Wahaya – Fifth Wives – Girls & Women Sold & Wed into Slavery, Abuse
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: January 31, 2013
WUNRN
Wahaya
– Fifth Wives: Young Girls Sold Into Slavery
“Before |
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.
“My |
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.
_______________________________________________________
Girls Not Brides
‘Wahaya’
are girls and women who are sold as ‘fifth wives’ to other men. They’re known
as ‘fifth wives’ because they have a different status to the four wives legally
permitted in
number of ‘fifth wives’.
WAHAYA – GIRLS & WOMEN SOLD AS “FIFTH
WIVES” – BRIDES OR SLAVES? IN NIGER +
By Sarah Mathewson – 2 Dec 2012
Categories: Releases