Sex Trafficking in Africa: How to Recognise It and Protect Women and Girls
Trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation in Africa: warning signs, recruitment methods, what the law says and how to get help for survivors.
Last updated · October 6, 2026
Trafficking for sexual exploitation is one of the most serious crimes committed against women and girls in Africa. Traffickers recruit through false promises of work, study or marriage, then use debt, threats and violence to control the women and girls they exploit.
If you think someone is being trafficked, do not confront the suspected trafficker. Contact the police, your national anti-trafficking agency or a trusted organisation. If this is happening to you, our SAFE page explains how to get help discreetly.
Survivor Support Toolkit
Free tools for women and girls who have lived through violence, and for the people supporting them. Nothing you type here is saved, sent or stored. It disappears when you close the page.
1. What to do now: your next steps
Choose the situation closest to yours. You decide what to do and when.
- If you are in danger right now, move to a room with an exit and no weapons, or leave to a neighbour, a shop or any public place. Call the police or someone you trust.
- Get medical care for any injury, even if it looks small. Ask the health worker to record the injuries. A medical certificate helps if you file a complaint later.
- Make your safety plan with the tool below: trusted person, code word, documents, money, where to go.
- Keep a private record of what happens, only if it is safe for you. Use the incident diary below and print or send it to someone you trust.
- Talk to a women’s organisation. They can listen, help you think through your options and go with you to the police, the health centre or a lawyer. Start from our Get Support page.
- Know the law in your country with the finder below. Many countries now punish domestic violence and offer protection orders.
- Go to a safe place and, if you can, to someone you trust.
- Seek medical care within 72 hours if possible. A health centre can give treatment to prevent HIV, emergency contraception (most effective as early as possible, up to 5 days), care for injuries and a medical certificate. You can receive care without filing a complaint.
- If you may report later, keep the clothes you wore in a paper bag and avoid washing if you can. It is still your choice.
- Write down what you remember when you feel able: date, place, who, what was said. Use the incident diary below.
- Ask for emotional support. Shock, numbness, fear or anger are normal reactions. A counsellor or a women’s organisation can help. The calming exercise below can help in difficult moments.
- Decide about justice in your own time. A legal aid organisation can explain the steps and time limits in your country.
- If you are held or controlled, look for a safe moment to contact the police, a hospital, a church, a mosque or a trusted organisation. Ask for help in your own language.
- You are not to blame, even if you agreed to travel or to the job. Debts imposed by traffickers are not real debts.
- Your documents belong to you. Nobody has the right to keep your passport or ID card.
- Ask for protection. Most African countries have an anti-trafficking agency or a specialised police unit. International standards say survivors must not be punished for offences they were forced to commit.
- Get care and support: medical care, a safe place to stay, legal advice and help to return home or rebuild your life.
- Before any job or travel offer, check it with a trusted organisation, keep copies of your documents and agree on regular contact with your family.
- Find the laws of your country with the finder below: violence, marriage, family, land and health.
- Know your regional rights. The Maputo Protocol protects women’s right to life, integrity and security, equality in marriage, access to justice and inheritance.
- Keep copies of your identity documents, marriage certificate, children’s birth certificates and any land or property papers.
- Ask for free legal aid. Many women’s organisations and bar associations offer it. Start from our Get Support page.
- Report discrimination. National human rights institutions and, when national remedies fail, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights can receive complaints.
- Believe her and listen without judging. Say: “It is not your fault. I am here for you.”
- Do not confront the abuser or trafficker. It can put her and you in danger.
- Let her decide. Offer options, never pressure her to leave, report or forgive.
- Offer practical help: keep a copy of her documents, a bag or some money, agree on a code word, go with her to a service.
- Protect her privacy. Never share her name, photo or story without her written consent.
- Take care of yourself too. Supporting someone through violence is hard.
2. Build your safety plan
Tick what applies and fill in what helps. Print it or save it as a PDF only if it is safe for you to keep it, or give it to someone you trust.
