Police have rescued five trafficked girls from bars and bottle stores in the commercial city of Blantyre.
According to Blantyre police publicist Sub Inspector Augustus Nkhwazi, two of the girls are aged 18 while three are aged 17.
The girls who came from Chiradzulu, Thyolo, and Blantyre rural have been taken to their respective homes.
Nkhwazi said the Blantyre Police with support from the Catholic Development Commission (CADECOM) embarked on an exercise aimed at rescuing young girls who of late have been seen in various drinking joints within the city.
“Through the child protection desk, the exercise began on May 9, 2018. By May 15th, a total of five girls had been rescued from drinking joints in Machinjiri, Mbayani and Chirimba townships,” Sub Inspector Nkhwazi told Malawi24.
When asked how they found themselves in the city, the victims revealed that there is a syndicate of sex workers that goes about wooing innocent young girls to go and work in Blantyre as Kaunjika sellers or housemaids.
However, it has been revealed that when the girls arrive in the city they are dumped in bars and bottle stores to find their own means of survival and as a result they end up into prostitution and are commonly known as ‘VANETTE’.
It has been established that the sex workers who traffic the girls relocate to other areas once they see that the victims are used to the trade and able to survive.
The victims further revealed that they fell into this mess due to poverty.
Meanwhile, Police are hunting for the perpetrators who are initiating this form of internal trafficking.
The Police have since reminded the general public that it is an offence punishable by law under the trafficking in persons (TIP) Act and other relevant pieces of legislation to exploit children (girls) into prostitution.
