The Experiences of and Challenges Faced by Nigerian Women Trafficked for Forced Labor: Implications for Faith-based Organizations and Policy Makers

Introduction

Nigerian women are currently being trafficked due to their economic vulnerability in Nigeria. Since the 1980s, the numbers have continued to increase. According to Neil (2017), a stream of a few hundred women per year increased to about 1,500 in 2014 and grew to 5,600 in 2015, and at least 11,009 Nigerian girls and women arrived in Italy in 2016. Previously, these women arrived on planes with visas and engaged in menial jobs in Europe, such as hairstylist, house helper, and nanny. However, beginning in the last decade, many young Nigerian women have attempted irregular travel to Europe, through the Sahara Desert and across the Mediterranean Sea (Kazeem, 2018), and these desperate migrants are transported across borders through a vast illegal network (Olukoya, 2019). This has exposed Nigerian female migrants to many challenges and difficult experiences that have defied government efforts to stop them.

Economic vulnerability decreases women's ability to become economically independent, increasing financial reliance on male partners and, in turn, increasing the risk of being trafficked to Europe and abused (Salawu, Okedare, Reed, Kiene, & Fawole, 2022). Nigeria’s women's situation at the moment is akin to a state of emergency, a dire crisis that requires urgent, exceptional, and extraordinary remediation (Simeon, 2018). This crisis is also at a critical point where crucial decisions must be made in order to avert impending doom. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s increasing poverty level has enormous impacts, especially on women. Women are victims of and worse hit by poverty (Anyebe, 2017; Boyi, 2019; Eboiyehi, Bankole, & Eromonsele, 2006), and this economic vulnerability has left them vulnerable to forced labor in transit and receiving countries in Europe, specifically in Italy (Ezeibe, Oguonu, Ajaero, Osadebe, Agbo, & Uwaechia, 2021; Olubukola, 2020).

In order to migrate to Europe, Nigerian women are usually assisted by human traffickers. In the context of this article, human trafficking refers to the exploitation of a person for labor, services, or commercial sex (United States Department of Justice, 2022). These human traffickers are Nigerians who recruit, harbor , and transport women for services such as prostitution through the use of force or coercion. Most of these women are promised good jobs and educational opportunities if they travel to Europe, but there are continued reports of Nigerian women being forced to engage in forced labor, especially prostitution. There are also reports of Nigerian women being trafficked through Libya, Mali, Niger, and Tunisia (Aderemi & Adewole, 2022; Ugwukah, 2022). According to Kelly and Tondo (2016), although a lucrative sex trafficking market has existed between Nigeria and Italy for over three decades, the number of unaccompanied Nigerian women coming into Italy on migrant boats from Libya has increased dramatically. They further stated that around 1,500 Nigerian women arrived by ship in 2014 and that the number had risen to 5,633 in 2015. There are also reports of Nigerian women engaging in drug peddling in Europe. In addition, some of these Nigerian women never get to Europe but are sold into slavery in transit countries.

Rationally, it would be expected that potential Nigerian female migrants would retrace their steps, and that the number of those who engaged in migration to Europe would have reduced . But the reverse is the case. More Nigerian women are still engaged in migration to countries organized by their so-called “benefactors,” sometimes referred to as “madams,” and the numbers of ghastly stories of the sad experiences of Nigerian women and their ongoing vulnerability to forced labor continue to increase (Akor, 2011; Chiara, Romaioli, & Contarello, 2022; Chisholm, Mark, Unigwe, & Katona, 2022; Olujuwon, 2008). It is on this premise that this research tries to uncover the challenges faced by and experiences of women coerced into forced labor in transit and in Europe. In this study, we aim to answer the following questions: (1) what are the socio-economic characteristics of potential Nigerian women migrants? (2) What are the challenges faced by and experiences of Nigerian women migrants in transit countries such as Libya, Mali and Niger? (3) What are the challenges faced by and experiences of Nigerian female migrants in Europe, particularly in Italy? and (4) Is there any platform that can bring together the efforts of faith-based and governmental organizations in this regard? Studies have reported the vulnerability of women to internal forced labor and trafficking in Nigeria (Antolinez-Domínguez & Jorge-Barbuzano, 2021; Paasche, Skilbrei, & Plambech, 2018), but little is known about their experiences and the challenges they face, or what policy makers and faith-based organizations could do to change the situation.

