Human trafficking in Edo State

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The rate of Human Trafficking in Edo State is alarming[ failed verification (See discussion.)] in this region of Nigeria. [1] Located in Nigeria's Southern region, Edo State accounts for the highest proportion of irregular migrants in Nigeria. [2] Young girls in Edo state are enticed with false promises to leave Nigeria and travel abroad for a better life, by the traffickers. [3] The traffickers in this state also use manipulation, diabolical oath and debt bondage to control their victims and force them into slavery, forced labour, sex trafficking, and organ sales. [4]

Contents

Prevalence

Human trafficking reports and data have shown that Edo state is a prominent source location for trafficking victims and one of the most trafficked destinations in Africa. [5] In 2016, nearly 11,000 women who arrived in Italy for sex trafficking through the Mediterranean Sea, came from Edo state. [6] In 2017, out of 119,000 migrants who arrived in Italy, it was estimated that 18,185 were from Nigeria, 5,425 were women and 94% of these victims came from Edo State. [7] In 2018, 50% of Nigerians who were trapped in Libya hailed from Edo State. [8]

Recruitment of the Victims

Traffickers in Edo State use various strategies to recruit young girls and women for sex trafficking. These include invoking supernatural forces, popularly known as "juju". The young girls who are to be trafficked, are brought to "juju" shrines in remote villages within Benin, where they are forced to swear oaths and drink ritual concoctions. The oath taking is done to seal a pact between the traffickers and the girls, who agree to repay their debts to the traffickers and to never betray them. [9]

Another strategy of traffickers is to target families who are in dire economic straits, and offer to send their daughters to foreign countries to find work. Such parents will then hand over their children to the care of the traffickers. Other traffickers may employ personal relationships (that is, using victim's relatives, friends or lovers) as a means of influencing unsuspecting people into being trafficked. [10]

Intervention

In Edo State, several anti-human trafficking interventions have been developed and implemented by the government, international organisations, non-governmental organisations to check the menace of trafficking in the state. [3] In August 2017, the Edo State government launched the Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT) through the Edo State Trafficking in Persons Prohibition law passed by the Edo State House of Assembly and assented by the governor of state Godwin Obaseki on May 23, 2018. [11] The ETAHT reported that they are engaged receiving victims of human trafficking of Edo state origin, provision of counselling, vocational training, shelter, advocacy programmes and anti-human trafficking research. As at March 2022, the ETAHT reported to have received 5,142 returnees who were victims of human trafficking, 614 returnees have been trained and N101million has been spent to support the victims. [12] [13] [14]

Causes

The root cause of human trafficking is the trafficker. Human trafficking is often worsened by poverty, unstable family structures, harmful traditional beliefs and practices, human greed and lust for power etc. [15]

Types

Several forms of human trafficking exists in Edo State, however, some forms are widespread; for instance:

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking</span> Trade of sexual slaves

Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).

Chilean law does specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were isolated reports that persons were trafficked to, from, and within the country for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 1" in 2017. The law criminalizes promoting the entry into or exit from the country of persons for the purpose of facilitating prostitution, with penalties of up to three years in prison and a fine of $827. Sanctions are increased in a number of circumstances, including cases in which the victim is a minor, violence or intimidation is used, deception or abuse of authority is involved, the victim is related or under the tutelage of the perpetrator, or advantage is taken of a victim's circumstances or handicap. The law criminalizes the prostitution of children and corruption of minors, and the age of consent for sexual relations is 14. The law criminalizes obtaining sexual services from a minor in exchange for money or other considerations.

Sierra Leone is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and the majority of victims are children. Within the country, women and children are trafficked from rural provinces to towns and mining areas for domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and forced labor in diamond mines, petty trading, petty crime, and for forced begging. Women and children may also be trafficked for forced labor in agriculture and the fishing industry. Transnationally, Sierra Leonean women and children are trafficked to other West African countries, notably Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and The Gambia for the same purposes listed above and to North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Europe for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Sierra Leone is a destination country for children trafficked from Nigeria and possibly from Liberia and Guinea for forced begging, forced labor in mines and as porters, and for sexual exploitation. There have also been cases of children trafficked from refugee communities in Sierra Leone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in South Africa</span>

Human trafficking in South Africa occurs as a practice of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation among imported and exported trafficked men, women, and children. Generally, South African girls are trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, while boys are used for street vending, food service, and agriculture. Anecdotal evidence suggests that South African children can also be forced to provide unpaid labor for landowners in return for land occupancy, living accommodation, or for maintaining labor tenancy rights. In any case, this form of unpaid labor has caused human trafficking to be described as a modern form of slavery. Human trafficking is the result of a combination of several factors, including gender inequality, economic instability, and political conflict. Since Africa experiences all of these, it is an active hub for human trafficking. Many urge for the need of a cultural shift to reduce instances of human trafficking by lessening the demand for sex and unpaid labor.

Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Large scale migration of Zimbabweans to surrounding countries—as they flee a progressively more desperate situation at home—has increased, and NGOs, international organizations, and governments in neighboring countries are reporting an upsurge in these Zimbabweans facing conditions of exploitation, including human trafficking. Rural Zimbabwean men, women, and children are trafficked internally to farms for agricultural labor and domestic servitude and to cities for domestic labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked for domestic labor and sexual exploitation, including in brothels, along both sides of the borders with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work, often laboring for months in South Africa without pay before "employers" have them arrested and deported as illegal immigrants. Young women and girls are lured to South Africa, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada with false employment offers that result in involuntary domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Men, women, and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa. Small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic servitude. The government’s efforts to address trafficking at home have increased with the introduction of the National Action Plan (NAP) as well as the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Act. In addition, the trafficking situation in the country is worsening as more of the population is made vulnerable by declining socio-economic conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking</span> Trade of humans for exploitation

Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation.

Indonesia is a source, transit, and destination country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. The greatest threat of trafficking facing Indonesian men and women is that posed by conditions of forced labor and debt bondage in more developed Asian countries and the Middle East.

The Bahamas is a destination country for men and some women from Haiti and other Caribbean countries who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor, and, to a lesser extent, women from Jamaica and other countries who are in forced prostitution. Haitian trafficking victims are most likely to migrate to The Bahamas voluntarily, but subsequently be subjected to forced labor in agriculture, domestic service, or forced prostitution. Some employers coerce migrant workers – legal and illegal – to work longer hours, at lower pay, and in conditions not permitted under local labor law by changing the terms of employment contracts, withholding travel documents, refusing transportation back home, threatening to withdraw the employer-specific and employer-held permits, or threatening to have the employee deported through other means. Traffickers reportedly lure Jamaican and other foreign women to the Bahamas with offers of employment in the tourism and entertainment fields and subject the women to forced prostitution after their arrival. The Ministry of Education is investigating allegations that some high school girls in Eleuthera may be involved in a prostitution ring. This report is the only indication that Bahamian citizens may be victims of human trafficking.

Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017. Trafficked people, particularly women and children, are recruited from within and outside the country's borders – for involuntary domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, street hawking, domestic servitude, mining, begging etc. Some are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Children from other West African states like Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria's granite mines. Europe, especially Italy and Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, are prime destinations for forced prostitution.Nigerians accounted for 21% of the 181,000 migrants that arrived in Italy through the Mediterranean in 2016 and about 21,000 Nigerian women and girls have been trafficked to Italy since 2015.

Greece is a transit, source and destination country for women and children who are subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution and conditions of forced labor for men, women, and children. Female sex trafficking victims originate primarily in Eastern Europe and former Soviet bloc countries. Traffickers use physical, emotional, and sexual abuse for coercion. Greece's European Union membership, coupled with a shared border with Turkey, means the country sees massive flows of illegal immigrants looking to enter the EU. Traffickers also use Greece not only as a destination but also as transit stop and also as a source country where even Greek women are prostituted on the way to Western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in China</span>

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Djibouti is a transit and, to a lesser extent, a source and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in people, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. There is little verifiable data on the human trafficking situation in Djibouti. An estimated 150 000 voluntary economic migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia passed illegally through Djibouti en route to Yemen and other locations in the Middle East in 2022; among this group, a small number of women and girls may fall victim to involuntary domestic servitude or forced commercial sexual exploitation after reaching Djibouti City or the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking corridor. An unknown number of migrants – men, women, and children – are subjected to conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution after reaching Yemen and other destinations in the Middle East. Djibouti's large refugee population – consisting of Somalis, Ethiopians, and Eritreans – as well as foreign street children remain vulnerable to various forms of exploitation within the country, including human trafficking. Older street children reportedly act, at times, as pimps for younger children. A small number of girls from impoverished Djiboutian families may engage in prostitution with the encouragement of family members or other people in prostitution. Members of foreign militaries stationed in Djibouti contribute to the demand for women and girls in prostitution, including trafficking victims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in Kazakhstan</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in East Timor</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in Guatemala</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in Nigeria</span> Traditional slave trade in southeastern Nigeria

