Enfants lutteurs : entre "bains mystiques" et signatures de contrats, l’enfance sacrifiée sur l’autel du profit (1/2)
The images have shocked many internet users. On YouTube, specifically on a channel called Sen Leader, videos that have gone viral show children aged 7 to 10 wrestling in a manner reminiscent of professional wrestling matches. This practice has sparked outrage and raises a crucial question: where have children's rights and protections gone in Senegal?
Children thrust into an arena of violence
In Dakar, wrestling, the national sport par excellence, is regularly criticized for the violence, assaults, inappropriate remarks, and mystical practices surrounding it. Matches are even sometimes threatened with suspension by the authorities. Yet, in a disturbing paradox, minors are now entering this hostile arena, risking their physical, psychological, and moral well-being.
These children, barely out of early childhood, copy and embody everything that adult wrestlers do: muscular face-offs, verbal provocations, mystical baths, wearing gris-gris, signing contracts, simulated fights and outrageous remarks, often without measuring the scope or even understanding the meaning.
Money is more powerful than school
What's even more shocking is that these children, who should be in classrooms, at Koranic school, or in vocational training, find themselves wrestling for money, paid by promoters after the matches. Most come from the suburbs of Dakar, where wrestling remains deeply rooted, particularly in Diamaguène, Pikine, Guédiawaye, and Parcelles Assainies. These are areas where the dream of becoming a professional wrestler sometimes overshadows the dream of succeeding in school. The risk is real: some children could drop out of school permanently, lured by easy money and early fame at the expense of their future.
Parents and authorities: a shared responsibility
In the videos, children claim to be acting with their parents' consent and support. This stance is both disturbing and worrying. How can parents encourage their children to expose themselves to violence, stigmatization, and physical danger at such a young age? But the responsibility doesn't end there. The silence of the relevant authorities is equally concerning. The Directorate for Early Childhood Protection, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of National Education, and the Ministry of Sports are all being directly called upon to act.
Even worse, according to the video's presenter, authorizations for child wrestlers to sign contracts are allegedly being issued by the prefect. This serious revelation, if proven true, raises a grave issue of compliance with national laws and international conventions on children's rights.
Images that violate children's rights
The media coverage of these scenes also raises the question of the responsibility of the platforms that broadcast these confrontations. These children are minors, protected by clear legal texts. Their exposure on social media makes them vulnerable to the risks of insecurity and manipulation, while also influencing other minors to follow the same path.
A dangerous practice that threatens the future
Beyond the spectacle, it is the future of these children that is at stake. Wrestling, in an environment already criticized for its excesses, is not a place for children. If nothing is done, this practice risks becoming widespread, transforming the arena into a place where children are sacrificed under the guise of tradition and entertainment. Senegalese children cannot be sold into the arena of profit. The authorities are now being called upon to act, and their silence would be complicity.
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