Country Report: Benin

Bought and sold, West African child slaves clean houses and harvest cocoa.

A Victim's Story

Juliette was only seven when a group of strangers approached her in her village in south Benin. They offered her a job in the nearby country of Cote D'Ivoire; they even paid her parents. She recalls, "There were a lot of children going. I wanted to go with them. I was excited to be going somewhere in a car." But Juliette was actually being sold into slavery. Now she wakes at 6 a.m. to clean her master's house and spends the rest of the day selling knick-knacks at a local market booth.

The trafficking of children from Benin to neighboring, relatively wealthier countries has become a booming and well-organized business. The UN guesses that up to 200,000 children are annually trafficked in this part of Africa. In April of 2001, a ship that departed from Benin was reported to be carrying over 250 child slaves. While the facts of this case are still unclear, it underscores the brazenness and systematic child slave trade in West Africa.

Country Background

Centuries ago, Benin was part of the Kingdom of Dahomey. Colonized by France in the 19th century, the country of Dahomey slowly gained independence. In 1960, it became fully autonomous, changing its name to Benin in the process. The country is exceedingly poor, even by African standards. Its economy relies primarily on subsistence agriculture and is extremely susceptible to drought and other changes in the climate. Today, Benin is a transit hub for the trafficking of child slaves throughout West Africa.

Causes of Slavery

Grinding poverty drives the supply side of Benin's slave trade. For many parents, the labor potential of their children constitutes one of the family's greatest assets. Slave traders, like Juliette's abductors, find it very easy to convince parents that a better life can be found elsewhere. The relatively prosperous economies of Benin's neighbors drive the demand for slaves. Urban dwellers can often afford to buy a slave to keep house or help with a business. Cocoa and coffee plantations, uncommon sights in Benin, buy slaves in order to lower costs in an increasingly competitive global market. Police and customs officials often look the other way as children are trafficked over land and by ship.

The Process of Enslavement

Some children are simply abducted off the streets. But slavers, exploiting a climate of poverty and desperation, also promise young children prosperity in Cote D'Ivoire, Gabon, or another country. The parents - if they do not sell their children outright - are all too ready to believe these stories. In a country where families live on less than $1 a day, children can be purchased for as little as $15.

With the promise of new opportunities for children of poor families, slavers often play off a local tradition of "vidomegon," where village children work as servants to wealthy urban families in return for education and training. Many families know of children who have greatly benefited from this exchange. But Benin's deteriorating economic situation has led to an increase in false promises and child exploitation.

The children are then trafficked through various channels until they are bought by masters. The girls are usually used as domestic servants or prostitutes. The boys often find themselves trapped on cocoa or coffee plantations - producing goods bound for European and North American consumers. Others children are trafficked to South Africa and the Middle East.

Enslaved children are denied education and forced to work seven days a week. When they grow older, they are discarded or escape. But with no identity papers, family, and funds, they often simply disappear once again into the margins of society.

Response on the Ground

While many law enforcement officials turn a blind eye to the problem, authorities have reportedly intercepted more than 2,000 children being trafficked over the past three years - leaving Benin for the Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Congo, and Equitorial Guinea. A local welfare charity, Terre des Hommes, runs a center for child survivors.

More Information

Slave narrative: Juliette »

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