Human Trafficking and Prostitution Among Women and Girls of Edo State, Nigeria Possibility of Rehabilitation Through Education and Prevention, by Sister Mary Dorothy Ezeh, gives hope to women and girls caught in the vicious web of human trafficking and prostitution.
“Looking at the reality of the girls of Edo State in Nigeria, it is clear the situation of poverty in which they live,” said Sister Mary Dorothy. “This led me to meet some of the victims of trafficking in human beings, some who have entered into prostitution. I worked with them and listened to their stories and experiences.”
Sister Mary Dorothy spoke during the presentation of her book on October 11, 2017, in Rome. The presentation was sponsored by the Union of Italian Major Superiors (USMI) and Talitha Kum, the International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking of people, active in 70 countries.
“I heard their anguish, pain, suffering, remorse,” Sister Mary Dorothy said of the women she interviewed. ‘” Most told me that if they knew what they were getting, they would never have agreed to leave the country.” She explained that young women agree to leave the country to enjoy better living conditions and help their families financially, but rather than marriage they fall into prostitution.
Sister Mary Dorothy is Nigerian and knows the reality described in her book. Edo State, whose capital is Benin City, is located in the South of Nigeria. For its survey, Sister Mary Dorothy presented three categories of victims of trafficking: parents, especially mothers, who push their children into trafficking; the women victims of trafficking; and the most vulnerable part of the population youth, more likely to fall into the trap of sexual exploitation. The research aims to provide an interpretive framework to provide recovery from exploitation through education and prevention.
