Global Issues

Burundi

• Source country for children and possibly women subjected to forced begging and sex trafficking.

• Government does not enforce rape law effectively, and rape and other sexual violence against women and girls were problems.

• Men often abandoned their wives following acts of rape, and rape victims were ostracized.

• Male tourists from the Middle East, particularly Lebanon, exploit Burundian girls in prostitution.

• Business people recruit Burundian girls for prostitution in Bujumbura, as well as in Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda.

 

Advocacy:

• Domestic NGO Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons assist rape victims.

• Ministries of Health and Solidarity provided ad hoc support to trafficking victims through the provision of medical care vouchers and limited funding to some service providers, but most victim assistance provided by NGOs and local organizations, without government support.

• Women’s and Ethics Brigade, provided counseling to children in prostitution.

• Christine Sabiyumva commanded the National Police’s Women and Children’s Brigade. Sabiyumva is well known on the streets of Bujumbura, where she personally searches for children in prostitution and human traffickers.

Sources: U.S. Department of State 2010 Human Rights Report, U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2011; U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2010