Summary

During her visit to Nigeria from 3 to 10 September 2018, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, examined the main forms of trafficking in persons, at both the domestic and international levels. In her report, she commends the comprehensive anti-trafficking legislative and institutional framework and advocates for better enforcement and increased funding to its specialized agency for combating trafficking in order to achieve better results regarding the identification of and support for trafficked persons.

The Special Rapporteur welcomes the establishment of 10 government shelters for victims of trafficking but is deeply concerned about their “closed” nature, which infringes the human rights of victims and survivors. She therefore recommends that the policy be urgently reviewed. She also welcomes the establishment of the Edo State task force against human trafficking, commends the work of civil society organizations and advocates for a dedicated government fund to finance their projects. She emphasizes that, especially in the context of forced or voluntary returns, long-term measures aimed at social inclusion are needed to provide survivors with viable alternatives and prevent retrafficking. Prevention measures solely aimed at raising awareness of the risks of migration have proven ineffective and should be coupled with meaningful economic empowerment measures, such as job creation, business skills training and extensive tutorship during the start-up phase of a business.