To many, Slavery ended when the emancipation proclamation was issued in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln's government. Whilst the emancipation proclamation was indeed a landmark act that gave slaves freedom in the eyes of the law it did truly signal the end of slavery in America or any where else in the world for that matter. To think that slavery ended with this act by the US government, overlooks the importance of an issue that is still evident around the world. Whilst the slavery that existed hundreds of years ago was clearly visible to everyone in society, modern slavery is much more inconspicuous, existing in various forms all over the world.
Below is a list of the forms of modern slavery that still plague our world. (Take from Anti-Slavery International)
Bonded labour affects millions of people around the world. People become bonded labourers by taking or being tricked into taking a loan for as little as the cost of medicine for a sick child. To repay the debt, many are forced to work long hours, seven days a week, up to 365 days a year. They receive basic food and shelter as 'payment' for their work, but may never pay off the loan, which can be passed down for generations.
Early and forced marriage affects women and girls who are married without choice and are forced into lives of servitude often accompanied by physical violence.
Forced labour affects people who are illegally recruited by individuals, governments or political parties and forced to work -- usually under threat of violence or other penalties.
Slavery by descent is where people are either born into a slave class or are from a 'group' that society views as suited to being used as slave labour.
Trafficking involves the transport and/or trade of people -- women, children and men -- from one area to another for the purpose of forcing them into slavery conditions.
Worst forms of child labour affects an estimated 126 million** children around the world in work that is harmful to their health and welfare.
And you would be wrong to assume that these forms of slavery are confined to developing countries with corrupt political systems. In the United States and United Kingdom, thousands of women and children are trafficked every year for the purposes of sex and work. Furthermore, multinational companies often use slave labour as a means of producing goods (knowingly or not it happens).
Perhaps what will be most alarming to people is that, according to Free the Slaves, there are currently more people in slavery now than at any other point in history.
In its 400 years, the transatlantic slave trade is estimated to have shipped up to 12 million Africans to various colonies in the West. Free the Slaves estimates that the number of people in slavery today is at least 27 million.. With this in mind it must be a top priority of governments around the world to fight modern slavery, and uphold the promises that were made when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were adopted by the United Nations in 1948.
Organisations such as Anti-Slavery International and Free the Slaves work continuously hard to highlight slavery that still exists today, but everybody needs to stand up and take notice of the exploitation that millions of humans face every day. Only then will slavery truly be a thing of the past.
Here the website Matador Change highlights ten disturbing facts about slavery in the 21st century.
Blogging etiquette tells me this is getting long so i will just end it with..
Slavery is not history!
For more information on slavery visit
http://www.antislavery.org/english/default.aspx
http://www.iabolish.org/
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
Sources/References:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/modern-slavery-united-kingdom
http://matadorchange.com/10-shocking-facts-about-global-slavery-in-2008/
http://www.antislavery.org/english/default.aspx
http://www.iabolish.org/
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
