We all know about slavery: from the construction of the pyramids, to Moses and the Great Exodus from Egypt, the gladiator duels in the Roman Empire, to the plantations in the Americas. Slavery is a thing of the past – civilizations shadow. Slavery a remnant of the past, a practice used by the uncivilized, non-existent in today’s modern world. But the truth is: More people are enslaved and in bondage today than in any other point in human history. Thirty-six million people are slaves worldwide. Slavery exists in all the one hundred sixty-seven countries that have abolished it (Hess and Frohlich).
Slavery was never confined to third world countries only, it hunts freely in Canada, America, Europe, and Australia. Slavery is alive and growing, it has taken on a new appearance and has spread to every continent. Countries like: India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Mauritania are hotspots for slavery. Organizations like: Free The Slaves, Walk Free Foundation, and Citizens for Global Solutions are doing everything they can to exterminate slavery – once and for all. As previously mentioned, traditional slavery had been abolished in one hundred sixty-seven countries, but traditional slavery is differs greatly from modern slavery.
In traditional slavery people are viewed and treated as legal property (Hess and Frohlich). “However, modern slavery, which is defined as possession or control of a person that deprives them of their rights with the intention of exploiting them, exists in each of the 167 nations” (Hess and Frohlich). A slave is defined as “Someone who is legally owned by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay” (Merriam-Wrbster). There are thirty-six million slaves worldwide – slightly more than the population of Canada; more than 0. 5 percent of the world’s population are slaves (Meyerhoffer).
The numbers are increasing, not because of increased slavery, but because of “improved accuracy and precision of measure … uncovering modern slavery, where it was not seen before” (Meyerhoffer). The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates the illicit profits of forced labour to be about US $150 billion a year (Global Slavery Index). Slavery hurts the economy because: “Slavery is actually a drag on the economy… slaves consume virtually nothing and their production side is actually very low. Most slaves in the world operate in derivative, dirty, dangerous jobs that produce at a very low level.
They’re cost effective because they’re free, but in terms of output, they’re pathetic… Ironically, sometimes slave masters do better economically when they are stopped from being slave masters because they are often rich people who own the shops where freed slaves go to buy things… they realize that they are doing better in retail than they did from slave labor” (Hurd and Grillot). Mauritania a country in West Africa has the highest percentage of people in bondage per person. Four percent of the Mauritania populace is enslaved.
That is one in every twenty people enslaved! Mauritania’s lack of resources, critical infrastructure, and the slave culture being deeply embedded in civil society. Which all make it hard to abolish slavery” (Meyerhoffer). Mauritania was the last country on the planet to abolish slavery (Meyerhoffer). Followed, by Uzbekistan which has 3. 97 percent of its populace enslaved. Then comes Haiti at 2. 3 percent in slavery, Qatar at 1. 36 percent of its populace, and India at 1. 14 percent of its population. Though only one percent of India’s population is enslaved, it has the highest number of people living in slavery, at over fourteen million people (Hess and Frohlich)!
Canada ranks 151th on the practice of modern slavery, with 0. 013 percent of Canada’s populace in bondage – four thousand six hundred people enslaved. There is more slavery today than in any other time of the world, due to factors like: population increase, migration, corruption, discrimination, and the inexpensive cost of slavery: The world’s population exploded in the 1960’s, especially in third-world countries; the population is growing faster than the economy. People are moving in the millions to richer countries from poverty stricken and misfortunate countries.
Migrants are vulnerable, having no friends or family, and not being able to speak the native language; traffickers can trick them by posing as legitimate labor recruits. Government corruption at a global level often enjoys the benefits slavery brings, thus letting slavery go unpunished. People in slavery have no government protection from predatory traffickers. Racial and gender discrimination along with social inequality in certain countries can make the people that are looked down upon whether it is because of: gender, age, race or caste more susceptible to slavery.
Slavery today is cheaper than it ever was before in the 1850’s an average slave in the American south cost about $40,000 in today’s money. Today they cost an average of ninety dollars worldwide (Free The Slaves). We can stop supporting slavery by donating to organizations that help free slaves like: Free The Slaves, Walk Free Foundation, Alliance Against Modern Slavery, Anti-Slavery, and many more. We can start fundraisers to donate to these organizations to help them combat slavery. On an individual level we can stop buying products that were created by slaves.
We can take a stand and write to companies that use sweatshops, or have poor working conditions. Since 2014, Free The Slaves have: arrested one hundred sixty-three slave traffickers, they had 1,281 government officials trained to effectively stop slavery; 2,265 people have been freed from slavery, 82,583 villagers have been educated on how to protect their families from traffickers; 1,977 villages and neighbourhoods are protecting their communities from slavery (Free The Slaves). On a national level, countries can develop a National Action Plan (NAP): The NAP is a road map to eradicate slavery.
Ten out of one hundred sixty-seven countries have developed a NAP, however execution continues to be slow. Canada is one of the ten countries that uses NAP. Canada is not one of the top ten countries that is making the most action against modern slavery, Canada has been given a BB – a letter rating based on the strength of the government response against modern slavery. The highest rating that can be achieved is an AAA, and the lowest a D. “Nearly every country in the world has committed to eradicate modern slavery, through their national policies and agreement to international conventions” (Global Slavery Index).
Slavery’s roots have spread all across the planet, burrowing deep into the Earth’s surface. Some walk over the roots, oblivious to the evil lurking all around them. While others are being strangled – hope being squeezed out of them, the enormous tree blocking out the sun. Slavery lives – in every shattered dream and lost future. “Slavery thrives on every continent and in almost every country. Forced labour, people trafficking, debt bondage and child marriage are all forms of modern-day slavery that affects the world’s most vulnerable people” (Kelly).
Although there are more people in slavery than ever before, slavery represents the smallest percentage of the world’s population than at any other time in history” (Free The Slaves). Organizations like Free the Slaves, Walk Free Foundation, Citizens for Global Solutions, and many more need your help to destroy slavery. What will you do? While slavery sucks the humanity out of humans. Will you walk on – oblivious? Or will you pick up the ax – that has been forged with all the agony, misery, and anguish of the victims and strike the tree that has destroyed millions of lives?
