Stop Trafficking Africa

STOP TRAFFICKING AFRICA

HELP FOR NIGERIANS TRAFFICKED FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which individuals perform commercial sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Stop Trafficking Africa was established in 2020 to rescue and repatriate Nigerian women trafficked for sexual exploitation to the UAE.

The Nigerian sex trafficking network is vast and complex. Frequently victims are targeted by friends of friends and even their own family who then use false promises, violence, threats, lies, debt bondage, juju or other forms of control and manipulation to keep victims involved in the sex industry.

Sex trafficking exists worldwide within diverse and unique sets of venues and businesses, including fake massage businesses, escort services, residential brothels, in public on streets, hostess clubs, international hotels and elsewhere.

Stop Trafficking Africa was founded in 2020 after a chance encounter between HEP founder Angus Thomas and a young Nigerian woman whilst on holiday in Dubai. The woman had been trafficked for sexual exploitation from Benin City in Edo State. After setting up a crowdfunding campaign in the UK, Angus set about rescuing her and the 22 other women in the same apartment. This activity led him to uncover a further four trafficking rings in Dubai in 2020.

Our Story

The Hope Education Project (HEP) in Ghana was borne out of our direct experience repatriating Nigerian women who were victims of sex trafficking in the United Arab Emirates. Our close involvement in rescuing, repatriating, and supporting these survivors motivated us to work on preventing such tragedies at their source.

On average, it costs $1,000 to rescue and repatriate a single victim of sex trafficking from the UAE to West Africa. By contrast, the same amount enables HEP to reach 750 vulnerable women and girls with human trafficking education in West Africa (2025 figures). This approach allows us to make a far greater impact by preventing exploitation before it happens.

Our work was the subject of a major investigation by the International Coalition of Investigative Journalists in 2023 whose report was syndicated by Reuters. Learn more about the Stop Trafficking Africa campaign here.