As CenHTRO’s five-year implementation research in Senegal through funding by the US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) comes to a close, we reflect with pride on what has been achieved and with optimism about the lasting impact of our work. Our final research and strategic engagements highlight great progress made and underscore the potential for national and regional actors to continue to build on these efforts.
While the work to combat sex trafficking in Senegal is not over, our collaboration with implementation partners Free the Slaves and UNODC has produced tangible results and progress. Together, we have generated robust data on trafficking prevalence, influenced policies, developed targeted program strategies, assisted in the removal of nearly 300 victims from trafficking, and elevated national, local, and grassroots awareness of sex trafficking in connection within the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector.
MAJOR PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
Over the last 5 years, CenHTRO has worked to strategically approach each of the 4P’s (Prevention, Prosecution, Protection, and Partnership) through comprehensive, research-informed, and community-based strategies. We have focused on understanding the root causes of sex trafficking and have gathered insight into how to best combat the problem and impact the lives of survivors. To do this, CenHTRO brought together a network of government actors, nonprofit organizations, and grassroots groups to address the issue at the local, national, and regional levels.
LAUNCHING SENEGAL’S ENDLINE REPORT
CenHTRO is excited to share the release of our endline research study covering our multi-year project in Senegal: “Estimating Changes in Sex Trafficking Prevalence, Perceptions and Policies in Gold Mining Communities in Kedougou, Senegal Since 2021.”
This endline report covers our study that estimates the prevalence, characteristics, risk factors, and perceptions about sex trafficking, recruitment and coercion practices, and forms of exploitation among women engaged in commercial sex (WECS) in Senegal’s Kedougou region, in the Kedougou and Saraya Departments. It compares changes over the 2021 baseline findings.
We offer strong recommendations for both policy and services that stakeholders can use to address the problem.
The report is available in both English and French and can be accessed by navigating to “Research” and then “Research Reports,” or by clicking the report of your language preference below.
ENDLINE SHARING EVENT IN DAKAR SENEGAL
To ensure sustained integration of these findings, CenHTRO hosted an Endline Sharing Event in Dakar, Senegal, in July 2025 for the official handover of the report and presentation of its findings to our in-country partners and national and regional-level government representatives.
Among those in attendance were national representatives, including Honorable Mr. Younousse Kane, Deputy Director of Criminal Affairs and Pardon, Mrs. Mariama Traoré, the Governor of Kedougou, His Excellency Mr. Aminu Abdulkadir Ambassador of Nigeria to Senegal, Honorable Ansoumana Sarr, Parlementarian, Vice President of the Commission of Law, Labor, Decentralization and Human Rights at the National Assembly, and Mr. Mamadou Saliou Sow, the President of the Kedougou Departmental Council. This event was moderated by Mr. Moustapha Ka, Technical Advisor at the Presidency of the Republic.
Stakeholders emphasized their commitment to address the findings illuminated in the report through efforts to establish adequate and comprehensive policies and responses. The event made clear the successes of our efforts to raise the issue of sex trafficking, particularly in gold mining regions, as a priority within the national agenda.
Our research shows that sex trafficking in this far-flung outpost of Kedougou is, in fact, a regional issue because an overwhelming majority of the victims come from Nigeria. To effectively reduce the problem, we will need to address it at the source and transit countries.
NEW VIDEO: Reducing Sex Trafficking in the Gold Mining Areas of Kedougou, Senegal
This video, produced by Andre Gallant, depicts CenHTRO’s efforts in Senegal to effectively combat the sex trafficking of women and girls in gold mining regions by: (1) implementing evidence-based psychosocial protective care for survivors of trafficking, (2) strengthening the capacity of law enforcement and judicial actors to identify and prosecute traffickers, and (3) highlighting root causes and insights needed to take comprehensive action to prevent the scourge.
The video includes insights from our service provider partners in Kedougou, a representative from the mining sector, a representative from the judicial sector, a representative from the national anti-trafficking unit, and our in-country programming staff.
