Abstract
The exploitative and illegal movement of persons constitutes one of the social vices that plague the world today. Human trafficking manifests in multifarious subsets such as sex trafficking, body part harvesting, and so on. These elements of culture can either promote human growth or undermine it. The prevalence of the phenomenon of child harvesting has brought the phrase “baby factories” into Nigerian culture. However, this study, adopting the descriptive method of research, takes a tilt towards articulating the phenomenon in order to identify the socio-religious implications on Ibibio culture. The negative cultural attitude towards adopted children and discrimination of adopted children discourage couples from legal adoption. The researcher recommends that the Ministry of Health should intensify monitoring and evaluation of traditional birth attendants operating in Akwa Ibom State, while pregnant girls and women who cannot care for their children should be drawn into the welfare plan of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare.
TopIntroduction
The world is never shy of offering humanity problems to deal with. It is bedeviled with multifarious problems induced either by nature or human actions. While terrorism and pandemic is lousily disturbing the social order, human trafficking is discreetly depleting moral values and human dignity. Often done underground, human trafficking is a crime against humanity and human conscience. It is the exploitative and illegal movement and recruitment of persons for self-benefit. Since the turn of the 21st century, human trafficking has gained momentum with replica energy put forth by government and privately owned organizations as well as faith-based organizations (FBOs). The emergence of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and organisations such as WOTCLEF in 2003 is a pointer to the response made to combat the phenomenon.
However, at the early stage of human trafficking, the prevalent subsets were movement of young girls within Nigeria and abroad for commercial sex work and recruiting young people from the rural areas to work in the urban areas for a cartel. The illegal activities gathered momentum to the point that Babalola and Chuks hint that “every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers in their own countries and abroad. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, or transit destination for victims” (2018: 161). The practice of trafficking persons for commercial sex and other labour became a global and national phenomenon.
Additionally, although concerted efforts are made to curtail the phenomenon, human trafficking subsists due to the “innovative and creative” prowess of the traffickers – the resistant efforts of the government and other organizations put forth to stop the illegal practice have made the traffickers to develop a subset – child harvesting which involves nurturing or harbouring pregnant young girls and women and selling off the babies to buyers. The practice has been on operation and the first mention was done by UNESCO in 2006. Ever since the first case of child harvesting was discovered, scholars have devoted researches to expound the social problem. However, despite the ongoing practice, known as baby harvesting, there is no legal or official definition and there are variations in its terminology. Oke and Oluwaleye (2017) explain that the form of child/Human trafficking that is fast gaining ascendancy in crime and human trafficking in Nigeria is “Baby Merchandizing.” The definition given by Oke and Oluwaleye (2017) is that it is the scenario of commoditizing human beings for pecuniary or monetary gains. Other terminologies used in describing this subset of child trafficking are “child farming and baby sourcing.” In the study, the terms are used interchangeably.
The pivot of the practice of child harvesting in Nigeria is the “baby factories” – a special undercover place where young girls and women are kept and men paid to impregnate them and the babies are conceived, nurtured and delivered for eventual sale to prospective buyers who determine what to do with the babies. Media reports have revealed that some of the buyers use the purchased babies for dehumanizing practices such as ritual purposes; and in some cases, the babies are sold to childless couples. Study by Nwaka (2019) indicates that the increase in the need for adoption in Nigeria has given impetus to the new trend of baby harvesting through the baby factories especially in South-eastern, south-west and south-south regions of Nigeria. The emergence of the baby factories in Nigeria has provided a channel for illegal adoption of babies. The situation has attracted intense inquisition by scholars such as Oke and Oluwaleye (2017), Eseadi et al (2015) and Nwaka (2019).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Human Trafficking: The term human trafficking denotes the use of force, fraud, and other insincere methods to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex. Wooditch (2021) AU46: The in-text citation "Wooditch (2021)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. defines human trafficking as the illegal transport of individuals by force or deception for the purpose of labour, sexual exploitation or activities in which others benefit financially. Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (2021) AU47: The in-text citation "Investigation (2021)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. explains that human trafficking incorporates sex trafficking, labour trafficking, and domestic servitude.
Implication: Implication denotes the effect that an action or situation can induce. The common belief is that every human action or decision has ripple effects which could be positive or negative. The articulation of socio-religious implications in the study entails the effects of child harvesting on the socio-religious spheres of the society. The issue of socio-religious implications of child harvesting in Ibibioland is thus treated as an integral relationship.
Baby Harvesting: Child harvesting also known as baby harvesting, child sourcing and child farming is the procedural and illegal sale of children for illegal adoption and other illegal purposes. It is a subset of human trafficking that is done underground by human traffickers in Nigeria – specifically the south-eastern, south-western, and south-south regions. The phenomenon of child harvesting is adjudged by scholars to be the new trend of human trafficking.
Baby Factory: The baby factory or bay farm is often a “small illegal facility masquerading as private medical clinics or orphanages that carry out women’s impregnation and conduct negotiations and sales of babies” (Harrison, 2020 AU41: The in-text citation "Harrison, 2020" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. ). Ombelet defines baby factories as “institutions where young people give birth to children who are then placed for sale on the illegal adoption market” (2016: 5). At the baby factory, women or young girls are either impregnated by force or willingly and they are kept illegally until the birth of the babies who are then sold out to buyers. Studies by Unongu (2021) AU42: The in-text citation "Unongu (2021)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , Ombelet (2016) AU43: The in-text citation "Ombelet (2016)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. and Chioma (2015) AU44: The in-text citation "Chioma (2015)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. indicate that baby factories are usually disguised as maternity homes, hospitals, social welfare homes or orphanages.
Culture: Culture entails the beliefs, customs, norms arts and other elements that give identity to a particular society or group of people. According to Khatoon (2021) AU45: The in-text citation "Khatoon (2021)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , culture is a heritage that is often transmitted from generations to successive generations. Culture is an all-compassing term which incorporates the worldview, behaviour, and other capabilities.