Ok, technically this posting inst BDSM related. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about how people are treated in this world. The basics are this: a woman who was sold as a slave at the age of 12 in Nigeria, who was beaten, raped, forced to have her master’s children for a decade, won a landmark decision when the government of her country was found guilt of not protecting her.
A West African court has found Niger’s government guilty of failing to protect a woman from slavery in a landmark case for the region.
The court found in favour of Hadijatou Mani, who says she was sold aged 12 and made to work for 10 years.
A judge ordered the government – which says it has done all it can to eradicate slavery – to pay Ms Mani 10m CFA francs (£12,430; $19,750).
Anti-Slavery’s Romana Cacchioli told the BBC that her group had managed to free about 80 women from slavery in Niger over the past five years.
The Ecowas court ruling will be binding on all member states and so will have consequences for people being kept as slaves beyond Niger, the BBC’s Idy Baraou reports from Niger.
For generations, the children of a slave have automatically become the property of the slave master.
Ms Mani says one of the reasons she has taken this court action is to secure her two children’s freedom and ensure they do not have to endure the same fate.
This is a good day.
MV
The House of Void 