Girl child labour in Nigeria

Girl child labour in Nigeria refers to the high incidence in this nation of girls aged 5–14 who are involved in economic activities outside education and leisure.^[1] The prevalence of girl child labour in Nigeria is largely due to household economic status,^[2] but other factors include: the educational status of parents, the presence of peer pressure, and high societal demand for domestic help and sex workers.^[3] Additionally, in many rural and Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria, children are sometimes asked to aid religiously secluded women or mothers in running errands.^[4]

Many girls in the nation work as shop helpers and street hawkers. The use of young girls in economic activities exposes them to dangers that sometimes result in sexual assault, loneliness, anger, and exploitation.^[5] In addition, the workforce of young girls is not recognized by law and any form of employee benefit is negligible.^[6][7]

In Nigeria, child labour is driven by social, demographic, and economic factors such as poverty, loss of parental employment, loss of a parent or family guardian, rural-urban migration, large family size, and cultural norms such as polygamy.^[8] Other drivers include the mal-distribution of schools, poor accessibility, and the high cost of tuition.^[8]Recently, conflicts and terrorism have caused internal displacements of people and damage to school facilities, pushing more children into child labour. Moreover, the mass killings of communities by bandits in northern Nigeria have created more orphans and potential victims of child labour.^[9][10]

Background

Starting in the mid-1980s, adverse economic conditions in Nigeria (a country where men constituted the majority of the employees in the formal sector) forced many women to engage in informal sector labour in addition to their domestic duties, in order to supplement household income. Strategies undertaken by women in this informal sector include working long hours in the markets and using their children to hawk goods on the streets.^[11][12] In addition to missing classes, many girls face health and safety risks including exhaustion, attempted sexual assault, and kidnapping.^[13][14]

Since the beginning of the Structural Adjustment Programme in Nigeria, Nigeria has gone through a period of economic hardship where families have had to improvise new strategies to survive, which sometimes included child trafficking and sending children to the cities as house girls.^[15] In 2003, the country enacted the Child Rights Act to protect children from being exploited and denied their rights as minors.^[16]

In rural communities, girl child labour is believed to aid girls in developing home skills, helping others, and building family solidarity.^[17] One example of such an activity is gathering firewood.^[18] Socialization is a major reason girls are preferred to boys in the recruitment of maids. However, this type of work may impede educational prospects for girls.^{[citation needed]} In some Northern Nigerian Fulani communities, girls help their mothers by hawking milk or other produce from their family farm.^{[citation needed]}

Forms of work

Domestic help

Due to the division of labor according to gender in households and related socialization norms, many Nigerian households prefer to use girls as maids.^[15] Domestic help is typically performed by girls aged under 15 who work as maids in the households of families who are in a higher income bracket.^{[citation needed]} In return, the wealthier family pays the girl or her parents, or provides her education or skills training.^[15] However, the child may face abuse and sexual assault from the household.^[19] In some instances, some of the girls are under the age of 8.^[19] In Nigeria, most of the girls are from the Southern and Middle Belt regions. The demand for domestic help in Nigeria and nearby African countries has increased the incidence of child trafficking.^[20]

Organized networks procure child labor in the Southern states including Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Cross River, Ekiti, and Oyo.^{[citation needed]} The children are then transported to other states for domestic work.^{[citation needed]}

Street hawking

Many girls below the age of 15 vend goods on public roads, carry goods to customers, or beg for alms. On average, more primary and secondary school-age girls engage in street trading than boys.^{[citation needed]} Apart from hawking, some girls also engage in street begging, sometimes known as al majeri in the North.^[21]

Problems

About 8% of girl hawkers have been subjected to sexual abuse including cases of rape and sexual violence.^[22] Young girls are also exposed to adult challenges and deviant behavior at an early age while having no time to attend classes and complete school work.