Methodology

Participant Recruitment and Setting

The 18 female participants were selected through purposive sampling, aged 18–35 years. This category was deemed fit because they possess vital experience of forced labor in transit and destination nations. With respect to Europe, only Italy was chosen because most cases of women being coerced into forced labor have taken place in Italy. According to the International Organization for Migration (2006), Italy is home to the second-largest number of Nigerians and is the most important destination for Nigerian victims of trafficking. The study was conducted in Nigeria’s Delta State because most young women here have migrated, are planning to migrate, or have been repatriated to Nigeria from abroad.

The participants were potential migrants, returnees/transit returnee migrants, and those who were already in Europe either working or looking for a job. The participants were selected for their knowledge about the vulnerability of women to forced labor. Purposive sampling leads to better insights and is time-saving due to the fact that participants are information-rich. Potential migrants, those who have already migrated, and returnees are information-rich and best suited to answering and providing answers to the questions. The age range of 18–35 years was chosen as being the age at which Nigerian women are most exposed to human traffickers, and the participants’ mean age was 26.5 (see Table 1 below for full details).

Table 1

Participants’ Details

Literature Review

Findings

The present study involved 18 participants, each planning to migrate, in transit, or currently in Europe, or individuals who were deported or returned on their own.

Returnees Recall their Reasons and Experiences

Participants who were able to get out of Nigeria through transit countries such as Libya shared their experiences. Some of the reasons they gave for taking the dangerous path through Libya in order to get to Europe were grouped under the following sub-headings:

Experiences of Nigerian Women in Europe

Discussion

The present study shows that the victims of human trafficking are often Nigeria’s most marginalized citizens. In other words, more young women are still willing and able to leave Nigeria, notwithstanding the eventualities. The reason for this is that poverty, lack of employment, family demands, and spiritual attack are motivators of Nigerian women’s migration to Europe. This reinforces the report of Akor (2011) that human traffickers are interested in young girls and women to force them into exploitative sexual and commercial activities, and the research of Eboiyehi, Muoghalu, and Bankole (2016) who found that the increase in the proportion of women breadwinners in Nigeria is a result of the economic recession, while the experience of women breadwinners is a product of the patriarchal gender roles and gender relations which are embedded in the fabric of Nigerian society. Akor (2011) reported that poverty is largely responsible for the migration of Nigerian girls and women for prostitution abroad and that there is little prospect of the menace of the trafficking of women being eliminated from Nigeria in the near future unless the specters of poverty, unemployment, and all the other push and pull factors are adequately addressed.

Studies also identified unemployment as a major driver of Nigerian women’s migration to Europe. Nankobe (2018) discovered that unemployment in Nigeria is a push factor, forcing some of the women to emigrate from Nigeria, and the hope of finding work in Italy can be seen as a pull factor, attracting some of the participants to migrate to Italy. Nigerian women migrate in the search for business opportunities, and upon arrival in Europe, all of them became their families’ main breadwinners through remittances, with no one questioning their source of income (Plambech, 2017). Women’s main concern seems to be their families’ demands. Young Nigerian women are nowadays driven by dreams, fantasies, wishes, and demands from family and friends to make it abroad just to satisfy family expectations, often under dangerous circumstances, and show resilience in dealing with unforeseen situations, tensions, and conflicts (König & de Regt, 2010). Nigerian women allow themselves to be trafficked to Europe due to the economic situation, which they feel cannot get better if they remain in Nigeria. Hence, they risk the journey through the hills and valleys of Libya, Mali, and Niger just to get into Europe.

