The employment of under–aged children in households as domestic helps is increasing in urban areas in Benin. Some are lucky to be employed by God fearing people who take care and give them an opportunity for a future. But many are deprived and abused psychologically, physically or sexually while working under demeaning climate of exploitative labour. It is a common feature seeing children of varying ages hawking wares in the markets and along the streets in cities or towns. Efforts by the government to stop that through the introduction of free primary and secondary education seem to make no impact. The activities of some welfare organisations aimed at stopping that also have proved ineffective.
When a child is given out as a maid to a rich family, that child is subjected to untold hardship. They are given out as maids because their parents cannot afford to feed them properly, cloth them and educate them. Through their work as maids, they earn their living. Lack of economic resources; make it difficult for some parents to take appropriate care of their children until they become independent. As a result, the children may need to work to help and support the family financially. This often means that they have to drop out of school, reducing their chances of making it better in life.
Some of these children are being harassed sexually by the master or father of the house. Some become pregnant, and are thrown out of the house to suffer. Because of these problems, some end up living on the streets, snatching people’s bags for survival. While some turn to armed robbery and prostitution. Some of them die mysteriously in their master's house with no explanation given as to the cause of their death. These have put many families into feud and agonies.
In some rich homes, the children relax, eat and enjoy good meals. They attend good schools and cloth well. While the young maids toil day and night. A young girl of 9 or 10 years is made to work long hours daily, with no rest and poor feeding. She dresses shabbily and is given no formal or informal education. When the child falls sick due to exhaustion, instead of taking adequate care by taking her to the hospital for treatment, self – medication is given to her and this may endanger her life.
A 10 year old girl was sent on an errand and unfortunately was raped to death by hoodlums. The madam did not even care to look for her but concluded that she has taken her money and gone back to her parents. She started spreading the rumour that her maid has disappeared with her money. After five days, the police discovered the decaying corpse of the girl and the woman was arrested for questioning. A child of 8years was asked to buy soap in a nearby market but along the road she lost the money (1000cfa or $2). On returning home after a fruitless search for the lost money, her madam accused her of misappropriating the money. To the consternation of the people around, the woman poured the hot oil she was using to fry bean cakes on her. The girl was badly burnt. The incident was reported to the police and the woman was arrested, prosecuted and jailed.
Children between the ages of 8 – 14 years are asked to hawk biscuits, sweets, pure water, and pop – corn etc on the streets. This expose them to risks of being knocked down by moving vehicles or being kidnapped by ritual killers. Eighty percent of such children have suffered or have been exposed to physical, emotional or sexual abuse. This may have a long lasting negative effect on them. An abused child suffers psychological problems, such as depression and low self-esteem. The person he/she is staying with may be aware of such problems without giving him/her adequate help.
When the child is permitted to visit her parents, she may use the opportunity to narrate her predicament to them. Reasonable parents will not allow their children to go back there again. While wicked and uncaring parents out of greed for money may ask them to keep quiet and go back. A child under such condition may decide to run away from home rather than suffer hardships or may still go back to continue with the tasks. Many children don’t have a say when it involves making decisions.
A little boy I use to see around our compound was nearly lynched to death one day. I had to intervene to save him. On inquiry, I was told that he vandalised a nearby parked car removing the water wiper. How much does this water wiper cost, 1000cfa or $2? After settling the problem, I questioned the boy to find out why he did such a thing. The story I heard from him was very pathetic. He said the father was imprisoned for some reason he did not know. The mother married another man who could not afford to take care of him and did not want to see him around. The little boy took to the streets, begging, pilfering or stealing as the case may be for survival. He looked hungry, tattered, dirty and unkempt. I gave him some food and asked him to go and clean up. I decided to follow up the boy‘s story and discovered that the father was convicted and imprisoned for stealing a motor bike. The law of Benin stipulated that a child/children belong to the man. A woman has no right to claim or take custody of her child/children in case of any separation/divorce. However, the boy and the sister were later taken to a government owned home for proper care and training. This kind of situation endangers a child’s life. The child may join a bad group that may lead to his/her destruction.
There are cases where children are being abused physically, emotionally and sexually by their parents. Some fathers are known to have physically and sexually abused their daughters. Cases of sexual abuse are common among step fathers who often see their step daughters as easy prey. Some mothers are as well known to have abused their children physically and emotionally through beatings that resulted to permanent injuries, scars or deformation. It is true that sparing the rod may spoil the child, but what the child needs most is love and care, not battering.
Abused children show signs of poor health, emotional disorder and malnourishment. They are often denied the basic necessities of life, proper education and are subjected under harsh conditions. Children living in stressful conditions with little or no support may try to cope in ways that can be harmful to them or others, for example, becoming aggressive by taking drugs or alcohols.
Some girls are forced into prostitution in order to earn a living for themselves or for their mistress. Early sex experience can expose a girl to HIV/AIDS or other STD diseases. Because of her inexperience she may become pregnant at a time her body is not ready for child bearing. And this may damage her womb or her reproductive system. She may become a social misfit as nobody may want to associate with her anymore. She could die from the damage or from the shame of her condition or become a beggar on the streets.
Child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, homelessness and neglect can have negative lasting effect on the child. A child needs to be loved and cared for properly. This should not be the only responsibility of the parents but collective action involving the government; the church and other welfare organisations. Parents should be educated through public enlightenment campaigns on the importance of giving their children proper training and education. Legislation should be made against the use of under aged children as domestic helps or for child labour. A good social welfare system that could help the less privileged parents in the society to take adequate care of their children should be put in place by the government.
It is said that children are the leaders of tomorrow. But well trained and educated children of today will make good leaders of tomorrow.
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