Research findings have demonstrated that differences exist between gender and perception of human trafficking. On account of this, Madunagu (2002) posited that parents of victims (males and females) who were contacted in a focus group discussion gave different opinions as to what constitute human trafficking. Whereas the females see human trafficking as money-making venture, the males on the contrary see it as an avenue for exploitation of human labour and earnings. In a similar development, Osakue
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and Okoojion (2002) maintained that there is a remarkable difference in the perception of human trafficking by men and women. They noted that girls are more easily attracted by wealth such that when they see the successes of others, they want to emulate them not minding the means. They therefore look at human trafficking as a means of making quick money rather than a means of exploitation as being looked upon by men. Eysenck and Nias (2000) on their part observed that in virtually all cultures, there are different norms for males and females, so men and women have different world-views and by extension different perception of human trafficking. They maintained that whereas men perceive human trafficking as an instrument of exploitation, women perceive it as a worthwhile enterprise which has come to alleviate poverty in Africa. However, the European Union Commission reported that some 500,000 women may have been forced into commercial sex while as many as 50,000 women and children are brought to the United States under false pretence each year and forced to work as prostitutes, abused labourers or servants”
Also, the International Labour Organisation stated that the majority of people trafficked for sexual exploitation or subjected to forced labour are females. Researchers believe that women are more vulnerable to trafficking due to political, economic and development processes that may leave some of the women socially and economically dependent on men and if the support from men becomes limited or withdrawn, women become dangerously susceptible to abuse such as inadequate access to health care and education, poor employment prospects or high level of social isolation which may eventually change their perception of human trafficking. Bowers (2012) disclosed that traffickers use to dangle false promises of marriage infront of Nigerian girls and women to entice them to go abroad so, in Nigeria women account for more than 70% of all trafficking victims. He revealed that institutionalized gender-based discrimination ensures a continuous and plentiful supply of women and children, thus gender based factors are cited frequently as contributing factors to human trafficking.
Also researches show that Nigeria is a source, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in person on conditions of forced prostitution. Women and girls are recruited for involuntary domestic servitude and forced commercial sexual exploitation and the women are taken from Nigeria to other West and
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Central African countries like Gabon, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso and Gambia for the same purpose.
Orakwe Arinze (2012) disclosed that for monetary gains, Nigeria women and girls are taken to Europe especially to Italy and Russia and to the East and North Africa for forced prostitution stating that records showed that 20,000 Nigerian girls engage in commercial sex work in Italy with 3,000 in the city of Turin alone, that most of them are from Edo, Delta and other states in Nigeria.
The South-East zonal commander of NAPTIP also pointed out report by TAMPEP, an Italian-based non government organisation stated that about 80% of the street prostitutes in Italy were Nigerians while about 13,000 were stranded in Libya. It also disclosed that 104 girls that were repatriated from Mali(Appendix X) were already on rehabilitation and 12 girls that were recently brought back from Cote D‟ivore in November 2012 were also on NAPTIP rehabilitation at a very huge cost. He however believed that the free movement to enter member states which the ECOWAS states allow is making the victims to enter those countries with different intentions and with fake identities.
Shukula (2012) disclosed that as a result of poverty, desperate women who often take great risks in an effort to escape poverty often allow themselves to join the lucrative sex tourism industry that prevail and flourish in most third world countries and some developed nations like Brazil, Costa Rica, Philippine, Cuba etc such exotic destinations that serve as hot bed of sex tourism. Moreover, he explained further that after the recent Iraq war, many women fleeing from Iraq have been known to turn to prostitution as a means to survive and most of them have been trafficked to Middle Eastern countries like Jordan, Syria, Qatar, United Arab Emirate and Turkey for the purpose of sexual slavery.
In corroborating this, NAPTIP Counselling and Rehabilitation department records that a total number of 3,050 victims were received from December 2004 to 2008, of which 779 were men and 2271 were women. Also in 2005 Nigerian government and Benin officials signed a cooperation agreement to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons with an emphasis in women and girls as female are more vulnerable to being trafficked. This perception needs further examination hence; gender has been a factor in this study.
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