This study also shows that peer pressure and the low cost of migration makes them take this dangerous decision of migrating to Europe with no means of sustaining themselves en route, and it results in their rape and starvation, and enduring unhealthy environments and practices in transit camps and elsewhere. Nigerian women are lured by their friends to travel to transit countries such as Libya, Mali, and Niger because of the cheap cost. This agrees with the research findings of Inyama (2021), where he analyzed the motivating factors that push young people from Port Harcourt to migrate. He discovered that peer influence, access to information, and the activities of covert agents who live within the same community as these young people provide easier access to information related to undertaking illegal migration abroad through these unsafe routes. Migrating from Nigeria to other countries is costly for those without the finances and the right papers.

In these transit countries, Nigerian women are raped. This mirrors the accounts by Press (2017) that Nigerian women in Libya are kept in hotels, and if any attempt is made to run away, the woman will be killed by their “benefactors.” They are raped by many guests, and they are usually told that if they know what is good for them, they should submit. This situation of widespread abuses and rapes is especially concerning as it causes enormous damage to migrants, including mental and physical trauma, infections by communicable diseases (such as HIV/AIDS), and unwanted pregnancies. Estimates indicate that nearly half of the women and children along this route experienced sexual abuse multiple times and in multiple places. Furthermore, sexual abuse appears systematic and widespread at security checkpoints and at the border with Libya (Bruni, Koch, Siegel, & Strain, 2017). Several scholars have emphasized that sexual assault, rape, forced marriage, sterilization, forced prostitution, military sexual slavery, and human trafficking are ongoing phenomena that Nigerian migrants in Mali experience (Ghosh, 2009). Shedding further light, Sahara Reporters (2022b) explained that in Mali, Nigerian women were kept in female sex workers’ houses, where they were forced to take drugs and then became addicted. It was also revealed that men in Mali would come in to choose girls as sex partners or they would come to pick them up for hard labor. Women who refused would be hit with heavy sticks like animals. Women who refuse to engage in forced prostitution in transit camps are starved of food or health needs. In Libya, Nigerian women were succumbing to diseases, starvation, and dehydration in an environment in which deadly insects abounded (Elusoji, 2017).

Furthermore, studies have found that Nigerian women migrants in Europe take the decision to travel, not because they have no job in Nigeria, but because they are not satisfied with the type of pay they receive in Nigeria. In a study carried out by Bello, Ajayi, and Asuzu (2018), they identified lack of satisfaction with pay and lack of contingent reward as determinants of why many women in the medical profession are leaving public hospitals in Nigeria, especially public hospitals in Calabar, Nigeria. These Nigerian migrants are not illiterates, and they have some work experience. However, in Europe they are compelled to work in jobs that undervalue their skills, and many of the employers are reported to be unfriendly and exploitative (Obi, Slosse, Bartolini, Dessein, & D’Haese, 2022). Contingent reward helps employees measure their organizational and societal importance and value, which relates to the quality of their remuneration (Ghazanfar, Chuanmin, Khan, & Bashir, 2011). Also, women migrant workers were pressured by the standards set by their peers and families and also wanted to be held in high esteem. According to the findings of the Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (2022), women migrants in Italy are wealthy from prostitution, have a good socio-economic position, and are not susceptible to unfavorable social attitudes, being in fact held in high regard due to their increased earning potential.

The results show that in addition to forced prostitution, Nigerian female migrants are physically assaulted because they have no legal support or backing. In Italy, Nigerian women forced into prostitution are compelled to have sex with anything from four to twelve men a day. Put crudely, these women, unlike drugs that are used only once, can be used repeatedly before they are ultimately discarded (Agbu, 2003). Furthermore, Nigerian women in Italy are increasingly young, many being unaccompanied minors when they arrive. The violence and exploitation they face when they are under the control of these gangs is getting worse, and they are essentially treated like slaves (Kelly & Tondo, 2016). According to Aghatise (2004), Nigerian women migrants suffer abuse due to the fact that they exist outside of the established legal framework, do not speak Italian, have no contacts in Italy other than those of their exploiters, and have had their travel documents seized. This ongoing and continuous human abuse is the result of the lack of legal backing for Nigerian women in Italy, but also the lack of proper strengthening and enhancement of effective legal means for international cooperation in criminal matters for the purpose of suppressing any form of abuse of Nigerian migrants (Ogwezzy, 2012). Findings also show that some Nigerian prostitutes in Italy are paid little and they are insulted and bullied. De Haas (2006) explains that exploited and marginalized Nigerian migrants are prey to Europeans who profit from cheap immigrant labor and sex, and that their often undocumented status makes them easier to exploit. Unfortunately, instead of targeting the abusers, it is the Nigerian migrants are punished and stigmatized while having their rights denied.

