forced to work as street hawkers or mechanics. Some victims transit Gabon en route to Equatorial Guinea. Gabon is primarily a destination and transit country for children and women from Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Mali, Guinea, and other West African countries who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.
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January 2023
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