Sex Trafficking in Nigeria

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Sex Trafficking in Nigeria

Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking where an individual is taken for the sake of sexual exploitation. The individuals are made to depend on their traffickers, then forced into being sex slaves. They are made to offer sexual services to customers of those takers. Victims of any age are acquired, transported and exploited in this manner. This is one of the largest criminal businesses in the world, with a global commercial profit of about $99B (Raymond, 2001). In 2012, 4.5 million people were reported to be sexually exploited. With there being so many cases reported of sex trafficking, one can only imagine how many more cases there is that have not been discovered yet.

Sex trafficking occurs all over the world and is a rising concern that needs to be dealt with. Moreover, it has become so common that some people make fun about the matter. A video is seen of a television show that pranked a woman by threatening to use her for rituals (https://twitter.com/ndidzu). The man gets close to the woman and threatens to use her for rituals then calls his friend to tell him to bring his people. The woman is traumatized as she screams and shakes her head. Nigeria for example, is a hub for forced labor and prostitution. Many women and children are picked up from their rural homes and transported to foreign countries that are in surrounding areas, such as Gabon or European countries, where they are then forced in to prostitution.

Most victims are usually deceived into being kidnapped and end up in abusive situations from which they cannot escape. Because of the fear of their traffickers, most cases are not reported. Even if they meet authorities, the victims would rather confess to be sex workers than report their traffickers. A few researchers have been able to find valuable information on sex trafficking in Nigeria and that will be the focus of work in this paper.

Most researchers agree that sex trafficking involves promising and deceiving innocent and vulnerable women of greener pastures in other countries, then trapping them into sex slavery. Rashid argues that this is a fault of the government for not having proper distribution of resources as well as underestimating the economic potential of women. Adibaya agrees with this in her research as we see women rescued from sex trafficking finding themselves back in similar situations. This is because once they are released back into the society, they are released to the same factors that pushed them into sex trafficking. Sometimes you find that their families pushed them into it so that they provide money for the family and so when they come back, they are taken back into the business.

If money was not the problem, and women had a chance at having proper professions, there may be less cases of sex traficking. The US Consulate saw this and decided to partner with Fortem Aspire NGO to educate women and girls concerning sex trafficking so that they are aware and they do not get trapped in the business ignorantly. They also encouraged girls to join sports and they bring successful women in sorts to speak and motivate the ladies.

This now brings out another aspect where Combating Sex Trafficking, 2019, disagrees with Rashid and argue that the parents and society play a role in sex trafficking by pushing young girls and daughters into the business. That is why a program to educate the young girls was brought up to mentor the girl child. Combating Sex Trafficking, 2019, thinks the cause of increase in sex trafficking is lack of information and ignorance. That is why the US Consulate invests in informing the girl child and the community about the dangers of sex trafficking. Adibayo seems to be in agreement with this and thus she advocates for counselling to be done even for the family members even before the survivors are taken back home to their families.

Rashid Olanyi argues that these women feel threatened by their traffickers and thus they cannot leave the ring, (Rashid, 2003). Most traffickers threaten the victims that they will kill them if they do not work for them. They make the victims believe that they owe them and they must pay them back for the transportation and accommodation they offered, (Adibaya, 2019). Combating sex trafficking on the other hand thinks there is hope. A partnership was formed between the US Consulate and Fortem Aspire to mentor young girls into sports and at the same make them aware about sex trafficking with the hope that they will share the message when they get back to their societies. This is rather a preventive measure that hopes to reduce sex trafficking.

In Adibaya’s research, the government of Nigeria contradicts the research work of Rashid by signing into international law, creating shelters and authorities to help rescue victims. However much the process of returning these victims to the society is a hard process, the project has turned out successful as some ladies have been rescued from very bad abusive conditions. The survivors are held in these institutions a bit longer than expected so that they can be profiled and released into a favorable environment where they can pick up their lives again.

People have to be informed about sex trafficking so that they avoid being involved in it as well as to have the courage to report such incidences of attempted sex trafficking. Women must be given equal opportunities in the job industry so that they are able to provide for their families in decent ways and this will prevent them from being pushed into sex trafficking. Free movements across borders should also be regulated as it has greatly facilitated this inhumane business.

Reference

Adebayo, B. (2019, August 27). Rescued trafficked women held in ‘abhorrent’ conditions in Nigerian shelters, new report says. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/africa/nigeria-human-trafficking-hrw-report-intl/index.html.

Back✳️ I Follow. (2019, October 23). Retrieved October 30, 2019, from https://twitter.com/ndidzue/status/1186835755395620864?s=20.

Combating Sex Trafficking Through Girl-Child Mentorship. (2019). AllAfrica.Com (English). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgea&AN=edsgcl.600813532Rasheed Olaniyi. (2003). No Way out: The Trafficking of Women in Nigeria. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, (55), 45. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.4066298Raymond, J. G., Hughes, D. M., & Gomez, C. J. (2001). Sex trafficking of women in the United States. International sex trafficking of women & children: Understanding the global epidemic, 3-14