PERCEPTION OF SOCIOECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING ON RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Human trafficking (HT) has been a major challenge to the civil society with a substantial proportion of trafficked victims (TV) from rural households. Rural households are more prone to HT with the expectation of economic benefits without consideration for adverse social implications. The extent to which rural households achieved improved socioeconomic status from involvement in HT is yet to be fully established. Therefore, the socioeconomic implications of HT on affected rural households in Southwestern Nigeria were examined. Respondents were selected using a three-stage sampling procedure. Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states were randomly sampled out of six states in Southwestern Nigeria. A total of 926 TV: Oyo (370), Ogun (297) and Lagos (259) were obtained through snowball technique. Twenty-seven percent of the victims were randomly sampled from Oyo (100), Ogun (80) and Lagos (70) to give a total of 250 respondents. Structured interview schedule and Focus Group Discussion were used to obtain information on respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, trafficking experiences (recruitment method, contact with household, exploitative experiences, type of job and length of time spent at trafficked destination), awareness about trafficking purpose, remittances, victims’ perception of HT contribution to change in their household socioeconomic status (HSES) and change in household wellbeing (HWB). Indices of perceived contribution of HT to change in HSES (low= 0.0-36.6, high= 36.7-130.0) and change in HWB (worse-off= 0.0-12.0, unchanged= 12.1-61.2, improved= 61.3-130.0) were generated. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, linear regression and ANOVA at α0.05. The TV were aged 17.15±5.19 years, mostly female (55.2%), single (82.8%), 42.8% had primary education and 58.0% had spent 4 years at the trafficked destination. Trafficking of 56.4% victims was motivated by parents, while 29.2% was by themselves. Most TV (82.0%) were aware of the purpose of trafficking, 54.8% were engaged as domestic servants, 18.8% as plantation workers, while 12.4% were engaged in prostitution. The TV experienced various unpleasant treatments such as beating, overwork and hard labour. The TV (40.8%) had contact with their households once a year and 80.0% were stigmatised. Monthly income of TV ranged between ₦1,000.00 and ₦10,000.00 before trafficking to iii ₦4,000.00 and ₦12,000.00 during trafficking, while remittances were mainly for feeding (28.8%). The HWB were unchanged for 67.2% while 52.0% of TV had low perception of change in HSES. A positive significant relationship existed between nature of job victims engaged in and change in their household wellbeing. Length of time spent in trafficked destination (r=0.127) and victims’ frequency of contact with their households (r=0.520) positively correlated with change in their households’ wellbeing. Perception of change in HSES by TV was significantly higher in Oyo (70.86±11.08) than Lagos (68.11±8.56) and Ogun (66.68±7.90) states. Predictors of TV household wellbeing were income (β=0.293), family size (β=-0.170) and age (β=0.052). Rural households benefited economically from partaking in human trafficking; however the victims experienced unpleasant treatments and stigmatisation in Southwestern Nigeria. Socioeconomic status of trafficked victims’ households depended on income, family size and age of trafficked victims. There should be increased efforts towards the arrest and prosecution of human traffickers. Keywords: Household remittances, Human trafficking, Rural households, Trafficked victims Word count: 499