Music For Cause

Anti Slavery International Case Study

Mariama

Photo: Anti-Slavery International/Romana Cacchioli

Mariama, from Niger, about 35 years old

"I knew it wasn’t right. When I heard that there was a law against slavery, I made up my mind that moment to runaway from my master. I took my children who were looking after my master’s sheep and ran to Konni. There people took pity on me and took me to see Timidria. They helped me come to Aroki. My master came and made a lot of noise, he wanted me back, he said that I belonged to him, that my children belonged to him. People, here in Aroki refused to let him take me. He won’t come back as he is afraid that Timidria will take him to the judge. Sometimes I am sad when I think of the five women, my friends who I left behind.”

Mariama is just one of the slaves being helped by Timidria, Anti-Slavery International’s partner organisation in Niger, west Africa. Niger is the poorest country in the world, with over 60% of the population living on less than one dollar a day.

200 years after the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Anti-Slavery International and its partners are using the same tool as William Wilberforce and the British abolitionists – the law – to fight slavery. Timidria has recently won an historic first conviction against a slave owner in Niger, a case which also saw the victim receive compensation which will enable her to start a new life.

Alongside this important legal work, Timidria runs community schools, which provide vital education, nutrition and health care for slave children, as well as monitoring of their welfare, plus literacy classes for adults. These schools are vital since Niger’s slave population is not officially recognised and no formal education provision exists for slave children.

The schools follow the national curriculum and teach the children basic human and civil rights. At least within the school, children of slave status and those of their masters interact on equal terms, which helps to break down barriers and helps build the confidence and self esteem of slave children. Attending school provides slave children with their only respite from otherwise permanent work for their masters, and increases their chances of achieving a livelihood outside of slavery.

Photo: Anti-Slavery International/Romana Cacchioli

Mariama was forced to wear this ankle bracelet, as a sign of her status and most importantly to prevent her from running away. It weights over 2 kilos. Anti-Slavery International’s partner, Timidria, helped remove it.

Kate’s story

Photo: ESAM

At 13 Kate was sent to her mother’s friend to work as a domestic. She lives with her ‘employer’, in Nairobi, Kenya over three hours from her family’s home.

She had to fetch water, wash clothes, cook and look after the baby. She had no time to rest. Sleeping on the floor of the sitting room, her life was miserable and lonely. Sometimes she was paid, even though before she left her home she was promised 300 Kenyan Shillings per month (approx. £2.50).

Worldwide millions of children work as child domestics for no pay.
Young children are sent away to run homes for others.
They take on domestic chores from early morning to late at night.
Often they are subjected to verbal and physical abuse.
They are forced to work as slaves and hidden from the outside world.

Child domestic workers (i.e. children in domestic labour) are people under the age of 18 years who work in households of people other than their closest family, doing domestic chores, caring for children, running errands and sometimes helping their employers run small businesses from home. This includes children who are paid for their work, those who are not paid, as well as those who receive ‘in-kind’ benefits, such as food and shelter.

Children as young as seven years old are routinely pressed into domestic service. Despite some children entering domestic labour in the hope of continuing their schooling, most are deprived of opportunities for education and are working in conditions that can be considered as a worst form of child labour. Worldwide, the majority of child domestic workers (90%) are girls, and many have been trafficked, and/or are in debt bondage. Child domestic workers are isolated from their families and from opportunities to make friends – and are under the total control of employers whose primary concern is often not in their best interests as children. Domestic service is estimated by the ILO to be the single largest employment category of girls under 16 in the world.

Bola’s bid for freedom

Photo: Pete Pattison

Bola Singh was the first person in his village to bid for freedom.

He filed a case to free himself from bondage to his landlord. Today, there are 17 similar cases pending in his village of Kalipur, in District Mansa.

In revenge, the landlords of Kalipur imposed a social boycott on all 17 families. This means they have no access to everyday items in the village, doctors won’t give them medicines, shops won’t sell them essential goods

Bonded labour has existed for hundreds of years. In South Asia, it took root in the caste system and continues to affect millions of people in India. Poverty and the existence of people prepared to exploit the desperation of others are at the heart of bonded labour. Often without land or education, the struggle for daily survival sometimes forces people to accept loans, which result in a lifetime of bondage, and can even enslave future generations.

Kim Choon-ae’s story

Credit: Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human

North Korean refugees’ face abuse from those who enslave them and from the Chinese Government that insists on repatriating them.

Kim Choon-ae and her 15-year-old daughter, Kim Hee-kyung, left North Korea during the food crisis to find work in China.

"To get into China, we crossed the icy Tumen River in the middle of the night. During the first month, my daughter was abducted from the house where I worked as a nanny. She was sold for 4,000 yuan (US$480) and forced to marry a man in a remote rural village. To get her back, I had to pay 4,000 yuan.

After two years in China, four men came to our house at night and kidnapped us. They were planning to sell us as 'brides' to men in a mining town for 10,000 yuan (US$1,200) each.

My daughter was so scared that she couldn't eat anything.

The neighbours, suspecting foul play, called the police. My daughter and I spent 40 days in a Chinese detention centre before being deported to North Korea. In North Korea, we were stripped naked, checked for hidden money and sent to a labour camp on the border in Musan. My daughter was beaten and interrogated.

Kim Choon-ae escaped after four days. But Hee-kyung remained imprisoned for two and a half months, she finally fled and both are now reunited in Seoul, South Korea with Kim Choon-ae’s second child. Kim Choon-ae works in sales and heads an organisation that raises public awareness about North Korea. Her children are all working or studying.

Rajesh’s Story

At 8am every day, Rajesh starts another back breaking soul-destroying day.

He has only just turned eight.

His days are long and hard. Despite his early start, he does not finish his work of packing boxes until 10 pm.

His head and legs have cuts from the daily toil.

And he’s not alone tens of thousands of children work under these conditions in this region of India.

Tamil Nadu’s labour department estimates more than 70,000 children work across the state – 7,700 are below eight years old. A recent state survey found that of the 32 different types of work identified, 20 were hazardous forms of labour, including making fireworks, matches, working in tanneries and the garment industry. India is one of the few countries that has not ratified laws to end harmful forms of child labour.