Togo: Child prostitution goes unchecked

In downtown Lome there is an area known locally as “The Child Market,” where girls as young as nine are offered for sex, sometimes for less than a dollar. Child welfare groups complain that Togo lacks strong laws to punish the pimps who ruthlessly exploit these children. And the kids themselves complain that the police who patrol the district and are supposed to protect them, simply demand sex for free. Many of these girls have been separated from their families. Others have simply been abandoned. Most are illiterate. Being alone in the world all of them are highly vulnerable to exploitation by pimps and brothel keepers.