Domestic servitude and ritual slavery in West Africa from a human rights perspective

Abstract

The article examines two examples of human rights violations, namely, domestic servitude and ritual slavery, which are considered forms of contemporary slavery, as they involve the exploitation of labour and the violation of the right to property. It is argued that the current international protection of children's rights is incapable of abolishing ritual slavery and domestic servitude in countries of West Africa, as children and teenagers are still threatened by the practice of vidomegon in Benin, trokosi in Ghana, and vudusi in Togo. The purpose of the article is to analyse West African forms of ritual slavery and domestic servitude and to demonstrate that the shortcomings of the international children's rights protection system emanate from the inconsistency of international and African perceptions of childhood. With this in mind, the focus is on the conceptual differences between the UN Convention on Children's Rights, the relevant ILO Conventions, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the shortcomings in the definition of slavery in the Slavery Convention of 1926, as well as the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery.