WUNRN
Wahaya
- Fifth Wives: Young Girls Sold Into Slavery
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“Before
I belonged to my master, I just had to obey him. I could never make
suggestions, I was just a thing, a multi-purpose object to be used at any
time, however and wherever." |
In Niger and neighbouring Nigeria a practice of slavery still operates where
women and young girls are sold into sexual and domestic slavery as the
unofficial wives known as ‘wahaya’.
Girls from the ‘black Tuareg’ group are sold by their Tuareg ‘masters’ to
wealthy men, including religious leaders, from the Hausa ethnic group in
Northern Nigeria, who view the purchase of young women as a sign of prestige.
Once sold the girls are known as 'wahaya' or ‘fifth wives’ – because they are
additional to the four wives legally permitted in Niger and Nigeria. Yet no
actual marriage ever takes place and their status and role is far lower than
that of the official wives. They are treated solely as property and have none
of the legal rights of a wife.
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“My
life is a waste and I am not respected in the village, especially in the
little house where I’m isolated from everyone. The master’s children call me
‘bouzoua’ (slave) they only rarely call my by my real name, by
accident." |
Typically sold from between £200 and £500 ($300-$800), 43% of the girls
interviewed for an Anti-Slavery International report were sold between the age
of nine and 11 years old and 83% were sold before the age of 15. It is common
for the ‘master’ to force sexual relations with the girls as soon as they reach
puberty. The girls are also forced to work without pay, never allowed to leave
their family home apart from to work in their master’s fields or take livestock
to pasture. Many are also forced to wear a heavy brass ankle ring to signify
their slave status.
'Wahaya' not only face regular rape and physical abuse from their master but
are constantly mistreated by the legitimate wives, who view 'wahaya' and any
children they bear as competition to their own interests.
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Girls Not Brides
‘Wahaya’
are girls and women who are sold as ‘fifth wives’ to other men. They’re known
as ‘fifth wives’ because they have a different status to the four wives legally
permitted in
WAHAYA - GIRLS & WOMEN SOLD AS "FIFTH WIVES" - BRIDES OR SLAVES? IN NIGER +
By Sarah Mathewson - 2 Dec 2012
Ankle bracelet slaves are forced to wear. Photo: Anti-Slavery International
In
‘Wahaya’
are girls and women who are sold as ‘fifth wives’ to other men. They’re known
as ‘fifth wives’ because they have a different status to the four wives legally
permitted in
No marriage ceremony takes place and these girls don’t benefit from any of the legal rights or protection that legal wives have. They are essentially treated as domestic and sexual slaves, but are still referred to as wives.
Slavery, Violence and Sexual Abuse - The Life of a Wahaya
At Anti-Slavery
International, we wanted to know more about what life is like for
‘wahaya’. Our researchers interviewed 165 wahaya and found that 83% had been
sold before they were 15 years old.
Among
these women was Hadidjatou, who became a wahaya at the age of 12. She was sold
for 240,000 CFA (about $483) to Elhadj Souleymane, who was 46, and already had
four wives and seven other wahaya. 11 wives in total!
Hadidjatou.
Photo: Anti-Slavery International
Hadidjatou
carried out domestic and agricultural work, for which she was never paid, and
was subjected to regular beatings and rape. She had four children, of whom only
two survived.
In
2005, Elhadj Souleymane became aware of a new law against slavery and decided
to release Hadidjatou, with the intention of marrying her immediately. But as
soon as Hadidjatou realised that she was being freed, she took her certificate
and escaped. She was just 21 and had endured nine years of slavery.
Hadidjatou
eventually married a man of her choice, with whom she had a baby. But when
Elhadj Souleymane discovered this, he filed a complaint with the local police
department and brought charges of bigamy against Hadidjatou.
In
May 2007, Hadidjatou, her husband and her brother to were sentenced to six
months’ imprisonment and set a fine of 50,000 CFA ($100). Despite their
appeals, they were held in prison while the process continued.
More than a year later, the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States ruled against the State of Niger for failing to protect Hadidjatou from slavery. Aged 24, she was finally free and compensated with 10,000,000 CFA ($20,000) by the State.
How Can We Break This Cycle of Slavery?
When
I visted
The Wahaya spoke loudly and passionately. One woman, Mariama, is still trying to win her freedom, but her master is attempting to claim her back as his wife. The legal case is ongoing. She wept as she spoke of the abuse she had suffered.
Another woman
pulled out the heavy brass ankle ring she had been forced to wear to mark her
as a slave. There was a collective gasp as she held it up before the audience.
How could anyone force another human being to wear such a thing?
A former wahaya
We
ended the launch by discussing ways to end the wahaya practice. The women felt
awareness-raising campaigns were most effective as many masters worried about
the legal implications of the practice. Anti-slavery campaigns and widely
talked about cases like Hadidjatou’s could deter men from buying wahaya and
lead them to release any wahaya they keep. It might also encourage the wahaya
to leave their masters and assert their rights.
The
Wahaya also asked for help sending their children to school to break the cycle
of slavery. When families of slave descent become economically independent and
have access to education, they become empowered and their masters are less able
to exploit and abuse them.
While
we were in
Child Marriage Is a Mistaken Form of Protection
When
I was in
These
children have never before had access to education. It was lovely to see how
eager they were to learn. The children performed poems and sketches for us. The
classes had a fairly even number of girls and boys, but the school’s
coordinator, Agali, noted that at least two girls from our schools, aged 12 and
13, left to get married that year.
Agali
is concerned that girls will soon be forced into marriage because of a
perceived shortage of wives. Recently, a young girl’s parents wanted to give
her in marriage to an older relative returning from
When
we asked a group of village women their thoughts on child marriage, several
said that if girls weren’t married by 10-12, they risked being sexually abused
by men. We challenged them on this, but they said that girls should be married
for their own protection, as men can be dangerous. It’s so sad that young girls
have to bear the consequences of men’s behaviour!
Agali
emphasised that pre-marital sex and pregnancy are extremely shameful for a
family and a community, even when a girl has been raped. It is believed that
men would not rape or abuse a married girl and it is considered better for
girls to marry young.
I wanted to protest that the girl would still be raped and abused by her own ‘husband’! Why don’t the communities focus on regulating men’s behaviour and ending sexual violence, rather than marrying off girls when they could be in school?
Anti-Slavery International Report - Wahaya: Domestic and
Sexual Slavery in Niger http://www.antislavery.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2012/w/wahaya_report_eng.pdf
UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery’s Statement on International Day for the Abolition of Slavery: “Women and girls who are forced to marry spend their lifetime in slavery”