Descent-based Slavery
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Descent-based slavery is a form of slavery based on the assignment of a hereditary "slave status". This historically rooted phenomenon still affects many people today, particularly in West Africa.[1] (Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal). Although it is mostly known in the Soninké people, it is widely spreading to other ethnic groups, for example the Fulbe.
"Slave" status is usually transmitted through the maternal line. Even after the abolition of slavery during the colonial period, many people are still considered to be "descendants of slaves", on the pretext that one of their ancestors was enslaved.
Definition
Antislavery International defines descent-based slavery as the situation where an individual is “born into… because their ancestors were captured into slavery and their families have 'belonged' to the slave-owning families ever since”.
History
The phenomena of slavery and internal trade preceded the transatlantic trade, although the latter reinforced the importance of the trade in West African economies. These practices continued despite the abolitions. People captured in wars or raids were enslaved, kept locally or sold to finance future wars.
In the 19th century, the phenomenon of slavery became more important, with the multiplication of local conflicts. The abolition of slavery and the decline in the demand for slaves outside the continent made access to slave ownership accessible to many sections of the population. The conversion of West Africa into a plantation economy relies essentially on the labour provided by enslaved people.[1]
Slave status was transmitted through the maternal line, which led to the creation of an endogamous class, exploitable at will by the local elites. Redemption of the freedom of a 'slave' is possible, but rare. Some of those enslaved by descent do not have ancestors who were captured and enslaved, but were assigned this status after their migration to a new community. The children of a 'slave' concubine and a 'noble' man were free, but did not have a status strictly equivalent to the children of free wives.[2][3]
Slavery was officially abolished during the French colonisation in 1905, which led to a certain number of slaves leaving their former 'masters'. Nevertheless, this abolition did not lead to a real emancipation of the "slaves": the colonial authorities only partially applied these new laws, and practices of slavery by descent continued in a more or less concealed form.[1]
The history of descent-based slavery is linked to the history of internal migrations, whether forced or voluntary, whether they lead to emancipation or not.[2][3]
Contemporary situation
The slave trade no longer exists, but practices linked to descent-based slavery are still perpetuated today. They are observed in the Tuareg and Fulani communities of central and northern Mali, but exist in all regions of Mali, as well as in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan and Senegal.
The practices of "fostering" (placement of a child, entrusted to another family), marriage, domesticity, can conceal situations of modern slavery under cover of legality.
People considered locally as "descendants of slaves" are confronted with discrimination and abuse. They are sometimes forced to work without pay, are denied access to education and civil status documents. Rebellion against those who consider themselves their 'masters' leads to sanctions in the villages where the people concerned live: they are exposed to physical violence and may be denied access to essential resources such as water, land and necessary consumer goods.
Descent-based slavery therefore leads to forced migration, which is not very visible or visible. Historically, these migrations have accompanied resistance and displacement to escape slavery, to found independent communities, or to cities or neighbouring countries. In the Kayes region, which is particularly affected by the phenomenon, more than 3,000 victims of descent-based slavery have had to leave their villages since 2018.
In Mali, the authorities do not recognise the existence of victims of descent-based slavery, and consider that the people concerned are simply participating in "traditional" cultural practices, which should be respected to preserve social cohesion.[1]
The status of descendant of slaves becomes a "public secret" for the persons concerned, in a society that is not prepared to receive this word. The "ideology of slavery", which can be defined as "a cultural system that justifies and legitimises a social order", persists today, encouraging those who are categorised as "descendants of slaves" to remain silent about their origins.[2]
Legislation
Legislation criminalising slavery exists in Mauritania and Niger. In Mali, there is no specific law criminalising descent-based slavery, although the Constitution affirms the equality of all Malian nationals and the country is a signatory to several international conventions against slavery and trafficking (guaranteeing the right to life and freedom).
A coalition of Malian human rights organisations has been advocating for the adoption of a law criminalising descent-based slavery. This bill has not been adopted, relegated to the background by other government priorities in 2016. The absence of such a law makes it difficult to bring cases to court, even without taking into account other judicial dysfunctions and corruption.[1]
Resistance to descent-based slavery
Resistance to descent-based slavery and its consequences has existed throughout the history of the phenomenon, leading in particular to the founding of free independent communities. People who fled from slavery are called 'djambourou', those who fled for their freedom, but the term can also have a pejorative connotation, denigrating those assigned as 'descendants of slaves.[4] The village of Bouillagui is an example. The trauma of exile, family separation and the persistence of stigma into contemporary generations fuel the fight against descent-based slavery.[5]
Divergent strategies exist to rid oneself of the stigma that follows the victims of descent-based slavery, ranging from concealment of this assigned status, to reclaiming and revaluing the status.
Social movements led by people assigned slave status now exist in Benin, Mauritania and Niger.