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The Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT) is a Nigerian task force established by the Edo State Government to tackle human trafficking and irregular migration in the state, as well as the stigma that comes with it, State Task Force against human trafficking, is currently replicated in a host of southern states such as Ondo, Delta, Oyo, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti States, etc. Prof. Yinka Omorogbe the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Edo State, is also the chairman of the task force. In the year 2017, Mr Godwin Obaseki inaugurated the state task force on anti-human trafficking. The members of the task force were inaugurated at the Government House in Benin City, the state capital. The Edo Task Force Against Human Trafficking is said to have received about 5,619 returnees from Libya en-route Europe from 2017 till date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour</span> Nigerian umbrella network against human trafficking

Network Against Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) is an umbrella organisation of Nigerian non-governmental organizations engaged in advocacy and campaign for children's rights, anti-human trafficking, human rights abuse and child labour with some 220 member organizations in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory.

Sex trafficking in Nigeria is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation Nigeria. This involves the exploitation and movement of people from one location to the other through coercsion, deception or forcibly to exploit them sexually for financial and sexual benefits.

The Lagos State Task Force Against Human Trafficking is a Nigerian task force established by the Lagos State Government to tackle human trafficking and irregular migration. On September 8, 2020, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, inaugurated the state task force on human trafficking at the Government house, with the overall objective of coordinating a multi-sectoral response to prevent human trafficking, provide access to justice for victims of trafficking, prosecute traffickers and enhance the process of successfully restoring survivors to a state of physical, psycho-social, vocational and economic well-being. This task force is currently being replicated in other southwestern states of Nigeria.

References

  1. ↑ Braimah, Tim (2013-06-01). "Sex Trafficking in Edo State: Causes and Solutions". Social Science Research Network . Rochester, NY. SSRN   2273039.
  2. ↑ ETAHT, Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking. "Working to eradicate human trafficking and irregular migration in Edo State" (PDF). ETAHT. Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 Olubukola, Irele Abigail (2020). "Human Trafficking in Edo State, Nigeria: Experiences of Some Young Girls who have Survived Trafficking". Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research. 17 (2): 204–224. ISSN   1813-2227.
  4. ↑ Anyabuike, Teresa (28 April 2020). "In Edo State, advocates aim to engage the people in anti-trafficking fight". Global Sisters Report. Global Sisters Report. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  5. ↑ Leposo, Nima Elbagir with Hassan John, Lillian. "'Don't struggle if you're raped': Smuggler's chilling words". CNN. Cable News Network. CNN. Retrieved 29 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ IOM, International Organisation on Migration. "UN Migration Agency Issues Report on Arrivals of Sexually Exploited Migrants, Chiefly from Nigeria". International Organization for Migration. International Organisation on Migration. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  7. ↑ IOM, International Organization for Migration. "'Voodoo Curses' Keep Victims of Trafficking Under Bondage". International Organization for Migration. International Organization for Migration. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "Nigeria: Human Trafficking Factsheet". pathfindersji.org. Pathfinders Justice Initiative. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Olufade, Cynthia (March 2019). "Sustenance of Sex Trafficking in Edo State: the Combined Effect of Oath Tacking, Transnational Silence and Migration Imaginaries on Trafficked Women in Edo State". pp. 1–26.
  10. ↑ "Advocacy on human trafficking". Global Sisters Report. 2018-02-06. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  11. ↑ ETAHT, Edo State TaskForce Against Human Trafficking. "Report on Working to Eradicate Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration in Edo State" (PDF). etaht.org. Edo State TaskForce Against Human Trafficking. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  12. ↑ "Edo State Taskforce Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT)". ETAHT. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  13. ↑ "Edo reintegrates over 5,000 victims of human trafficking". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2020-08-25. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  14. ↑ "Edo Govt takes fight against human trafficking to endemic areas in Edo Central". THISDAYLIVE. 2019-07-25. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  15. ↑ Punam, Shashi (2018). Human Trafficking: Causes and Implications.
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