Apart from exposure to health risks, child abuse, and sexual assault, girl child labor in Nigeria has led to an increase in adolescent-age commercial sex work^[23] exposing the girls to the dangers of street life at an early age. Some young girls are trafficked by organized networks who lie to the girls and their parents that they will be housemaids in the city.^[23]

See also

• Child marriage in Nigeria
• Women in Nigeria

References

1. Carter, Arielle; Togunde, Dimeji (2008). "In Their Own Words: Consequences of Child Labor in Urban Nigeria" (PDF). Journal of Social Science. 16 (2): 173–181. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
2. Kazeem, Aramide (2012). "Children's Work in Nigeria: Exploring the Implications of Gender, Urban–Rural Residence, and Household Socioeconomic Status". The Review of Black Political Economy. 39 (2): 187–201. doi:10.1007/s12114-011-9126-y. S2CID 153464998.
3. Bhalotra, Sonia. "Child labour in Africa". OECD. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
4. Rain, David (1997). "The women of Kano: internalized stress and the conditions of reproduction, Northern Nigeria". GeoJournal. 43 (2): 175–187. doi:10.1023/A:1006815632077. ISSN 0343-2521. JSTOR 41147132. S2CID 152898830.
5. Audu, Bala; Geidam, Ado; Jarma, Hajara (2009). "Child labor and sexual assault among girls in Maiduguri, Nigeria". International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. 104 (1): 64–67. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2008.09.007. PMID 18954870.
6. "Uncovering the menace of girl-child labour in Nigeria | Dailytrust". dailytrust.com. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
7. Report, Agency (2018-02-13). "50 per cent of Nigerian children engaged in child labour – NBS". Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
8. Paediatric Association of Nigeria (2012-08-15). "Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) recommended routine immunization schedule for Nigerian children". Nigerian Journal of Paediatrics. 39 (4). doi:10.4314/njp.v39i4.1. ISSN 0302-4660.
9. . Technical Education and Industry, 2 — Report of a Commonwealth Regional Seminar, Ibadan, Nigeria, 24 April – 5 May 1978: 86–87. 1978-05-05. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
10. Enebe NO, Enebe JT, Agunwa CC, Ossai EN, Ezeoke UE, Idoko CA, Mbachu CO (2021). "Prevalence and predictors of child labour among junior public secondary school students in Enugu, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study". BMC Public Health. 21 (1339). doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11429-w. PMC 8262090. PMID 34233655.   This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
11. Bankole, Evelyn (2018-01-31). "Child labor in Nigeria: sad facts everyone should know". Legit.ng - Nigeria news. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
12. "Child labor continues to be a pressing problem in Nigeria. Girls are especially at risk". The World from PRX. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
13. Audu, Bala; Geidam, Ado; Jarma, Hajara (2009). "Child labor and sexual assault among girls in Maiduguri, Nigeria". International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. 104 (1): 64–67. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2008.09.007. PMID 18954870.
14. "Preventing Boko Haram abductions of schoolchildren in Nigeria". Africa Portal. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
15. Omokhodion 2009, p. 1.
16. "Child Labor Still Prevalent in Nigeria, Despite Legislative Efforts | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
17. "Despite Bans, Child Labor Prevalent in Nigeria | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
18. Kazeem, Aramide (2013). "Unpaid work among children currently attending school in Nigeria". International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. 33 (5/6): 328–346. doi:10.1108/IJSSP-07-2012-0066.
19. Omokhodion 2009, p. 2.
20. Agbu, Osita (2009). Children and Youth in the Labour Process in Africa.
21. Hoechner, Hannah (2013). Search for Knowledge and Recognition. IFRA.
22. Tinuola Femi. "The challenges of girl-child education and alternative jobs in Nigeria". Corvinus Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 1:101-121. P. 114
23. Bamgbose, Oluyemisi (2002). "Teenage Prostitution and the Future of the Female Adolescent in Nigeria". International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. 46 (5): 569–570. doi:10.1177/030662402236741. PMID 12365144.

Sources

• Omokhodion, J (September 2009). "Linking the Dominance of House Girls in Nigerian Households to the Girl child Socialization Pattern in Nigeria". Journal of Social Sciences. 1 (2).