Hadizatou Mani

Hadizatou Mani with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama in 2009.

Hadizatou Mani (born 1984) is a human rights activist from Niger. In 2009, Mani received an International Women of Courage Award. [1]

Life

In 1996, Mani was sold as a slave for $500. She was 12 years old. [2]

In 2003, slavery became illegal in Niger. Mani’s master did not tell her. Later, he said Mani was his wife, not his slave.

Mani received her "certificate of liberation" in 2005, and she got married. Her old master took her to court for bigamy. She got a prison sentence of six months. [2]

Mani took the case to court. She worked with Timidria, a local NGO, and Anti-Slavery International, a British NGO. he brought the case to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In 2008, ECOWAS said that Niger did not protect her rights. [3] They said Niger had to pay her a fine of 10 million CFA francs. [1] [4]

Awards

  • In 2009 Mani was named one of the Time 100 people. [2]
  • In 2009 Mani received the International Women of Courage Award from the U.S. State Department. [1] [5][6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Hadizatou Mani: "No Woman Should Suffer the Way I Did" - DipNote". 9 June 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Hadizatou Mani - The 2009 TIME 100 - TIME". TIME.com. 30 April 2009.
  3. "Court Rules Niger Failed by Allowing Girl's Slavery". The New York Times. 28 October 2008.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-25. Retrieved 2016-04-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Speak a Word for Freedom".
  6. "2009 International Women of Courage Award Winner Biographies".