COMBATING MODERN SLAVERY

Despite the fact that slavery still exists globally and is a major issue on four continents, many people are unaware of just how prevalent it is. There are approximately 27 million or more people who are entrapped in real slavery, meaning that they are unable to walk away due to threat of violence. That is double the number that existed during the entire Atlantic Slave Trade.

The look of modern slavery is a depressingly familiar sight: people forced to work in dangerous and demeaning conditions and who are often subjected to abuse, such as whippings. The highest concentration of slavery exists in South Asia, where there are approximately 5 million or more people who are enslaved. South and Central America, as well as Africa, also have high numbers of people who are enslaved, with numbers between 500,000 to 5 million. Even in North America and Europe, there exists situations of slavery, with numbers of up to 500,000 people who were discovered to have been enslaved. The only countries in the entire world where there are no reported/discovered situations of slavery are Iceland and Greenland.

It is frightening to note that the majority of slave laborers are forced to corrode the natural environment by destroying the coastal ecosystems in South Asia, cutting down trees in the Amazon of South America, ravaging forest areas in West Africa, and mining and spreading mercury around in Ghana and the Congo. There is a harrowing connection to be made to what is happening to the environment and what is happening to human rights.

There are multiple factors that are involved, which are not necessarily causal, but they are supporting. These factors include:

1. Population explosion - The world went from 2 billion to more than 7 billion people in the last 50 years.

2. Extreme poverty and vulnerability caused by civil war, kleptocratic (exploitive) government, climate change, natural disasters, etc.

3. Corruption (especially police corruption.)

In regard to the final factor of corruption, one fact that stands out as a primary contributing factor to an area becoming problematic for slavery is the absence of the rule of law. Where there is no fear of impunity, ruthless individuals and companies feel free to use violence against vulnerable people to force or manipulate them into slavery. The most common means of manipulation and trickery that has been reported by people who had become victims of slavery is being asked if they "wanted a job." The victims are poor people who are desperately lacking food and medicine for their families, and despite their suspicions, they feel they have no choice. When they try to leave the situation, the hammer comes down, and they realize they are trapped.

One thing that is remarkable about modern slavery, as opposed to historical slavery, is the complete price collapse of human things. In some places, such as India and Nepal, a slave can be bought for as little as $5 or $10. