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Slavery in Africa, as in some other regions of the world, continues today. This article discusses modern occurrences of slavery on the African continent. See also African slave trade, Atlantic slave trade and Maafa for further African related slavery topics.

Overview

Slavery in Mauritania was legally abolished by laws passed in 1905, 1961, and 1981, but it has never been criminalised, and several human rights organizations are reporting that the practice continues there. In Niger, slavery is a real and current phenomenon that is alive today. A Nigerien study has found that almost 8% of the population are slaves. Descent-based slavery, where generations of the same family are born into bondage, is traditionally practised by at least four of Niger’s eight ethnic groups. It is especially rife among the warlike Tuareg, in the wild deserts of north and west Niger, who roam near the borders with Mali and Algeria.

Child Slave trade

The trading of children has been reported in modern Nigeria and Benin. The children are kidnapped or purchased for $20 - $70 each by slavers in poorer states, such as Benin and Togo, and sold into slavery in sex dens or as unpaid domestic servants for $350.00 each in wealthier oil-rich states, such as Nigeria and Gabon.

Ghana

In parts of Ghana, a family may be punished for an offense by having to turn over a virgin female to serve as a sex slave within the offended family. In this instance, the woman does not gain the title of "wife". In parts of Ghana, Togo, and Benin, shrine slavery persists, despite being illegal in Ghana since 1998. In this system of slavery, sometimes called trokosi (in Ghana) or voodoosi in Togo and Benin, or ritual servitude, young virgin girls are given as slaves in traditional shrines and are used sexually by the priests in addition to providing free labor for the shrine.

Ethiopia

Mahider Bitew, Children's Rights and Protection expert at the Ministry of Women's Affairs, says that some isolated studies conducted in Diredawa, Shashemene, Awassa and three other towns of the country indicate that the problem of child trafficking is very serious. According to a 2003 study about one thousand children were trafficked via Dire Dawa to countries of the Middle East. The majority of those children were girls, most of whom were forced to be sex workers after leaving the country. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has identified prostitution as the Worst Form of Child Labor.

In Ethiopia, children are trafficked into prostitution, to provide cheap or unpaid labor and to work as domestic servants or beggars. The ages of these children are usually between 10 and 18 and their trafficking is from the country to urban centers and from cities to the country. Boys are often expected to work in activities such as herding cattle in rural areas and in the weaving industry in Addis Ababa, and other major towns. Girls are expected to take responsibilities for domestic chores, childcare and looking after the sick and to work as prostitutes.

Sudan

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Slavery in the Sudan has never completely died out. According to CBS news, slaves have been sold for US$50 apiece. In September, 2000, the U.S. State Department alleged that "the Sudanese government's support of slavery and its continued military action which has resulted in numerous deaths are due in part to the victims' religious beliefs."

Jok Madut Jok, professor of History at Loyola Marymount University, states that the abduction of women and children of the south by north is slavery by any definition. The government of Sudan insists that the whole matter is no more than the traditional tribal feuding over resources.

Diplomatic spokesmen for the Republic of Sudan have denied that there is slavery in their country, and asserted that slave redemption programs are fraudulent attempts to make money. According to a June 2003 press release of the Embassy of Sudan in the United States of America, there are documented instances of people, who were not slaves, being gathered together and instructed to pretend they were being released from slavery.

Mauritania

A system exists now by which Arab -- the bidanes -- own African slaves, the haratines.

In the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, despite slave ownership having been made punishable by law in 1981, hereditary slavery continues. Moreover, according to Amnesty International:

"Not only has the government denied the existence of slavery and failed to respond to cases brought to its attention, it has hampered the activities of organisations which are working on the issue, including by refusing to grant them official recognition".

Imam El Hassan Ould Benyamin of Tayarat in 1997 expressed his views about earlier proclamations ending slavery in his country as follows:

" is contrary to the teachings of the fundamental text of Islamic law, the Quran ... amounts to the expropriation from muslims of their goods; goods that were acquired legally. The state, if it is Islamic, does not have the right to seize my house, my wife or my slave."

An estimated 90,000 African Mauritanians remain essentially enslaved to Arab/Berber owners.

Niger

Descent-based slavery, where generations of the same family are born into bondage, is traditionally practised by at least four of Niger’s eight ethnic groups. The slave masters are mostly from the nomadic tribes — the Tuareg, Fulani, Toubou and Arabs. It is especially rife among the warlike Tuareg, in the wild deserts of north and west Niger, who roam near the borders with Mali and Algeria. In the region of Say on the right bank of the river Niger, it is estimated that three-quarters of the population around 1904-1905 was composed of slaves.

Historically, the Tuareg swelled the ranks of their slaves during war raids into other peoples’ lands. War was then the main source of supply of slaves, although many were bought at slave markets, run mostly by indigenous peoples.

See also

• Islam and slavery
• Slavery

References

1. "The last law, in 1981, banned it but failed to criminalise it. However much it is denied, an ancient system of bondage, with slaves passed on from generation to generation, still plainly exists." Steady progress in Mali and Mauritania, The Economist
2. Born to be a slave in Niger By Hilary Andersson, BBC Africa Correspondent, Niger
3. Slavery in Ghana. The Trokosi Tradition
4. Ghana's trapped slaves, By Humphrey Hawksley in eastern Ghana, 8 February, 2001. BBC News
5. ^ ""Ethiopian Slave Trade"". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
6. Francis Bok. Speaking Matters
7. Curse Of Slavery Haunts Sudan CBS News. January 25, 1998
8. U.S. State Department report says 'religious intolerance remains far too common' around world. September 6, 2000 CNN US News
9. Jok Madut Jok (2001), p.3
10. "Fraud and Bigotry: Attempts to Resurrect Claims of". Embassy of the Republic of Sudan. 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2006-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. See Slavery in Mauritanis
12. ^ Slavery: Mauritania's best kept secret By Pascale Harter. BBC News, Nouakchott. December 2004
13. Segal, p.206
14. Islam and Slavery The Feminist Sexual Ethics Project
15. Born into Bondage By Paul Raffaele Article Page 3. Smithonian Magazine
16. NIGER: Slavery - an unbroken chain IRIN Africa
17. The Shackles of Slavery in Niger ABC News June 3, 2005

External links

• The Modern West African Slave Trade ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY

• Slavery
• Africa
• WikiProject Africa