Said, 16, and Yarg, 13, born into hereditary slavery in Mauritania Our mother is a slave to the El Hassine family, so when we were born we became slaves to the family as well. We weren’t allowed to eat the same food, or sleep in the same rooms as them – we were not equal to the rest of the family. They would beat us for any reason at all. In 2011, we took our master to court and he was found guilty under the anti-slavery law. This was the first time that happened in our country. Now we are both in secondary school and we are proud because we are free

Photograph: Michael Hylton/Anti-Slavery International