The study also reports that Nigerian migrants are exposed to and contact sexually transmitted diseases and abort unwanted pregnancies. Peano (2013) states that many women have suffered death, violence, and deportation on this account. but for individual Nigerian women contemplating migration, either they do not really believe such things can happen, given that Europe is idealized as a place of wealth and ease where situations of extreme hardship do not exist, or if they do believe it, they feel that it will not happen to them. Auli, Mejía-Lancheros, Berenguera, and Pujol-Ribera (2015) state that Nigerian migrants know that their trade makes them vulnerable to STI/HIV/AIDS and they want to protect themselves. The main risk comes from their clients, since they ignore whether their clients have any type of disease, including STI/HIV/AIDS. Auli et al. (2015) further revealed that Nigerian female migrants could not always wash after intercourse and knew that when a condom breaks, they are directly exposed. With regards to abortion, the research carried out by Farina and Ortensi (2011) showed high levels of abortion rates among women from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Cape Verde, and somewhat lower levels for Egyptian and Algerian women, though still higher than those found for Italian women .

The results of this study reveal that participants contemplated suicide and also homicide. This is consistent with Burke’s (1976) assertion that socio-cultural factors associated with migration and the situation of the migrants are important factors in attempted suicide. With regards to homicide, Winders (2014), in his study “New Immigrant Destinations in Global Context,” reported that high poverty and frustration are among the reasons immigrants consider homicide as a means of showing their discontent with their situation.

Another very important finding of this research is the role played by religious manipulation. Unlike previous studies that, tend to hypothesize that it is only among traditional African religions that religious manipulation is used to persuade likely victims to agree to travel. this study also found out that even organized religion partakes in this manipulation. In the research by Tondo and Kelly (2017), they aver that the abuse of religious and cultural belief systems in Nigeria has proved a deadly and effective control mechanism for traffickers involved in the recruitment of women destined for the sex trade in Europe. A hugely profitable and well-organized criminal industry has been operating between Italy and Nigeria for more than two decades, but. the UN’s International Organization for Migration said in 2006 it had seen an almost 600% rise in the number of potential sex trafficking victims arriving in Italy by sea over the previous three years . Providing further insights on religious manipulation, Baker (2018) has exposed the fact that the Juju oath sex trafficking trade is particularly lucrative and nearly impossible to prosecute due to the fact that the oath-taking ceremony, conducted by a “juju” priest and performed in front of a carved wooden idol, is typically accompanied by animal sacrifice and incantation. Sometimes the victim offers snippets of her fingernails, pubic hair, menstrual blood, and undergarments, which the priest binds into a small bundle which is blessed and sealed; this ensures the silence of the victim and prevents her revolting against her oppressors in Italy. Sahara Reporters’ (2022a) research revealed how a woman was tricked by her church pastor into joining others in Libya where she was promised there would be a decent job for her, such as working in a hair salon.

Nigerian women began migrating to Europe in the 1980s in response to the demand for low-skilled labor in areas such as agriculture, house help, and some part-time jobs in private homes. However, the burden of sending remittances to their families in Nigeria meant some of them found it hard to make ends meet, and they had to seek alternative sources of income, which became prostitution. Also, some of these Nigerian women migrants in Italy had taken out large loans, which they had to pay back within a specified period. This was the opportunity that Nigerian traffickers in Europe, especially Italy, saw and used to their benefit. These Nigerian traffickers usually entice young Nigerian women to migrate to Europe with the promise that there are good jobs waiting for them. When they arrive, their passports are taken from them and they are coerced into prostitution, with no legal or social support.

