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Teenage Labor Migration and Antitrafficking Policy in West Africa

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  • Neil Howard

Abstract

Within the antitrafficking community, even legal child or youth work is often pathologized, seen as a “worst form of child labor†or, where movement is involved, as trafficking. Major policy responses thus focus on attempting to protect the young by preventing their movement or policing their work. Using a case study of adolescent labor migrants in Benin who work in artisanal gravel quarries in Nigeria, I provide evidence that suggests that the dominant discourse regarding this kind of labor is inaccurate and that policies based on it may be failing. This is in large part because the labor migration depicted as “trafficking†by the antitrafficking community is not experienced as such by young migrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Howard, 2014. "Teenage Labor Migration and Antitrafficking Policy in West Africa," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 653(1), pages 124-140, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:653:y:2014:i:1:p:124-140
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716213519242
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nussbaum, Martha C, 1998. ""Whether from Reason or Prejudice": Taking Money for Bodily Services," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 693-724, June.
    2. Roy Huijsmans & Simon Baker, 2012. "Child Trafficking: ‘Worst Form’ of Child Labour, or Worst Approach to Young Migrants?," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(4), pages 919-946, July.
    3. Hilson, Gavin, 2008. "'A load too heavy': Critical reflections on the child labor problem in Africa's small-scale mining sector," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 1233-1245, November.
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