SlaveryMap

Togo, Togo

The victim was a girl who had completed primary school but was unable to go on to attend middle school because of lack of finances. A family friend presented them with the idea that she go to work in Lome. He said he knew someone who was looking for help in their boutique. The victim traveled to Lome with the friend, and the girl was introduced very briefly to her knew employer in Agbelapedo, a busy transit hub. The employer offered her the equivalent of $6 a month to care for her four children and the house and make tea to sell in the boutique, then help out there. However, she found that she was subjected to both verbal and physical abuse as well as food deprivation. She was fed only scraps, but often there was nothing left. In one instance, she was accused of stealing money and was severely beaten. It was eventually found in the son's pocket.

Location
Togo · Togo · 2005 (location generalized to protect survivors)
Response & intervention
Law enforcement was not informed. One day at the market the victim saw a friend and relayed an urgent message to her family to come and get her. Two weeks later, the mother arrived along with the family friend who arranged the deal. The employer was angry since they had not warned her of their coming, so she took all the victim's personal belongings. The family rescued the victim and returned home with her. Later she was able to get a seamstress apprenticeship and later financial aid in her village. Today she educates others about the dangers of child exploitation. ATPH Interview by CARE Togo and the Peace Corps
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don't have a verifiable source on file yet — use “Report a problem” below to add one.

← All documented cases