People I can call
Where I can go
Things to keep ready
My children and me
3. Incident diary
A simple record can support a complaint, a protection order or a medical file. Only keep it if it is safe for you. Nothing is saved on this site.
4. Find the laws that protect you
Choose your country to open its profile with the laws on violence, marriage, family, land and health on RFLD’s Dɔnùesè platform.
5. Stay safer online
- Use private browsing, or delete this page from your history.
- Change passwords and turn on two-step verification.
- Check which apps and people can see your location.
- Do not delete threatening messages: take screenshots with the date and keep them somewhere safe.
- Report intimate images shared without consent to the platform. See our African Digital Safety Compendium.
6. A moment to breathe
When fear or panic rises, follow the circle: breathe in as it grows, out as it shrinks. Then name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell and 1 you taste.
You are not alone
RFLD’s 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 African countries support survivors every day. Read survivors’ stories, find help on our SAFE page or contact us at admin@rflgd.org.
What is sex trafficking?
Under the United Nations Palermo Protocol, trafficking in persons means recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person through force, fraud, deception or abuse of a position of vulnerability, for the purpose of exploitation. Sexual exploitation includes forced prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation. When the person trafficked is a child, no force or deception is needed for the act to count as trafficking.
The scale of the problem
The UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024 found that the number of people identified as trafficked rose by 25% in 2022 compared with 2019. Children made up 38% of those identified, and girls are mostly trafficked for sexual exploitation. Detected cases are only a fraction of the real number, especially in regions where few survivors are identified.
In West and Central Africa, women and girls are trafficked within their own country, across borders in the region and towards North Africa, Europe and the Gulf. Conflict, displacement, poverty and the closure of schools increase the risk.
Warning signs
- A job offer abroad or in a big city that seems too good, with travel paid by a stranger who will be repaid later.
- Someone else holds the person’s passport or identity documents.
- The person owes a large, growing debt to an employer, a travel agent or a madam.
- She cannot move freely, is always accompanied, or speaks as if she has been told what to say.
- Signs of violence, fear, or a sudden change in behaviour after travelling.
- Online recruitment through social media, dating apps or fake modelling and job agencies.
What the law says
Article 4 of the Maputo Protocol requires States to prevent and condemn trafficking in women, prosecute traffickers and protect the women most at risk. ECOWAS adopted a regional plan of action against trafficking in persons in 2001, and most African States have ratified the Palermo Protocol and adopted national anti-trafficking laws. Nigeria, for example, created its National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in 2003.
An important principle applies everywhere: survivors of trafficking should not be punished for offences they were forced to commit, such as illegal entry or prostitution. They are entitled to protection, care and support to return or rebuild their lives. Check the laws of your country on our Dɔnùesè legislative platform.
How RFLD responds
RFLD and its 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 African countries work to prevent trafficking in communities, support survivors and push governments to apply the law. The network trains journalists, community and religious leaders, documents online exploitation and abuse, and advocates before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Grassroots groups receive support through the West African Feminist Fund. Read more about related harms on our pages on sexual violence and domestic violence.
Frequently asked questions
Is trafficking the same as smuggling?
No. Smuggling is helping someone cross a border illegally, with their agreement, and it ends at arrival. Trafficking is about exploiting a person, it can happen without crossing any border, and consent obtained by deception does not count.
Can a woman who agreed to travel still be a survivor of trafficking?
Yes. If her agreement was obtained through lies about the work, the pay or the conditions, or if she was later controlled through debt or threats, she is a survivor of trafficking.
Will a survivor be arrested for being in a country illegally or for prostitution?
International standards say survivors should not be punished for offences linked to their trafficking. In practice this is not always respected, which is why it helps to contact a support organisation or a lawyer early.
How can families protect girls from traffickers?
Check any job, study or travel offer with a trusted organisation, keep copies of identity documents, agree on regular contact, and talk openly with girls about the tactics traffickers use, including online.
Sources
Advance gender justice with RFLD
A pan-African feminist network of 1,143 member organisations across 35+ countries — advocacy, research, re-granting and direct service delivery.