Qualitative Analysis of Factors Supporting Child Labour Trafficking in Nigeria: Public Perceptions and Cultural Relativism

Abstract

This study aimed to establish how socio-cultural and economic factors support the endemicity of child labour trafficking in Nigeria. The research was conducted among rural and urban households and stakeholders in southern Nigeria. A field survey was conducted in Ekiti, Edo, Kwara, Lagos, and Osun States. The study utilised cultural relativism and the margin of appreciation theories. The qualitative research approach used in-depth interviews, focus groups, and personal observation methods to collect data. Researchers interviewed 70 participants, including parents/guardians, stakeholders (government officials and private agency representatives), traffickers, trafficked children, and their employers. Societal context, especially the perception of child rights, plays an essential role in creating conditions in which child labour trafficking flourishes and constrains global efforts to eliminate the problem. Specifically, findings revealed that poverty, banditry/terrorism, religious practices, socialisation, fostering, cheap labour/urbanization, and materialism are key socio-economic factors contributing to the incidences of child labour trafficking in Nigeria. The paper concludes that international child labour trafficking continues because conditions within states maintain enabling environments for child rights violations. Consequently, understanding socio-cultural and economic contexts within states is essential to develop policies and practices that help curb or minimise the harm of international child labour trafficking.