- In Mali, several associations are now fighting against descent-based slavery, including Temedt (which means "placenta", in reference to the transmission of status through the maternal line), the RMFP (Rassemblement malien pour la Fraternité et le Progrès). In 2020, major demonstrations against slavery took place in Kayes, in reaction to the death of four Malian activists, beaten to death in Djandjoumé (western Mali), on the orders of local elites defending social hierarchies based on the slave past.
- Semme Allah in Benin
- El Hor, SOS Esclaves, Saafaalbe Hormankoobe, Fedde Pinal and Balagoss in Mauritania
- Timidria in Niger[6]
The diaspora is also very involved in the fight against descent-based slavery, particularly through the "Gambana" movement (a slogan meaning "equality"), which concerns the whole of West Africa.
The role of social networks is crucial in the fight against descent-based slavery. For example, the Malian blogging community has launched the #MaliSansEscalves campaign[7]
Gender, age and descent-based slavery
The majority of women were assigned the status of slaves before abolition, and therefore the majority left the village of their "masters" after abolition. Female and juvenile labour was then in great demand, particularly by the 'noble' women. The family network was therefore turned to. The fosterage system spread in the twenty years following abolition. Questions of child custody after the death of the father, or the recovery of a former slave child, were often submitted to the courts, because of the economic stakes involved. The emancipation of slaves also meant regaining control over their own families, which the courts rarely guaranteed in the absence of financial compensation to the former "master" for the recovery of the child. The boundaries between fosterage, pawning, child bondage and forced marriage are permeable and perpetuate slave hierarchies. Young maids are often poor former slaves[8]. Concubines are often taken from poor families and considered as 'descendants of slaves' (case of the movement of concubines from Niger to Northern Nigeria), which leads them to a situation of social isolation, economic and sexual exploitation. Sometimes there is a return migration to the region of origin, but the socio-economic situation of these women remains mostly precarious.[9]
These vulnerable groups are also central to modern slavery.
Islam and descent-based slavery
Persons assigned the status of "slave" may face restrictions in their practice of the Muslim religion: they are theoretically excluded from the pilgrimage to Mecca, from certain prayers, cannot be an imam, the widowhood of a woman considered a slave is shorter.
Some documents signed by imams confirm the release of a person assigned to slave status (manumission). Manumission is thus a legal form of emancipation in an Islamic context. The decree abolishing slavery was only weakly applied by the administrations and the courts, and slavery remained very present in people's minds and practices, so the practice of manumission continued. Manumission allowed access to certain Islamic privileges, to receive a new name, to pass on an inheritance, but established a clientelist relationship between the former "master" and the former "slave" rather than a real emancipation.
However, this only concerns a minority of people today. The age factor is important in the use or non-use of manumission, a practice that is sometimes denounced as naïve, backward-looking or even "treachery to one's class". In their journey towards emancipation and in order to free themselves from social stigma, other strategies are used to a greater extent, in order to contest, bypass or ignore these social boundaries.[10]
Various interpretations of Islam exist with regard to slavery. Slavery and Islam can coexist on the one hand, when resistance movements such as Gambana recall the liberation of slaves by Mohammed and thus consider the absence of legitimacy of slavery practices in an Islamic context.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "The fight against descent-based slavery in Mali". africasacountry.com. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pelckmans, Lotte (2012). ""Having a road": social and spatial mobility of persons of slave and mixed descent in post–independence Central Mali". Journal of African History. (53, 2) (2): 235–255. doi:10.1017/S0021853712000400. hdl:1887/20409. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pelckmans, Lotte (2013). "Moving Memories of Slavery among West African Migrants in Urban Contexts (Bamako, Paris)". European Journal of International Migration. (29,1): 45–68.
- ↑ Rodet, Marie (2014). "Les Diambourou".
- ↑ Rodet, Marie. "Bouillagui, a free village". Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Pelckmans, L. & E. K. Hahonou (2011). "West African Antislavery Movements: Citizenship Struggles and the Legacies of Slavery". Vienna Journal of African Studies. 20: 141–162.
- ↑ YAO, Michel (2019-09-17). "#MaliSansEsclaves : à Kayes, persécutés au nom de la coutume". Benbere (in français). Retrieved 2021-11-25.
- ↑ Rodet, Marie (2012). "Under the Guise of Guardianship and Marriage": Mobilizing Juvenile and Female labor in the Aftermath of Slavery in Kayes, French Soudan, 1900-1939 in B. N. Lawrance and R. L. Roberts (eds), Trafficking in Slavery's Wake: Law and the Experience of Women and Children in Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. Search this book on
- ↑ Pelckmans, Lotte (2020). "Fugitive Emplacements: Slave Concubines in Niger-Nigerian Borderlands." In Invisibility in African Displacements, edited by Jesper Bjarnesen and Simon Turner, chapter 12. London: Zed Books. pp. 216–235. Search this book on
- ↑ Pelckmans, Lotte (2013). "'To cut the rope from one's neck?" Manumission documents of slave descendants from Central Malian Fulɓe society". Marcus Wiener Publishers.
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