DAKAR, Senegal, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Nigerian and Ivory Coast officials must act vigilantly to combat the growing number of women trafficked for prostitution, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Right Watch said it uncovered five brothels of Nigerian women and girls who were working as prostitutes after being ensnared in debt bondage in two small towns in central Ivory Coast.
The rights group said women interviewed in July all said they were forced into debt bondage after being promised apprenticeships for possible work in West Africa or Europe.
When they arrived from Nigeria to the Ivory Coast, their traffickers forced them into prostitution in order to pay off a transportation debt of around $3,500. Human Rights Watch said the cost of traveling from Nigeria to the Ivory Coast is around $200, however. UPI
