certificate’ signed by the chief of the village to that effect. After her ‘liberation’, Hadijatou Mani refused to marry her former master, who continued to harass her. When she went to the authorities for protection, she was arrested and detained for two months for bigamy because subsequent to her ‘liberation’, she had married another person of choice.114 On the definition of slavery, despite the facts of the case indicating the classic form of slavery involving sale, purchase, transfer and ‘liberation’ of a person, the Court affirmed that slavery may exist simply where powers of ownership are exercised through a certain level of control by one individual over another, sufficient to indicate the latter’s enslavement. By showing that “Mani had no freedom of movement; her master completely controlled how she lived; she was psychologically and physically abused by him: he demeaned her with his sexual and other abuse and insults, reminding her she was no more than a slave; her attempts to escape were met with punishment; she was forcefully beaten; she was raped throughout her time as a slave, including when she was a child; and that this treatment continued over a period of 10 years and attempts at control continued after her ‘liberation’ and departure; it was proved that a clearer case of slavery would be difficult to envisage”.115 The Court found the State of Niger legally responsible for its failure to protect Hadijatou Mani from slavery. It reiterated that Niger had failed through its judicial and administrative authorities to protect her human rights. The Court ruled that judicial failure to initiate a criminal proceeding on its own motion when the case was being adjudicated amounted to acceptance or at least tolerance of the practice of slavery. The Court noted that a State’s responsibility under international as well as national law for any form of human rights violation founded on slavery results from its tolerance, passivity, inaction and abstention in relation to the practice.116 The Court’s emphasis on the definition of slavery to exercising control and power by one individual over another is significant for women. Slavery in traditional societies, as is the case today, is a highly gendered form of domination; the great majority of persons ever enslaved were women. 117 While the enslavement traditionally was for the purpose of having slave labour for economic activity, even if women were not needed for economic activities, they were always usable as reproducers of slave labour. 118 Slavery as practiced in modern days does not necessarily involve sale, purchase or transfers of persons. Women, still considered property in some places, may be sold into marriage. Men or women may be coerced into working in brothels, sweatshops, construction sites and fields. As illegal migrant workers, they may be subjected to sexual violence, horrific living conditions, threats against their families and dangerous workplaces. 119 In such situations, there is indeed exercise of subtle or overt control or power by one individual over another meeting all elements of slavery. However, despite pronouncing a landmark ruling on slavery, it is unfortunate that the ECOWAS Court did not hold the State of Niger responsible for discrimination on the basis of sex. The responsibility for discrimination was attributed to the individual ‘master’ instead.120 114 Duffy, Helen ‘Hadijatou Mani Koroua v Niger: Slavery Unveiled by the ECOWAS Court, Human Rights Law Review(2008), Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 2. 115 Ibid., p. 10. 116 Mme Hadijatou Mani Koraou v The Republic of Niger, 27 October 2008, ECW/CCJ/JUD/06/08 ��¶ 83, 84 & 86. 117 Robertson, Claire C. and Klein, Martin ‘Introduction’ (Eds.), Women and Slavery in Africa, Heineman, Portmouth, NH, 1997. 118 Patterson, O, “Trafficking, Gender and Slavery – Past and Present, Forthcoming in Jean Allain, ed., The Legal Understanding of Slavery: From the Historical to the Contemporary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Sept. 2012) available at: http://scholar.harvard.edu/patterson/files/trafficking_gender_slavery_12_20_11_cambria__autosaved_.pdf. 119 Gender Equality, Trafficking in Human Misery available at: http://www.unfpa.org/gender/violence1.htm. 120 Duffy, Helen ‘Hadijatou Mani Koroua v Niger: Slavery Unveiled by the ECOWAS Court, Human Rights Law Review(2008), Oxford University Press, 2008, at pps. 13 & 14. 34 REGIONAL MECHANISMS | REDRESS