A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Sisters of Mercy

The involvement of traditional religion on the side of traffickers shows how deeply trafficking has wormed its way into village society. This is being challenged by the Catholic Church.

When traffickers draw up a contract, they often call on a traditional priest to give approval. This is usually done at a traditional "shrine." The priest takes something deeply personal from the girl. It might be hair from her head, some pubic hair, a nail clipping, or some underwear. This trophy is wrapped up with a flourish, and the priest leaves no doubt that it will be used to control the victim from a distance.

This use of voodoo is a way of keeping the girl in bondage because it plays on her deepest superstitions. One campaigner described these priests as "greedy charlatans who deserve to be behind bars." 

Religion holds sway in Benin City.

But it takes courage to stand up and say such things in Benin City, where the traditional and modern coexist uneasily. A thoroughly modern lawyer takes care when driving past the intersection between the Apakpava Road and the South Circular in Benin City. There has been a series of deadly accidents at this corner, he says. Locals are convinced that this is related to the presence of Benin's largest "shrine" at the corner. Traditional culture is enjoying something of a revival-and exploiting the fact that it predated colonialism.

But the Catholic Church is also strong-and it too has thrown its weight into the fight against trafficking. A small group of Catholic sisters in Benin City and Lagos have taken it upon themselves to care for women like Sonia, Berta, and Rachel who escape the clutches of the traffickers. They are on the front line in the campaign against trafficking in Nigeria.

The sisters have long been working in the villages around Benin City, and they have an intimate knowledge of village society. Their first experience of trafficking came as a shock, when a young woman whose family they were helping suddenly left for Germany. The girl had signed a contract with the traffickers before leaving Nigeria, and they were furious when she slipped out of their clutches. The woman had escaped, whereupon the traffickers sent "enforcers" to demand $36,000 from her siblings in Benin City. Although she had been tricked into virtual slavery, her brothers were now facing time in prison for having "broken" the contract. 

Sister Blandina. 

Sister Blandina, from the medical mission of Mary, who works in Benin City, came to the rescue. Blandina made four attempts to talk personally to the governor of Edo State, but without success. In desperation, she appealed to the Benin police chief, who agreed to help. She also enlisted the help of a local voluntary association of lawyers.

It was a frightening introduction to the world of trafficking for Blandina, and she was an obvious choice to join the small organization to help trafficking victims that was established in February 1999 by the Conference of Religions in Nigeria. It was named the Committee for the Support of the Dignity of Women.

The local bishop provided two rooms at the cathedral in Benin City. The sisters turned this into an office and small vocational center. Three sisters work in the Committee under the direction of Sister Cecilia, who is the Superior General of the the Sacred Heart Sisters in Benin City. They have no budget from the Church. They fund the work themselves.

Sister Regina.

Their contact in Lagos is Sister Regina Oke, a sister of St. Michael the Archangel. Sister Regina is also the focal point in Lagos for Nigerian girls who are helped to return home by the Catholic Church in Italy. She meets them on arrival, puts them up at a religious hostel in Lagos, and sends them back to Benin City where they are picked up by Sister Cecilia, Sister Blandina, and the others.

These sisters are well suited to take on the traffickers in the villages because they are themselves so well integrated into village life. This allows them to follow up cases. They do it patiently and without any expectations. Their only reward, says Regina, will be to defeat trafficking.

Of course, they see it in moral and religious terms.To them trafficking is evil and prostitution is a sin. Pressed on the point, they argue that trafficking must be seen in moral terms to be defeated. Some feminists might be worried by this. Indeed, on many issues of importance to women, the Catholic Church and the women's movement have not always been on the same side. But on this issue, here in Nigeria, the two are in the same corner. One does not have to be religious to agree with Sister Blandina that trafficking is an evil, like slavery or torture.

Above all, the sisters are driven by a deep sense of humanity and sympathy for the victims. Sister Blandina is convinced that most of those who go to Italy do so through fear and coercion. Even those who volunteer, she feels, must be feeling pressure.

"Imagine what it must be like at that age in a foreign country, far from home, not speaking the language, with no documents. They're young and terrified."

It adds to their credibility that Blandina and the others have no wish to be publicly praised. By carefully limiting their own role in the coalition, the sisters also encourage others to work with them, which is the surely the essence of good networking. In Lagos, Sister Regina has developed a close relationship with WOCON, with Caritas, and with several journalists. In Benin City, her colleagues have developed a fruitful partnership with a group of Christian lawyers, who give them free legal advice. They are also starting to get inquiries directly from religious organizations in Europe that are coming upon abused Nigerian women. 

The one thing the sisters don't have is money. Until now, they have paid for everything out of their personal allowances, which is clearly unsustainable. They have been asked by their friends in Italy to take on more girls who want to return, and they would like to open a center where the returning girls can receive medical assistance and counseling before returning to their homes. But for now all such plans are on hold.

The sisters' philosophy: invest in women.

The sisters are clearly an excellent investment for any donor that sincerely cares about trafficking. The smallest grant would go a long way in their shrewd but compassionate hands.