Tracking the Changing Status of Nigerian Women in the Era of Trafficking and International Sex Trade: An Ethnographic Analysis

Abstract

The paper examined the changing status of Bini women occasioned by the upsurge and endemic nature of the phenomenon of trafficking for the purpose of transactional sex. It engaged ethnographic methods of data collection with the use of house-hold based interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) using vignette stories and key informants interview- ings. Data were analyzed based on emerged themes. Findings revealed that "successful" trafficked Bini women enjoyed high socio-economic status in their families of procreation espe- cially where family members were the direct recipients of the proceeds from transactional sex. Most mothers of "succes- sfully" trafficked victims wielded greater influence in family of procreation than was the case in traditional Benin family structure and prior to the era of trafficking in the study area. In addition, girl children that are "successful" victims of trafficking are highly revered by their older male siblings, as long as they sent "hard currency" from overseas. The paper concluded that many uneducated women still perceive trafficking and transac- tional sex as empowering initiatives to protect women from the oppressive culture, which had hindered their access to critical economic resources, but privileged the male gender.