32 Teenage Girls Freed From Nigerian "Baby Factory"

AlterNet Link

Quote :

Nigerian police have raided a home allegedly being used to force teenage girls to have babies that were then offered for sale for trafficking or other purposes, authorities said on Wednesday.

"We stormed the premises of the Cross Foundation in Aba three days ago following a report that pregnant girls aged between 15 and 17 are being made to make babies for the proprietor," said Bala Hassan, police commissioner for Abia state in the country's southeast.

What I can't figure out, and I haven't been able to find anywhere (mostly because everyone has copypasta'd this article) is how exactly these babies were "made." It's not like they were assembling them from spare baby parts lying around...I mean, girls can't simply "make" babies on their own. Were these girls sold or kidnapped after they were pregnant, or were they being systematically raped?

Quote :

Hassan said the owner of the "illegal baby factory" is likely to face child abuse and human trafficking charges. Buying or selling of babies is illegal in Nigeria and can carry a 14-year jail term.

Child abuse and human trafficking charges, but no rape charges. Hmm. Also I love that they felt it necessary to point out that selling babies is illegal in Nigeria. You don't say, them Africans gots basic child protection laws!

Quote :

Cases of child abuse and people trafficking are common in West Africa. Some children are bought from their families to for use as labour in plantations, mines, factories or as domestic help.

Others are sold into prostitution while a few are either killed or tortured in black magic rituals. NAPTIP says it has also seen a trend of illegal adoption.

"There is a problem of illict adoption and people not knowing the right way to adopt children," said Okoronkwo.

Yes, the problem here is simply that people are unaware of proper adoption policies. Newsflash--despite all the paperwork, adoption is not a business transaction. You don't get to use the child for any purpose you want. There's another word for that.

Holy shit.

Actually, it IS worth mentioning that selling babies is against the law there. There are places where it is not. Like Mississippi. You'd think it would already be on the books basically everywhere, but no.

I'd guess that since there are no rape charges, that the girls were already pregnant. Of course, this is Nigeria. I hope they were already pregnant; this is terrible enough as it is.

It happens in china very often, this isn't a shock but a disgust that people would purchase the babies. These sort of things make put shame in me for working to make money. o these people in poverty it's all about the money. I would like it if we could return to the old fashioned bartering system. So many current jobs would be eliminated along with obesity and new mental disorders such as "asperger."

^
That's retarded, you're retarded.

^ That's ignorant
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Owlish wrote:

or were they being systematically raped?

This one.

Quote :

Also I love that they felt it necessary to point out that selling babies is illegal in Nigeria. You don't say, them Africans gots basic child protection laws!

When writing news, one of the key points is to assume your audience doesn't know anything. Yes, you do have to point out Juneau is the capital of Alaska. Yes, you do have to use (at right) and (at left) to identify both people in an image even if the two people are Barack Obama and Pope Benedict. It's how things are done in the newspaper world (incidentally, it's one of the big reasons I detest writing for the media).

Fun fact: An adolescent girl slave today is much cheaper than one in 1900's. Due to inflation, the average adolescent slave girl in 1900's would be $40,000, while today they are $10,000.

That really just tells you how big the human trafficking business is.

rae wrote:

Actually, it IS worth mentioning that selling babies is against the law there. There are places where it is not. Like Mississippi. You'd think it would already be on the books basically everywhere, but no.

Well, I guess I learned something new today.

TheHermit wrote:

Owlish wrote:

Also I love that they felt it necessary to point out that selling babies is illegal in Nigeria. You don't say, them Africans gots basic child protection laws!

When writing news, one of the key points is to assume your audience doesn't know anything. Yes, you do have to point out Juneau is the capital of Alaska. Yes, you do have to use (at right) and (at left) to identify both people in an image even if the two people are Barack Obama and Pope Benedict. It's how things are done in the newspaper world (incidentally, it's one of the big reasons I detest writing for the media).

Yeah, I'll never get used to that. I gave up my dream of becoming a journalist long ago because of that...and then turned to fanfiction.

XLT-100852.0 wrote:

Fun fact: An adolescent girl slave today is much cheaper than one in 1900's. Due to inflation, the average adolescent slave girl in 1900's would be $40,000, while today they are $10,000.

That really just tells you how big the human trafficking business is.

I'm intensely curious as to how you know this.