Antislavery Usable Past

Youma

2013 (Narrative date)

Mauritania is one of the last countries in the world where people are still born into hereditary slavery, which means they are literally owned by other people, and forced to work for masters their entire lives. People in slavery come from the Haratine ethnic group, historically enslaved by White Moors. They can be bought and sold, or given as gifts, and face a lifetime of exploitation and abuse. Rape of female slaves is common and their children also become slaves. They are Muslims, and many believe that it is Allah’s wish for them to be enslaved because they are told that their paradise is bound to their Master. In reality, Islam dictates that a Muslim cannot enslave a fellow Muslim. Since 2007 slavery has been criminalised in Mauritania but the law is not enforced and the government is reluctant to acknowledge the existence of the problem.

I'm Youma and I have always lived with Rahma mint Legreyve; she is my foster sister. I work for her and her family, her children and her husband, Mokhtar Ould Hmeimed. I was in school for two days and I left; Rahma’s children go to school and Rahma is a teacher. Concerning the Koran, I learned one sura, the Fatiha and the other suras and I intended to learn more.

I do not think I am a minor; I am small but very old and I work on a contract with Rahma, a contract she made for me. In times past, she told me that a man named Biram imprisons minors among people working without a contract. She took me to an office with one of my brothers, her brother and her husband and they produced a paper on which they affixed my finger and my brother’s and assured me that with this paper, Biram can no longer imprison me or interfere with my relationship with them. They assured me also that in light of this paper, my mother would earn at end of each month, an amount of UM 10000 (ten thousand UM: 25 Euros), so I'm happy to help my mother with this amount that my boss will give her for each month.

As told to the Initiative for the Resurgence of Abolitionism

Country

Theme

Forced labour

Type

Narrative

Tags

VOICES: Narratives by Survivors of Modern Slavery

This is the world's largest archive of modern slavery survivor narratives. Across more than a million words spoken or written by survivors of modern slavery, we can see why slavery persists in particular hotspots, analyse patterns in trafficking routes, identify vulnerabilities, understand more about the challenges survivors face in liberation, and discover new antislavery solutions. These narratives offer the chance to systematically design new antislavery strategies based on the experiences, ideas and solutions of enslaved people themselves.

The database is searchable by country, name, theme, and narrative date. Narratives can be viewed in list or map form. A short introduction provides context to each narrative. Narrative provenance appears after the main narrative text.

For ideas on how to use this database, please see our accompanying guide.

Project Lead: Zoe Trodd. Team Members: Andrea Nicholson, Lauren Eglen, Rosemary Pearce, Olivia Wright.

Project Funders: AHRC Antislavery Usable Past grant (2014-19), ESRC/AHRC PaCCS Modern Slavery: Meaning and Measurement grant (2016-19), and AHRC-GCRF Antislavery Knowledge Network grant (2017-2021).

For any queries about the collection please contact: rightslab@nottingham.ac.uk. If you wish to cite a particular narrative, please acknowledge the survivor’s name, the provenance of the narrative and cite: Voices Database, the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham.

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