Chris Anunobi
A lot has been said about young girls that get trafficked out of Nigeria purportedly for well paid jobs in Europe, but who end up in prostitution against their own wish. Others arrive in Europe to find themselves involved in demeaning jobs that attract little or no pay. Both are victims of what has come to be seen as modern day slavery.
What is never mentioned in the human trafficking discourse is that in fact some of these girls leave the country with the intent of taking up prostitution as a means of livelihood. In other words, they actively participate in the process of travelling out of the country as opposed to being trafficked by some syndicate. This category of girls develop an interest in prostitution because of the flowery stories of other girls who return from Europe to flaunt wealth by building houses or sending cars home for their loved ones.
Stories abound in Edo State of girls who get pressured into prostitution by family members who see the success of other girls in the trade as the easiest way to change the family fortune. It is only when they end up working as the sex slaves of those who were instrumental to their leaving the country that stories of their plight filter back home.
The familiar stories concerning girls in such situations is that their passports get seized on arrival in Europe by their benefactors who insist they work for a certain number of years (without pay) to refund the money spent to bring them from Nigeria before they can be free to earn their own income. The ‘Not for Sale’ campaign launched by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), seeks to discourage this practice, especially in Edo and Delta states where many of the victims of human trafficking come from.
The campaign is all inclusive, not just for girls who get trafficked to Europe with promises of good jobs and end up on the streets as commercial sex workers, but also those that work as domestic help under dehumanizing conditions. This initiative is very commendable as it sheds light on these issues and possibly offers solutions to the problem of human trafficking involving girls, particularly in those two states and in other parts of the country.
The success of the Not for Sale campaign will, however, require the active participation of the major stakeholders in those areas, in this case, young girls, parents and community leaders. It is necessary for young girls to realize that they can attain success without offering themselves for sale, at any price. Despite the economic condition in the country, there are thousands of young girls who are succeeding in various fields of human endeavour without having to trade their bodies for money.
Indeed, nothing can be considered a success if it comes at the expense of human dignity. Many Edo and Delta state girls who are daily faced with the temptation of seeking greener pastures abroad should look around and heed the unspoken advice of their successful counterparts in career paths and other enterprises, who seem to be telling them, ‘I made it here; You can too’.
The tendency to want to be like others can prove to be enough motivation for young girls to join the Europe train. Parents, family, and guardians of young girls should not be attracted by the seeming success of families whose female children come home to flaunt wealth known to be acquired through prostitution, no matter how bad their situations might seem.
Sometimes girls get pressured into prostitution by parents, family members and community actors who develop the knack to compare them, at the slightest opportunity, with their friends who ‘succeeded’ because they went to Europe. No situation should make families that value human dignity and human life, pressure their daughters into ventures that have the potential to terminate their lives or make them live many years of their lives in regret.
Girls should not be encouraged to follow those who believe success can only be attained through the sale of the human body, rather, parents and community actors should point to other girls who have succeeded through diligence in enterprise and telling their daughters, ‘They made it here; You can too’. The campaign to discourage human trafficking embarked upon by NAPTIP, educates on the harmful effects of modern slavery on the individual and society.
It should secure the buy-in of other community actors such as religious leaders who are strategically positioned to positively influence the attitudes of their followers. The Not for Sale campaign is not limited to advocacy in only discouraging human trafficking, it also involves highlighting that there are many opportunities in the country for young girls to latch onto and to get positive starts in life.
While ‘not for sale’ campaign is not purported to be the solution to the problem of human trafficking, the exercise is but a fraction of much work that needs to be done. A lot will depend on the active involvement of those that are in positions to influence the attitudes and choices of potential victims of human trafficking.
Anunobi writes from Abuja
