A verdict is expected at the end
of this month in the trial of 16 members of a mostly female network of Nigerian
human traffickers operating forced prostitution rings in France.
The traffickers went on trial
last week at the high court of Paris, facing their accusers as the trafficked
women testified to being lied to, beaten and raped.
Plaintiffs began giving testimony
on May 14 against a group known as the “Authentic Sisters”, saying they were
trafficked from Nigeria, abused and forced into prostitution.
While eight women are testifying
in the case, a total of 49 victims have come forward. The defendants are being
tried for procuring and trafficking in human beings, crimes that carry a
maximum sentence of 10 years.
“It is rare to get this many
women to testify,” said a social worker for Bus De Femme, who did not want to
be named for security reasons. Bus De Femme, an NGO that provides a range of
health and social services to sex workers in Paris, provided pro-bono lawyers
for the victims in the case.
In some cases the group’s
volunteers and staff worked for years with the women to build up enough trust
to convince them to testify.
“These girls are often incredibly
traumatised and terrified to speak out,” the social worker said. Nigerian
members of Bus De Femme’s staff, some of whom are former sex workers
themselves, played an integral part.
Of the 16 accused, 11 are women
and five are men. Four are currently serving time in prison for previous
offenses. The prosecution alleged that the accused operated their prostitution
network across multiple countries including France, Italy and Spain.
During the first week the judge
heard testimony from four women and the preliminary defence from two alleged
traffickers, Mark “Hilary” Irorere and his wife Happy Irorere, who are thought
to have been the ringleaders responsible for coordinating the women’s affairs
once they arrived in Europe.
While the details of each
victim’s testimony are different, important elements are common throughout,
indicating there was a systematic approach to the trafficking operations. The
plaintiffs, some under 18, claim that before leaving Nigeria they were promised
economic opportunities in France unrelated to sex work. One plaintiff testified
she was told she would be working in a new restaurant operated by one of the
accused; another, that she would work as a nanny.
Before leaving Nigeria the women
were taken to voodoo priests, some of whom used body scarification in a ritual
to “seal” the women’s contracts with their traffickers. Other women were told
they were haunted by “bad spirits” and must pay their traffickers upwards of
€70,000 for protection.
Plaintiffs testified that both
the voodoo priests and their traffickers warned them not to tell anyone about
the payments. They would face extreme punishment for talking to police, they
said, and family members might be killed.
There have been numerous reports
of voodoo priests being involved in Nigeria’s trafficking rings. Earlier in the
year, the oba of Benin – where 90 percent of Nigerian sex trafficking
originates and where most of the plaintiffs are from – formally cursed those
priests who take part.
During a ceremony that all
priests in the region were required to attend, he declared all people
trafficked in his jurisdiction to be released from their voodoo bonds and
placed a new curse on any priests continuing the practice.
The plaintiffs testified that
they were given fake passports and visas, which they would pay for from the
money they earned in the future. They were brought to the home of their future
madame and were kept there under strict restrictions, except when they were out
seeking new clients.
The women were forced to pay for
expenses ranging from food to housing to various fees, totalling exorbitant
amounts far in excess of what they were told upon beginning their journeys.
Plaintiffs said they had no idea they would be forced to prostitute themselves
until condoms were placed in their hands for their first shift. They were then
told the rates to charge for their services. The debt owed by each of the 49
women ranged from €50-70,000 by the time they were settled in France.
During their time in court, the
women detailed the physical and sexual abuse they suffered, both at the hands
of their pimps and from their clients. Some said they were not allowed access
to medical services or were forced to have abortions. Rose Adaro, who said she
was just 17 when she arrived in France, was blindfolded and raped when she
refused to participate in the sex work.
Like many of the girls, Rose was
a virgin when she was forced into the sex trade and later experienced health
issues.
“When I told [my madame] that
some clients were bad to me and I was afraid I had HIV, she responded to me
that she didn’t care,” Adaro said.
“She said that I could die, but
all she cared for was the money I was getting her.”
Those facing trial for
trafficking the plaintiffs from Nigeria to France are accused of varying levels
of involvement. Some claim they started out as trafficked victims themselves, a
situation that can complicate sentencing. Joseph Hazan, the defence attorney
for 32-year-old Rita A., one of the accused, claims that is the case with his
client.
“My client was a prostitute for
five years because her family said, ‘We can’t eat, so you must go [to
Europe]’,” Hazan said in an interview a few days before the trial. “They knew
from others who had sent their daughters to work as sex workers in France.”
After five years she became
pregnant and stopped sex work, so the family sent two of her sisters to France
to replace the lost income, he explained. Soon after, other families from Benin
City asked for her to organise travel for their own daughters to join her.
“That’s how she became somewhat
of a business … she isn’t innocent and she will definitely be [found] guilty,
but I will try to explain she is not the boss of this organisation,” he said.
Hazan also claimed the victims
were complicit and fully aware that they were coming to Europe to be sex
workers. “They say they didn’t know, but they know you can’t work in France
without papers. They know that all people like that end up in the street.”
The trafficking of women out of
Nigeria and into Europe has increased sharply in recent years. The
International Organization for Migration (IOM) has documented a 600 percent
increase in women being trafficked through Italy – mainly arriving by sea – for
the purposes of sexual exploitation, with 80 percent of them coming from
Nigeria. In 2014 the IOM documented 1,454 Nigerian females, many of whom were
minors, arriving through Italy while the number two years later had risen to
11,000.
During the first week of
testimony the judge asked plaintiffs what they hoped would result from the
case. Rita O., who has been in France since being trafficked in 2012,
responded: “For them to go to prison. I was afraid before, but now that they
are already in custody, I feel freer to speak. I want my freedom back and to be
able to get ahead in my life.”
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