Victoria Phillips
Sept 2 2010
12:18 am
Nigerian women are being brought to the Ivory Coast on false promises of a better life with an education and decent job. Human Rights Watch stated that anti-trafficking laws that emphasize on human smuggling to West African countries, as well as Europe and the United States have been passed by the Nigerian government. Yet, none of these laws apply to the Ivory Coast. The HRW found 5 brothels in two small towns in Ivory Coast with most victims ranging from 15 to 17 years of age. They were forced into prostitution by being told that they had to pay a transportation fee of $3,000 to $4,000, even though the trip from Nigeria to Ivory Coast only costs about $200. Victims were forced to have sex with 15 to 30 men for$2 each every night. Those who refused to have sex were locked up without food for days at a time. One of the most discouraging things about this story is that human trafficking is not a high issue on anyone's list. Instead, child labor takes up most for the conversation.
Human trafficking is a growing issue all over the world. It is something that seems to hit really close to home for me because I'm almost the same age as these girls who became victims. I could very well be where they are. These girls did nothing wrong and trusted the wrong people. It would be very easy for anyone to do the same. Rape and human trafficking is more than just a violation of trust; it goes so much deeper than that. I believe this issue should be a bigger priority than it is.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jDaG65kFor2m4IHnUnYuLuG7Mt1wD9HRSO4G5
2 comments:
I wrote on the same story, but used a different article so it was really interesting to me to hear more details about this situation. It makes me so incredibly angry! Human trafficking must be one of the most horrible injustices in the world. Anyways, I liked your thoughts on it..
I agree with the both of you. This issue should be more of a priority than it is. When I think of this issue, I think of the recent case in the United States where a woman sold her young child (no older than 5 that I can recall correctly) for money. Investigators said that the child was to groomed for prostitution. And this happened in the United States. I guess that just shows that its not just poor, undeveloped countries that this is happening in; it's happening here as well.
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