Hadizatou Mani spent a decade as a slave, having been sold aged just 12 to a tribal chief in Nigeria, She has told BBC 100 Women that it was a terrible life: “I had no rights; not to rest, not to food, not even to my own life”. In 2005, Hadizatou was granted her freedom, but was still pressured to return and legally harassed by a man who considered himself to be her master. She was jailed for bigamy a year after she became free, because the man claimed that she was still married to him However, Hadizatou fought for her rights in the courts eventually winning a landmark case at the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States. Despite her case being instrumental in getting legislation passed in Niger, thousands of people are thought to still live in slavery there today.

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