Implications for Policymakers, Stakeholders, and Faith-based Organizations

The economic vulnerability of Nigerian women, which makes them vulnerable to human trafficking and abuse in transit and destination countries, has implications for policy-makers, concerned stakeholders, and even faith-based organizations (FBOs).

First, the situation reveals that there is a lack of empowerment for youth, especially women, in Nigeria. Take the issue of how these young Nigerian women are forced into the position of being breadwinners for their respective families and the fact that they have no jobs”? and even after getting jobs, their expenditure far outweighs their salaries. This shows that the government is falling short in its responsibility to provide empowering initiatives and programs that will meet the challenge of defining gender policies that will be in tandem with and impact positively on the overall development goals (Ejumudo, 2013). The Nigerian government in 2006 adopted the National Gender Policy in 2006, which has been to a great extent sidelined. The policy stated as follows:

The government must be proactive in its commitment to addressing problems affecting women and to ensure the mainstreaming of women's issues in the formulation and implementation of all policies and programs. The policy expressly highlights the problems faced by women in various sectors of the economy, such as education, health, employment, agriculture, legal reform, legislative protection, and in decision making (National Human Rights Commission, n.d).

Second, the situation reveals that socio-cultural factors have affected women in that they now see society as only for men. They have accepted their situation. The government should start looking at cultural influences that tend to make women economically vulnerable. Thus, if our cultures do not favor women, the government, as an integral body that unites all Nigeria’s cultures, should not allow such cultural influences to take root and dominate; indeed, it is the government that has the greatest power to influence situations in the communities (Odota, 2016). The government needs to use legal instruments to challenge cultural norms that tend to make women economically vulnerable, which leads to their abuse and subjugation. There is a need for a re-orientation by individuals, groups, institutions, and agencies (both governmental and non-governmental) on gender equality issues that will translate into attitudinal change and response, which is germane to the efficacy of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Nigeria (Ejumudo, 2013). The government of Nigeria (at local, state, and federal levels) has failed in its duty to remove those artificial and institutional barriers based on religion, culture, or traditional considerations that have incapacitated women’s economic progress and economic independence (Ovute, Dibia, & Obasi, 2015).

Third, the situation highlights the fact that, despite all the narratives of Nigerian women abused in destination countries in Europe, governmental efforts through the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have failed to achieve their aims. Women continue to be willing to be trafficked to Europe. Sensitization is key to reducing the vulnerability of women to abuse necessitated by their economic condition in the origin, transit, and destination countries. This is where FBOs have liaised with NAPTIP on the issue of sensitizing Nigerian women, especially the youth, in religious gatherings, because FBOs often have a good understanding of the local context, speak out for the disenfranchised, deliver higher quality services, mobilize energy and resources, contribute to consensus-building, and connect local communities with higher authorities (World Health Organization, 2006). The current predicament of Nigerian women in Europe is partly due to the lack of adequate sensitization and capacity building by FBOs , which are essentially charitable institutions created to improve social welfare (Weiss, 2020) and also religious instruments of social transformation in contemporary times that provide human development services such as education, health, and social services (Baiyeri , 2019).

To drastically reduce the number of Nigerian women in Europe exposed to prostitution, government in Nigeria—local, state, and federal—needs to look for ways to empower Nigerian women. Special centers and institutes could be created to provide free formal and informal education and empowerment programs for young women. This would, to a great extent, keep them busy and less susceptible to being lured abroad. According to Ovute et al. (2015), empowerment is the provision of a conducive environment or opportunities for women to contribute their share to the social, political, and economic development of a nation. Scholars have emphasized how the lack of empowerment encourages women to engage activities that are inimical to their wellbeing. Qayyum, Iqbal, Akhtar, Hayat, Janjua, and Tabassum(2013) point out that young women are vulnerable to sex work due to a variety of situations, some natural and some manmade, including lack of economic resources, illness in the family, lack of education, poverty, debt burden, sex for enjoyment, peer association, family neglect, domestic clashes, and spousal drug addiction.

