 The Senegalese government was accused of neglecting and not doing enough to tackle the widespread and chronic abuse faced by children at the religious schools.A variety of views exist about how the treatment of talibés engages international conventions.Some NGOs argue that, where a marabout acquires custody over a talibé in order to force the child to beg, this meets the definition of a practice ‘akin to slavery’, as defined by the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery.