The Sex Trafficking Problem in Nigeria

Adaura’s Story

Adaura C., an 18 year old Nigerian woman was promised a job where she would earn 150,000 naira as a domestic worker in Libya. But when she arrived in Libya, she and her friend Jane V were immediately thrown into the underground world of sex work. The madam who betrayed them brought the two girls to various men and made them have unprotected sex with them. After a month of sexual exploitation, Adaura found out she was pregnant. When the madam found out she forced Adaura to have an abortion. She was later sold to a man in Libya who continued to sexually exploit her. After she extricated herself and moved in with the man she was supposed to marry, the extremist group ISIS abducted them, killed her boyfriend but spared Audara because she was pregnant. But she was forced into and underground prison where she had to marry a man who raped her. After three years as a pawn in the sex trafficking ring, Audara was saved by Libyan soldiers and returned back to Nigeria. She has been staying in a shelter and continues to suffer from physical and psychological health problems. She still lives a life where “her future is uncertain” (HRW 3). Adaura’s story is just one of the inhumane cases of sex trafficking.






The Problem of Sex Trafficking Facing Nigeria and Other African Countries

Thousands of women have been trafficked over recent years throughout Nigeria and other countries in Africa, also Europe. Most victims who have made their way to Europe are from Edo State, Nigeria, typically transferred through Libya. Nigerian women endure treacherous journeys through the Sahara Desert to make it to Libya where they can then be sold to other countries. In 2017 IOM reported a 600% increase in the total number of “potential sex traffic victims arriving to Italy by sea,” (HRW 4). Many forms of manipulation are used by traffickers to ensure the girls keep quiet about the operations they are running. These techniques include violence, threats and retaliation against their families. There have been stories of female traffickers, or madams, forcing victims to partake in juju rituals, as a form of oath-taking, which can include the use of human blood, hair and clothing. These rituals are to prevent workers from going to the authorities. These women do not receive proper care once they are abducted. They experience sexual assault, restrictions on movement and denial of medical care and food and many other human rights violations. The abortions conducted on them tend to take place in unsanitary conditions and the women are not given pain medication or antiobiotics.

Displacement is also a major problem facing the women and girls of Nigeria. Conflicts with insurgent group Boko Haram, along with clashes in five north central states, have negatively affected the women and girls and made them more vulnerable to trafficking. As a result of these clashes the economy depresses even more which decreases the availability of social services and support for families.

A lot of trafficking women say they were deceived by people they know into entering the trafficking world. They were made false promises of employment which would help out them and their families. Once they are deceived and abducted they are transported over national borders through life threatening conditions.In 2018 Nigerian trafficking victims were identified in 34 countries in four different regions.

The United Nations Trafficking Protocol defines trafficking as, “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payment or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”

Nigeria is ranked 32 out of 167 countries on the Walk Free Foundation’s “Global Slavery Index” (2018).


Long Lasting Effects on Survivors

The long lasting effects of being a victim in the human trafficking world follow women and children once they make their ways back into society. Survivors suffer from “depression, anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks, aches and pains,” and other illnesses which poorly affect their ability to work effectively (HRW 7). Since they cannot hold long term jobs, they struggle to provide for their families financially. Food is scarce and access to healthcare is unlikely. Female victims are blamed for their exploitation by their families and are often pestered for coming home empty handed. If girls have nowhere to go after they escape they are detained in trafficking survivor shelters and are not allowed to leave. This limited movement and freedom is no better than the freedom they received with trafficking and this treatment makes the recovery for victims even harder to accomplish.


Nigerian Children At Risk

Next to women, children are the next biggest commodity in the sex trafficking world. Nigerian children are more subjectible to entering the sex trafficking ring because of lack of access to education. Violence against children is also occurring at alarming rates. Millions of children in Nigeria do not attend school which puts them at high risk of violence and exploitation. Many children lack birth registration and do not have access to healthcare or education. According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the largest number of children out of school and a striking 10 million, most of them being girls.

There is Hope

There are many different approaches to putting an end to the unlawful business of trafficking in Nigeria. They have started the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and have implemented anti trafficking laws. Nigeria has established shelters, provided medical care and created programs focused on skill training and economic support for trafficking survivors. Survivors have also been aided in shelter accommodation, identification and family tracing, rehabilitation and reintegration. There are still many steps that have to be taken in order for sex trafficking to end. Shelters have to change their policies and make sure survivors are not detained and denied free will. Reintegration services such as counseling and medical care, have to be guaranteed and long term and address mental and physical health needs. The Nigerian government should improve legal assistance for survivors seeking to press charges against their abductors. The government also has to support groups like NAPTIP so that more shelters can be built to house trafficking victims. Organizations, along with government aid, have to provide special services for child survivors to help them reintegrate back into society and reunite with their families.





So where does it end? When will a little girl in Nigeria be able to walk to school without fear of being taken away and never seeing her family again? When will a woman be able to apply for a job to help provide for her family without being deceived and losing the rights to her body? When will sufficient education be available to the children of Nigeria and other countries in Africa so they will be less vulnerable to becoming a commodity in the trafficking business? This is not a problem that is going to be easy to fix, but there are many ways governments and organizations can work to prevent another child from being abducted and forced into sex work.


Citation:

“‘You Pray for Death.’” Human Rights Watch, 27 May 2020, https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/08/27/you-pray-death/trafficking-women-and-girls-nigeria.