Salimata Lam is a Mauritanian

human rights defender A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

. She is an anti-

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

activist, and national coordinator of the

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

non-governmental organisation S.O.S. Esclaves.

Biography

Lam is the coordinator for S.O.S. Esclaves, a non-governmental organisation founded in 1995 by Mauritanian lawyer Boubacar Ould Messaoud, to tackle the issue of modern slavery. Lam's organisation also advocates against

forced marriages Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

. As of August 2015, programs of anti slavery organisations including S.O.S. Esclaves has resulted in the institution of laws in Mauritania that stipulate the increase of prison term for offenders from ten to twenty years as well as criminalizing the act of forced marriages. In a 2015 interview with

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however, Lam indicated that despite the presence of the amended laws in the constitution to tackle slavery and forced marriages in Mauritania, "only one slaveholder has been conclusively prosecuted for owning slaves". Since then, other cases have been successfully prosecuted with the assistance of S.O.S. Esclaves. In 2017, Lam was nominated for the New African Woman in Civil Society Award but lost to Theresa Kachindamoto of

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Salimata Mauritanian human rights activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Women human rights activists