Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Niger :: Woman wins slavery case against Niger

Niger :: Woman wins slavery case against Niger


ABDOULAYE MASSALATCHI | NIAMEY, NIGER - Oct 27 2008 13:53 


A West African regional court of justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday for failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery in a case anti-slavery campaigners hope will set a precedent.


The regional Ecowas Court of Justice ruled that Niger had failed in its obligations to protect Hadijatou Mani, who says she was sold into slavery in 1996 for around $500 and regularly beaten and sexually abused.

"I am very happy with this decision," Mani, now 24, told reporters at the court. Her comments, in the Hausa language spoken widely in Africa's Sahel region on the southern fringe of the Sahara, were translated by an interpreter.

Mani was at one point jailed for bigamy by Niger's court system when her former master opposed her marriage to another man, insisting she had automatically become his own wife when he set her free in 2005.

The case against the state was brought with the help of British-based anti-slavery organisations as a test case to press African governments to stamp out slavery, which campaigners say is rife in some African countries despite legal prohibitions.......read more

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Vibrant Young Women Convene!


Young Women Leadership Institute Program, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria September 22-27, 2008

Twenty three young feminists from the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria participated in the Young Women’s Leadership Institute whose goal is to develop and enhance the leadership potentials of young women in order for them to aspire and occupy leadership and decision making positions in Nigeria.



The training had the following objectives:
• To create awareness on the relationship between Globalization, Millennium Development Goals and Leadership from a feminist perspective.
• To develop and enhance the leadership potentials of the young women
• To mobilize and mentor the young women into the feminist movement
• To foster the coalition of women’s human rights activists through information sharing and group monitoring
• To establish information sources as a means of monitoring and mentoring the young women........read more