Slavery Is Still Alive And Kicking, But What Can We Do To End It?

Monday October 18 marks the UK’s first Anti Slavery Day, aiming to highlight the plight of the estimated 12.3 million people across the world forced into slavery today...

The modern world accepts that the practice of slavery was a phenomenal evil, and there are countless official documents and legislations that renounce the slave trade as cruel, inhumane and a crime against humanity. Although the slave trade was ‘officially’ abolished 200 years ago, modern day slavery is still alive and kicking, and constitutes an ominous element of the globalised society in which we live.

Modern day slavery adopts a variety of forms, perhaps the closet to home of which are human trafficking, sweatshop manufacturing and child labour. Despite the shocking statistics, millions of people in the UK remain in the dark about the varying degrees of slavery still in operation around the globe today. The aim of Anti Slavery Day is ultimately for people  accross the UK to acknowledge the existence of all the men, women and children that continue to be victims of the modern-day slave trade.

'Modern day slavery adopts a variety of forms, perhaps the closet to home of which are human trafficking and sweatshop manufacturing'

ECPAT [1], an organisation that campaigns against the trafficking of children, is currently attempting to raise awareness of the dangers and implications of modern-day slavery. As part of their Anti Slavery Day campaign, ECPAT have shared the real life accounts of victims of human trafficking and exploitation, in order to encourage British people to be proactive in the fight against slavery.  Below, 16 year old Olga from Bulgaria describes her experiences.

“I came into the UK through Dover. I decided to come to the UK because my boyfriend told me that he had a friend in London who had a bar and wanted waitressing staff. He had been my boyfriend for six months, I trusted him and I am no longer in contact with my family.”

“When we arrived in the UK, I was locked in a flat and I haven’t seen my boyfriend since then. I was raped by a man who claimed to have bought me and then he forced me to have sex with clients. One client took pity on me and helped me to escape but then I did not know what to do next. I met a woman in north London who said she would help me, but instead she got me a job in a massage parlor. I only worked there a few days when the police raided the parlor. I think I am pregnant.”

Olga’s story is shocking, though sadly typical of women who have been trafficked to work in the UK. The UK is a key destination for the trafficking of young women [2], and police reports estimate that there are currently around 4000 women [2]in Britain who have been brought and sold by gangs, illegally shipped in to the country and forced into sexual slavery.
 

'The fact is, consumer demand drives and contributes to the problem of modern day slavery and child labor, which continue to infiltrate a string of major commercial industries...'

Human trafficking constitutes an aspect of modern day slavery that is in operation right on our doorstep. There are, however, other variations of slavery that continue to occur much further afield; though the end product of this inhumane labor ends up piled high on high street shelves much closer to home. In a report published last year by sweatshop campaigning group, Labour behind the Label [3], Tesco, Levis, Asda and John Lewis are among 25 high street British brands that have been accused of exploiting factory garment workers in Asia by failing to pay their workers enough to live on. This is an uncomfortable thought, and one that we as consumers of these immorally manufactured goods normally push to the back of our minds.

The fact is, consumer demand drives and contributes to the problem of modern day slavery and child labor, which continue to infiltrate a string of major commercial industries; from textiles to children's toys. 

Organizations like ECPAT continue to hope that Anti Slavery Day will propel action by forcing companies to ensure that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [4]is respected across their entire supply chain; ensuring that their companies and practices are not inadvertently perpetuating modern day slavery. Stories like that of Ricardo (below), demonstrate the implications of these immoral labor practices, and what we can do to challenge them:

Ricardo was made to live in the back of a locked removal van and forced to work on a farm picking tomatoes in Florida. He was forced into debt as his ‘employer’ charged punitive costs for food, rent etc. After more than a year he managed to escape through the ventilation hatch of the truck...

Florida tomatoes are bought by restaurant and fast-food chains. Anti-Slavery International supported the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ campaign, which succeeded in Burger King signing an agreement with them to ensure workers’ rights are respected. The agreement includes a zero-tolerance guideline for suppliers regarding certain unlawful activities such as forced labor.

Around the time of the first Anti Slavery Day on October 18 this year, a plethora of organisations are campaigning to encourage the British public to open their hearts and minds to the gravity of the issue, and to get involved in any way that they can. From signing petitions on the anti slavery website, to buying fair trade goods and using our consumer power effectively, to asking questions about the products we buy and their origins, we can all contribute to the ongoing struggle to end modern day slavery once and for all.

Words: Maleena Pone

Photos: Flickr users Tampa Bay Informer and dose.daily

For more information on Anti Slavery Day click here [5]

To sign the petition to end sex trafficking of children and young people click here [6]