Modern Day Slavery - what, where, who, why

There is still slavery?!

The answer is sadly yes. Even though it is slightly different than in the past, it is still happening as we speak. The issue is that few people are actually aware of this, and the victims who suffer from being enslaved can't get away or don't want to leave.

You may wonder why anyone would not want to escape enslavement.

The thing is, when people get into human trafficking (human trafficking is the act of transporting people illegally to become slaves in another part of the world) and become slaves, they were usually lured in by false promises. They were told that they'd be able to earn money for their families, (this is a big reason for young children to work) or they would be given a fake proposal - and when they moved to the new country, they were trapped in human trafficking. People trapped in this illegal market work for little to no pay, and are abused physically, emotionally and sexually if they don't comply.

Types of modern day slavery - and what is it actually?

Slavery is defined as being bound in servitude - being the property of an individual or a family. There are several types of modern day slavery.

There are sex slaves - people who are sexually abused for the aforementioned reasons (for drugs, food, shelter also), or who have been sold by their parents, boyfriends, husbands. Others were kidnapped.

Camel racing is a popular activity in the United Arab Emirates. Since young children (aged 3-7 years) are light and small, they were often the camel jockeys, and they were kept malnourished so that they'd stay light. Nowadays, the children have been sent home, and are being educated so they can grow up and provide for themselves and their families. Robots have replaced them. This major advancement, brought about by global attention and pressure, is a good example of how you can help.

Child soldiers shouldn't even technically speaking be a problem. International law states that children under 18 are prohibited in warfare, and yet several countries still use them. Children are small and can easily get into areas an adult cannot, and their enemies can be swayed by the youth of a child. Who would readily shoot such a young person?
Rehabilitation centres are available for child soldiers, but no structured programming exists and it often falls short.

"Girls, including girl mothers face particular obstacles in obtaining release and accessing appropriate support for their recovery and reintegration. The failure to address the needs of girl soldiers is often linked to broader gender discrimination, which can be reinforced by discrimination in the context of programs for release and reintegration of child soldiers." (source)

For more information on child soldiers, check out this site. Many others exist, and I highly encourage you to continue researching this topic - or any of the others.

Who is it affecting? 

Like you may be able to infer from the above paragraphs, it affects all of us - but most of all, the slaves. These people have to suffer through abuse, bad conditions, segregation from their communities if they do escape and go through a rehab program. The lack of rehabilitation programs in general is also a problem, and the slaves often have to return to their masters because they've got nowhere else to go.
Lots of money is made off of these people and lands in the hands of the ones running the slave industry. It needs to stop.
By buying cheap rice without checking our sources, or buying blood diamonds from Sierra Leone, we are (although not purposefully) fuelling the civil unrest, genocide, and slavery that goes on around the world.

Where is this happening?

Slavery is happening all over the globe, even in our own countries. The main areas of focus appear to be Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Africa and Vietnam, however. Figures are hard to find, since this topic isn't often brought up and not many people are involved in stopping it.

Why is this happening?

All the industries that are involved with human trafficking are flourishing and going at full strength, simply because not enough people are aware of the issue. Other factors include the fact that victims who do manage to escape are afraid to testify for themselves. If their master gets thrown into jail because of the former slave's testimony, the former slave and their family will be hunted down to be killed.
Like I mentioned before, if people do make it through rehabilitation, they often have no place they can return to - and they are caught up in the cycle again.
However, if more people would be informed and demanded the attention of the media, this is an issue that can be stopped.

What should be done about it, and what can I do?

Many of us don't have the ability to travel to Africa or Combodia, whether it's age, funds, resources, or actually willingness to step into a war torn country to see things first hand. Neither can each one of us donate a thousand dollars to a charitable group.

However, this does not mean you cannot do anything. 

Being aware that this issue exists is already a massive step in the right direction. You are now one more person who is aware that is happening. You've got the power to make a change. Here are some tips;

-Try talking to your family and friends about it. The more people who know, the bigger the change we can make.
-Try to create a club which battles this violation of human rights.
-Research more points of view.
-Travel to one of these countries if you want to and have the funds!
-Have a fundraiser - sell art, old things you no longer need, anything!
-The key is to be aware!

Together, we can solve this problem. If nothing at all, I thank you sincerely for glancing over this - you've now got the potential to change the world. Slavery is wrong and needs to be stopped.

Impacts today

Impacts of slavery on Africa

(click image for source)

So what are the impacts that we see on Africa today? There's the historical impacts slavery had on Africa now, the impact back then, and of course the way Africa is shaped today is also partly due to slavery.

