Charity Okpolokpo
There are these four stickers produced by Ajegunle Community Projects, pasted on my door. They make me reflect on the status of womanhood in Nigeria. The stickers encourage everyone to create a culture that says “No to violence against women.” The second sticker is a quip. It says: what a woman cannot do cannot be done. I find the third and fourth stickers making very serious statements that I think you and I should consider. Real men don’t abuse women and he is educated and successful, respected in the community, is deeply religious but he beats his wife. There is yet another one ascribed to the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC). It reads, “If you educate a woman you educate the whole world”. Adult women make up the largest group of sex trafficking victims, followed by the girl children, although a small percentage of men and boys are trafficked into the sex industry as well. Nearly every country in the world is involved in the illegal and lucrative business.
But what really is human-trafficking? It is an illegal form of slavery that involves the transport or trade of people for the purpose of work. It involves both sexual and labour exploitation of the victims. It’s a situation where victims are taken from all that is familiar to him or her to an environment or isolated habitation for cruel means. Extreme poverty is a common bond among trafficking victims. Most large industries use women and children for work in the factories at night making one to think that they are helping families to survive by placing meals on their tables. Some are tricked or lured with offers of legitimate and legal work as shop assistants or waitresses. Others are promised marriage, educational opportunities and a better life. Still others are sold into trafficking by boyfriends, friends, neighbours or even parents who cannot stand hunger.
It has caused a lasting mental and emotional effect on the victims as well as the physical well-being of women and girls. Beyond the physical abuse, trafficked women suffer extreme emotional stress, including shame, grief, fear, distrust and