They Just Have to Adopt These Conventions’: Anti-child Trafficking Policies and Politics in Nigeria

Author: Olayiwola, Peter

Abstract: Child domestic workers are among those in need of rescue according to popular discourse because they are often victims of exploitation. There are a wide range of international policy documents and actors working to rescue these children. Based on a study conducted in Nigeria, this article unpacks the politics around existing policies and operations to rescue these children. It argues that anti-trafficking policies are often accompanied with surveillance powers in ways that ‘rescue missions’ become more about meeting ‘global standards’—rather than what is relevant or problematic in local settings. Intervention policies need to reflect and address local realities for such UN Sustainable Development Goals as ending modern slavery, trafficking, and child labor and promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies to be realized.

Keywords: child trafficking, child domestic work, anti-trafficking, Nigeria