Prior to European contact, Africa had its own borders, traditions, and so forth. Their own tribal boundaries basically kept their people at peace, but when the Europeans came in, they created their own colonies in their 'scramble for Africa'. The land was divided regardless of the history the different groups had with each other, and they all had to live under the rule of the imperial powers. Many native people were captured to become slaves, causing massive depopulation, and more boundaries were set as some European powers gave African societies guns to capture even more slaves. Thousands of people were shipped away or died during their journey to the 'New World', and Africa's culture, population numbers and infrastructure was damaged greatly.
The Europeans' sudden arrival and equally sudden retreat shook the country's foundation, and it's still visible.

Because of these new borders and weapons in Africa, there is much civil unrest today. Civil wars are tearing at the country, and more people are dying due to AIDS rather than the war. Yet the media does not place their focus on Africa, and the suffering continues.

If this scale of destruction and fighting was in Europe, then people would be calling it World War III with the entire world rushing to report, provide aid, mediate and otherwise try to diffuse the situation.(source)

Slavery has destroyed a massive part of Africa's history, and the current poverty, disease and the fact that they're a Third World country is because of it. They haven't been given compensation, and the West hasn't truly acknowledged what it has done. Neither has it accepted responsibility for the consequences - and yet it still buys materials cheaply from Africa, and doesn't pay attention to the wars, economic crises, and illnesses these people have to suffer through. African languages are being lost, and there is so much genocide going on under the public eye, but because of Africa's history of fighting, suffering and suppression, everyone seems to have gotten used to it.
This is perhaps the most horrifying legacy of slavery; that the damage today is considered fairly normal by the majority of the crowd.
To continue your exploration of this topic, check out this site.

Origins of Slavery

Origins of Slavery

To begin your further comprehension on slavery, I'd like to begin by going into a bit of the history of slavery. This practice existed many years prior to European exploration - even the Aztecs had their own 'slaves'. However, these people did have human rights. They could buy their freedom, or if they managed to escape from their masters, they were granted it. It was used as a measure to pay debts, as another option than imprisonment... but European imperialism changed this.

Origins

To begin, I'd like to point out that I'm not bashing the Europeans, and it's important to understand their point of view. Slavery began in a time where Europeans genuinely thought it was okay to enslave people from other cultures and treat them the way they did, because they considered Indigenous people to be uncivilized - they were ethnocentric.

When the Spanish conquistadors entered the Americas, they first decided the Indigenous people were below them, and they killed the majority of them with their diseases, strategies and weapons. This granted them a massive amount of land, and they began to enslave the people who were left. They needed workers.
Indigenous people had natural resistance against diseases found in the tropics, and so they were made to work on the plantations. As more colonies developed, the demand for slave labor (which was cheap and easily accessible as time went on) began to increase - and to make a massive profit, European powers would force slaves to work for little to no money under horrible conditions. A slave wasn't worth much, and wasn't regarded as a human being, but as a product.

A Spanish priest called Las Casas begged the Spanish rulers to treat people from the Americas better, and suggested African slaves instead - something which he regretted greatly later on. Africans were taken from their countries - men, women and children alike - and the continent was depopulated at an alarmingly fast rate. They were abused and beaten if they didn't obey their masters, and thousands of people died.
They were now trapped in chattel slavery; if the slave had a child, for example, the child would also be 'property' of their master.

An important part of the slave trade was the Middle Passage and the Triangular Trade. These two elements belong to the same trading route that Europeans used to transport sugar, cocoa and so forth back to Europe, metal, cloth, beads and guns to Africa - and slaves to the plantations in South America or to Europe as well. This was the Triangular Trade. The Middle Passage was the one leg of the 'triangle' notorious for transporting slaves.
The journey was harrowing, and slaves were packed closely together on boats. In order for the European sailors to make a profit, they would have to keep the slaves alive, but disease still ran rampant. The conditions were extremely bad. At least 1.28 million African slaves died in these five to eight month journeys.

Welcome

Dear visitor,

You have just accessed a site that I hope will bring awareness into your life. Many of us are well aware that slave trade is a dark part of  our world's history, but are not familiar of the signs that we still see of it today.
Please browse through this blog to learn about the origins, impacts and the truth about slavery today. It's an important part of what is going on in our world today.

Know that you can make a difference. If we all move together, we can stop human trafficking together - and even the smallest bit of help can save the life of a child. If you close your eyes for just a second, and imagine this child as your daughter, your son, your brother, your sister... you will see how significant this is.