NIAMEY, Niger, June 11…Declaring that “human trafficking, exploitation and abuse are more pervasive now than at any time in human history,” Leah Schildkraut promised today that her first act as President will be to issue a “declaration of war on slavery and all who profit from it.”
Schildkraut issued a challenge to her opponents, McCain and Obama. “Come to Africa where millions are enslaved, the brothels where women and children are exploited…Come raise your voices to resolve this humanitarian crisis.”
The Anarcho-Feminist nominee interrupted her busy schedule of campaigning to fly here to show support for a young woman who is suing the West African nation of Niger for failing to enforce its own anti-slavery laws.
The Associated Press reports that Hadijatou Mani, 24, says that she was sold into slavery at the age of 12 for about $500. She was forced to do domestic and agricultural labor and also “lived as a sexual slave or ‘sadaka’ to her master who already had four wives and seven other ‘sadaka.’ She worked without pay, was not permitted to travel and was “subjected to regular beatings and sexual violence,” according to a statement from Anti-Slavery International.
She is now demanding compensation for her years of servitude, and a commitment from the Niger and the nations of West Africa to enforce the anti-slavery laws already on their books.
Responding to decades of international pressure the government of Niger finally outlawed slavery in 2003, but a spokesman for Anti-Slavery International contends the practice continued in flagrant violation of the law. Nothing was done to help Hadijatou or the hundreds of thousands of others it estimated are held as slaves in Niger.
“Generations of the same families are born into bondage and can never aspire to freedom,” Schildkraut said.In Niger, she said it is estimated that 8 per cent of the population are slaves.
Schildkraut stood in the broiling desert sun speaking fervently to a handful of supporters.
In Chad she said a UN Office for Coordination of Human Affairs reported that African children were sold to Arab tribesmen; their names were changed, they were forbidden to speak their native dialect and were forcibly converted to Islam.
“In Timbuktu, Mali, Tuareg tribesmen hold the members of the Bella tribes as slaves,” she said. “In Mauritania, Arab Muslims, known as “bidanes”, which means ‘white people’ own thousands of black slaves. It is estimated that 600,000 Mauritanians are enslaved…”
Flushed by the heat and the intensity of her outrage Schildkraut stumbled in the burning sand. A young woman rushed up and held a parasol over her head as she continued.
“But human trafficking is not just a problem in Africa,” she said. “It has taken hold in Eastern Europe and Asia, any place where poverty and sexism are destroying the lives of millions of young women.”
The dwindling crowd of journalists stirred restlessly. Notebooks were closed. Cameras put away.
“I just returned from a village in Moldova where every young woman had been falsely recruited for jobs and then virtually kidnapped, enslaved and forced into prostitution,” Schildkraut said. ” Every year thousands of women disappear into the brothels of Europe, Asia, Israel and the US, yes the US…” She faltered. “Gangsters, pimps and profiteers run the world and nobody does anything about it…” She fell forward in a heat swoon. Several supporters daubed her forehead and moistened her lips. A mini cab was called and she was taken to a hospital where she was reported in fair condition later in the day.
The day had been a disappointment for Schildkraut, who had flown halfway around the world for this event. News that an American candidate was coming had drawn hundreds of journalists from all over Africa, but the crowd began to dwindle when they saw it was Schildkraut.
“We thought it might be McCain,” a reporter said. “He has spoken strongly about human trafficking and called for an Interagency Task Force to combat it.”
“Hillary Clinton, too,” a young woman said. “She called human slavery the dark underbelly of globalization and spoke against it all over the world.”
“We were hoping for Obama,” another young woman said. “He has not said anything to support our cause. We were hoping that he would finally begin to help us.
But he will come,” she quickly added. “We have faith.”
