It’s called “money marriage”.

Money marriage is a cultural practice in Nigeria – a form of de facto slavery whereby girls as young as 10 are sold to men much older than them as “money wives”, to settle debts or for financial gain.

This is what happened to Monica, 16, who is one of two sisters sold as wives to men who found their photographs on their father’s Facebook page and contacted him.

She and her 14-year-old younger sister didn’t want to get married until they had completed their secondary education in Ogbakoko, a small village in Obanliku Local Government Area in Nigeria, reports the Daily Beast.

Like hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of girls from the Becheve clan who are victims of money marriages, Monica and her sister were sold without their consent. Their father wanted to clear the debt he owed to a distant relative. The two sisters got married a month apart to men whom they did not know at all and who were old enough to be their grandfathers.

Their respective husbands got in touch with their father after seeing the Facebook page where he posted photos of his six daughters to draw the attention of his tribesmen. The men of the clan have found the new technology helps to extend and expand their old, exploitative traditions.

Less than a year after Monica got married, she escaped her husband and went to live with a friend.

Reports of Facebook being used as a tool to facilitate child marriage aren’t unique to Nigeria. Last November, the social media platform came under fire after posts discussing the sale of a 16-year-old girl in South Sudan. The victim was married in the process after her father, in exchange for his daughter, received 530 cows, three Land Cruiser V8 cars and $10,000. The teenager reportedly was bid on by five men, including senior officials in the South Sudanese government.

Facebook says that they took down the post as soon as they were aware of it, but that was only after the victim, Nyalong Ngong Deng Jalang, had been married off as the 10th wife of Kok Alat, a wealthy businessman.

In Nigeria, a child bride boosts the status of a man in the Becheve community.

But for many money wives in the Becheve community, the experience in their husband’s home is often disastrous, with reports of marital abuse and exploitation.

“Once he married me, he turned me into his slave and punching bag,” said Monica, who—just like her sister—was given away to her husband for 20,000 Nigerian naira (about $50), along with two goats, a pig and some yams. “He said he paid so much to marry me and so I had to labor hard by working for hours everyday in the farm to prove that I’m a grateful wife.”

In the Becheve community, the practice of selling child brides is deeply rooted in their traditions.

So while rights campaigners say that it will be challenging to change the age-old tradition, they do think that the scale of the practice could easily be reduced.

Facebook could be a bit more helpful, too.

[source:dailybeast]