sources; Wikipedia,Google Images,US Department of State diplomacy of state.
From the 7th to the 20th century, Arab Muslims raided and traded for black African slaves in West, Central, and East Africa, sending thousands of slaves each year to North Africa and parts of Asia.
From the 15th to the 19th century, Europeans bought millions of slaves in West, Central, and East Africa and sent them to Europe; the Caribbean; and North, Central, and South America. This made the slave trade central to the economies of many African states and threatened many more Africans with enslavement.
In1948 after much protest the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was drafted and it stated "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.However, Slavery did not end with its abolition in the 19th century.It instead took on different Forms.
Modern day slavery
Definitions of modern-day slavery are mainly taken from the 1956 UN supplementary convention, which says:
"debt bondage, serfdom, forced marriage and the delivery of a child for the exploitation of that child are all slavery-like practices and require criminalisation and abolishment". The 1930 Forced Labour Convention defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily".
The practice still continues today in every country in the world. From women forced into prostitution, children and adults forced to work in agriculture, domestic work, or factories and sweatshops producing goods for global supply chains, entire families forced to work for nothing to pay off generational debts.
Here in Kenya. We see children going into the workforce early as a result of poverty, and end up being exploited,because there is nobody to stand up for them.We see young girls being married off early, as part of tradition or as a means to an end ..Domestic workers are mistreated by there employees ,starved,underpayed or not paid at all ,beaten ,raped or even worse. However ,we are numb to these stories because they don't directly affect us or we are too afraid to stand up for them..In some parts of Africa children are used as child soldiers to terrorize villages.
Estimates of the number of slaves today range from around 21 million to 26 million people at any point in time.This estimate includes trafficking and other forms of modern slavery.(according to the UN's international Labour Organisation)
Its very ignorant of us to think that all is well. It is inhumane of us to let these injustices go unpunished and it is wrong for us to stay silent! and let people take advantage of human rights. We cant agree for people to amerce millions at the expense and lives of millions of under privileged people.
I recently had a conversation with a construction worker and after the conversation, i was embarrassed. He explained how people who construct some of these huge malls ,we love visiting. Loose there lives and the conditions they have to endure for MONEY . we are slaves to money sadly and the few of us who are lucky to have good jobs homes ,clothing and food to eat every night .Take it for granted. Listening to this man, made me see that although you know what is going on the reality is as long as it doesn't directly affect you or you are not aware of the situation' s they put up with allows us to be blissfully arrogant and we are OK with it.
Most of us think we are free but at the end of the day we are pawns helping someone else achieve there goals
Modern slavery is a multi billion-dollar industry with estimates of up to $35 billion generated annually. The United Nations estimates that roughly 27 to 30 million individuals are currently caught in the slave trade industry.The Global Slavery Index 2013 states that 10 nations account for 76 percent of the world's enslaved. India has the most slaves of any country, at 14 million (over 1% of the population). China has the second-largest number with 2.9 million slaves, followed by Pakistan with 2.1 million, Nigeria with 701,000, Ethiopia with 651,000, Russia with 516,000, Thailand with 473,000, Congo with 462,000, Myanmar with 384,000, and Bangladesh with 343,000.
Lets look at various areas modern day slavery is evident.
Forced Labor
Also known as involuntary servitude, forced labor occurs when employers exploit workers who are made more vulnerable by high rates of unemployment, poverty, crime, discrimination, corruption, political conflict, or even cultural acceptance of the practice. Immigrants are particularly vulnerable, but individuals also may be forced into labor in their own countries. Female victims of forced or bonded labor, especially women and girls in domestic servitude, are often sexually exploited as well.Sex Trafficking
When an adult is coerced, forced, or deceived into prostitution or maintained in prostitution through coercion that person is a victim of trafficking. All of those involved in recruiting, transporting, harboring, receiving, or obtaining the person for that purpose have committed a trafficking crime. Sex trafficking can also occur within debt bondage, as women and girls are forced to continue in prostitution through the use of unlawful “debt” purportedly incurred through their transportation, recruitment, or even their crude “sale,” which exploiters insist they must pay off before they can be free.
It is critical to understand that a person’s initial consent to participate in prostitution is not legally determined if an individual is thereafter held in service through psychological manipulation or physical force, that person is a trafficking victim
Bonded Labor
One form of coercion is the use of a bond, or debt. Often referred to as “bonded labor” or “debt bondage,” the practice has long been prohibited as it is a form of trafficking in persons. Workers around the world fall victim to debt bondage when traffickers or recruiters unlawfully exploit an initial debt the worker assumed as part of the terms of employment. Workers may also inherit inter generational debt in more traditional systems of bonded labor.
Debt Bondage Among Migrant Laborers
Abuses of contracts and hazardous conditions employment for migrant laborers do not necessarily constitute human trafficking. However, the burden of illegal costs and debts on these laborers in the source country, often with the support of labor agencies and employers in the destination country, can contribute to a situation of debt bondage. This is often exacerbated when the worker’s status in the country is tied to the employer in the context of employment-based temporary work programs and there is no effective redress for abuse.
Involuntary Domestic Servitude
A unique form of forced labor is the involuntary servitude of domestic workers, whose workplace is informal, connected to their off-duty living quarters, and not often shared with other workers. Such an environment, which often socially isolates domestic workers, is conducive to non consensual exploitation since authorities cannot inspect private property as easily as formal workplaces. Investigators and service providers report many cases of untreated illnesses and, tragically, widespread sexual abuse, which in some cases may be symptoms of a situation of involuntary servitude. Ongoing international efforts seek to ensure that not only that administrative remedies are enforced but also that criminal penalties are enacted against those who hold others in involuntary domestic servitude.
Forced Child Labor
Most international organizations and national laws recognize that children may legally engage in certain forms of work. There is a growing consensus, however, that the worst forms of child labor should be eradicated. The sale and trafficking of children and their entrapment in bonded and forced labor are among these worst forms of child labor. A child can be a victim of human trafficking regardless of the location of that exploitation. Indicators of forced labor of a child include situations in which the child appears to be in the custody of a non-family member who has the child perform work that financially benefits someone outside the child’s family and does not offer the child the option of leaving. Anti-trafficking responses should supplement, not replace, traditional actions against child labor, such as remediation and education. However, when children are enslaved, their abusers should not escape criminal punishment by virtue of longstanding patters of limited responses to child labor practices rather than more effective law enforcement action.
Child Soldiers
Child soldiering can be a manifestation of human trafficking where it involves the unlawful recruitment or use of children—through force, fraud, or coercion—as combatants, or for labor or sexual exploitation by armed forces. Perpetrators may be government forces, paramilitary organizations, or rebel groups. Many children are forcibly abducted to be used as combatants. Others are made unlawfully to work as porters, cooks, guards, servants, messengers, or spies. Young girls can be forced to marry or have sex with male combatants. Both male and female child soldiers are often sexually abused and are at high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Child Sex Trafficking
According to UNICEF, as many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade. International covenants and protocols obligate criminalization of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The use of children in the commercial sex trade is prohibited under both U.S. law and the Palermo Protocol as well as by legislation in countries around the world. There can be no exceptions and no cultural or socioeconomic rationalizations preventing the rescue of children from sexual servitude. Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for minors, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease (including HIV/AIDS), drug addiction, unintended pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death
