WUNRN
Full UN Press Release: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15359&LangID=E
GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY NEEDED TO ERADICATE RAMPANT MODERN-DAY SLAVERY – INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY – 2 DECEMBER
GENEVA (1 December 2014) – “Millions of people throughout the
world, including children, are faced with persistent violations of their
fundamental human rights. They are subjected to modern-day slavery, with
insufficient political will and resources dedicated to lifting them out of such
abhorrent conditions,” UN human rights experts* today warned. On the International
Day for the Abolition of Slavery, they called for concerted efforts to combat
all contemporary forms of slavery and emphasized the need for effective
implementation of laws and policies…….
http://www.antislavery.org/english/english/niger_schools_appeal/wahaya.aspx
'WAHAYA': YOUNG GIRLS SOLD INTO SLAVERY
Direct Link to Anti-Slavery Full Report on WAHAYA – DOMESTIC &
SEXUAL SLAVERY IN NIGER:
http://www.antislavery.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2012/w/wahaya_report_eng.pdf
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.
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.
The Niger Schools Project that Anti-Slavery International supports helps ensure that girls
and women stay out of slavery and that they won’t be sold by their masters as
'wahaya'. The project provides primary education, teaching on human rights and
small business loans with low interest rates to the mothers of pupils, giving
them and their children hope for the future and freedom from their former
lives.
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