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Nigerian women, including minors, are being trafficked to cote d’Ivoie forforced prostitution, according to international group, Human RightWatch, Empowered Newswire reports.

In a statement issued on Thursday in Washington D.C., the US-based organisation said on oneoccasion, its investigators met with groups of about 30 Nigerian womentrafficked to the West African nation for prostitution.

Criticising the Ivorien government, the human rights group said,“Diplomats and international aid agency officials told Human RightsWatch that Ivorien authorities had rarely conducted in-depthinvestigations into trafficking for prostitution or successfullyprosecuted traffickers.”

The report quioted its senior West Africa researcher, Ms. Corinne Dufka, as saying “These women andgirls were sold dreams of migrating to better their lives, but thenfound themselves in a personal hell.” She added that the Nigerian andIvoirien governments should find and prosecute the perpetrators, workwith regional neighbours to shut down their operations and do more toprotect victims of forced prostitution.

According to HRW, on one occasion last month, eight of the Nigerian women, who weredescribed as victims, were interviewed by the human rights groupsindividually. The statement noted that “scores of similar casesinvolving Nigerian women and girls were documented by interviews withIvorian officials, United Nations personnel, and Nigerian embassystaff. Many victims were either between the ages of 15 and 17 or hadbeen minors when brought to Cote d’Ivoire.”

The report said that in two small towns in central Cote d’Ivoire, with populationsof about 40,000 and 50,000, respectively, its officials documented thepresence of five separate brothels of Nigerian women and girls. Agendarme in one of the towns estimated that at least 100 Nigerian womenwere working there as prostitutes.

HRW investigations indicated that the majority of them were likely to have beentrafficked. According to the organisation, “All of the women and girlsinterviewed by Human Rights Watch described being deceived intomigrating with promises of work as apprentice hairdressers or tailors,or to work in other businesses elsewhere in West Africa or in Europe.”

The statement added that Nigerian women recruited and transported thevictims overland through Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Burkina Faso, adding,“Majority of victims told both Human Rights Watch and the Nigerianembassy that they came from Delta and Edo States in southern Nigeria.”

It added, “Nigerian embassy staff in Abidjan told Human Rights Watch thatthey had repatriated scores of women trafficked for prostitution,including dozens this year alone.”

The statement said that Ivoirien, United Nations and Nigerian officials narrated to theorganisation’s officials how in July 2010, three 17-year-old Nigerians,who refused to engage in sex work after being trafficked, were lockedin a room and denied food for three days.

But the girls finally escaped, went to the local police, and were repatriated by theNigerian embassy. All the victims HRW officials interviewed said theywanted to leave Cote d’Ivoire and the sex trade. But they felt they hadno escape because of the perceived consequences of failing to pay thedebt.

It accused cote d’Ivoire of impeding the investigation due to what it called “an ineffective legal framework anda lack of will, or interest in the cases.” It said that Cote d’Ivoirehad not signed the UN Trafficking Protocol and also lacked domesticlegislation specifically criminalising trafficking.

HRW called on the Ivoirien government to sign and ratify the UN TraffickingProtocol without delay and pass a draft domestic anti-trafficking law,currently under consideration, in harmony with international standards.