In addition, political will on the part of the government is essential. It is not all about creating agencies such as NAPTIP; the government need to help link NAPTIP with FBOs in Europe, especially in Italy, which could be achieved through the Nigerian embassies there. This is because no matter how many policies are formulated by the government, however many programs are designed, and however much is invested in human, institutional, and infrastructural requirements, all this will remain dormant unless activated by the appropriate political will and genuine commitment that can be expected to translate gender-responsive policies, programs, and activities into concrete reality (Ejumudo, 2013).

There are several faith-based organizations spread across Nigeria. For young women to gain the skills and knowledge they need, they should be provided with scholarships by those FBOs. When Nigerian women are educated, they are better placed to survive economically and challenge certain norms in Nigeria and outside that abuse their fundamental human rights. Education, according to Aimua (2021), includes skills and knowledge, and enables women to control their destinies and make effective changes to their communities, while women with better developed cognitive skills are less likely to be abused.

Furthermore, a lack of sensitization seems to be making Nigerian women more susceptible to trafficking. FBOs should initiate sensitization courses in secondary and tertiary learning institutions. In this awareness campaign, young Nigerian women could be told to seek other options such as hard work, patience, and diligence rather than considering the option of being trafficked to Europe,. For better understanding, sensitization, otherwise known as awareness raising , using case studies and by discussing the nature and causes of trafficking, and the damage it causes to victims (UNODC, 2011) could be employed to achieve the desired results .

This study contributes new data on the vulnerability of Nigerian women, , to forced labor in Europe and has implications for policymakers and faith-based organizations. One limitation of this study, as opposed to other qualitative studies, lies in the limited number of participants.. Also, the fact that all the participants in this study came from Delta State, and that the focus was on Nigerian women immigrants in Italy, affects the level to which the results of the study can be generalized. The fact that interviews were conducted using phone calls and WhatsApp calls meant that the familiarity which could have been established through face-to-face interviews was absent; such familiarity would probably have increased the participants’ willingness to share sensitive information. However, these limitations do not hamper the findings of the study, which are trustworthy, genuine, and dependable and provide a significant insight into the challenges faced by and experiences of women in Nigeria, as well as in transit and destination countries.

Conclusions

This study highlighted the challenges faced by and experiences of Nigerian female migrants in transit and destination countries, mainly in Italy. The results of the study confirm that Nigerian women in transit and destination countries are subject to physical, sexual, spiritual, and psychological violence. To reduce the economic vulnerability of Nigerian women in Nigeria itself, and in transit and destination countries, policy makers, religious leaders and faith-based organizations need to be more proactive and involved, especially in social support initiatives such as sensitization about irregular migration and forced labor, as well as the provision of free counselors for potential migrants and returnees. Thus, actions aimed at reducing Nigerian women from falling prey to human traffickers in the future need to be taken by the government with the support of religious leaders and faith-based organizations to create an atmosphere in which women are legally, culturally, and socially supported. Future studies could focus attention on Nigerian women’s experiences in Asia, and explore differences in the experiences of Nigerian women migrants in Europe and Asia. They could also specifically analyze why Nigerian women are migrating to Asia, looking at the remote and immediate causes, vis-a-vis the socio-cultural factors.

The positive effects of comprehensive programs focusing on vulnerable populations such as Nigerian female migrants in Italy prove the need for effective collaboration between policymakers and faith-based organizations and the need to prioritize initiatives aimed at empowering women and reducing their vulnerability to forced labor in Nigeria, as well as in transit and destination countries. The findings of this study should contribute to programs aimed at reducing women’s economic vulnerability. Other aspects such as socio-cultural determinants should also be explored, since they influence the decision-making of Nigerian women migrants, which results in the various forms of abuse they suffer in different areas of the world. When the Nigerian government or religious leaders are designing intervention programs, those interventions can be made more appropriate by proper consideration of the findings provided by studies like this that explore the motivations fueling Nigerian women’s migration to Europe.

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