Slavery was officially abolished in Mauritania in 1981 and criminalized in 2007. The dark-skinned Haratine ethnic group, however, was historically enslaved by the lighter-skinned Moors and continues to face widespread discrimination, violence, and social injustice. There are still an estimated 155,000 modern-day slaves in Mauritania, most of them Haratines. Some 85 percent of the minority group are illiterate due to lack of access to schools and 90 percent receive no wages for manual labour. Haratine women are particularly harshly treated. More than 80 percent of rape cases in 2014 involved violations of Haratine women. But thanks to support from local human rights groups and their own huge reserves of willpower, some Haratine women have overcome incredible hardship and are trying to forge new lives. Here are five such stories:

http://newirin.irinnews.org/female-slaves-mauritania-photo-feature/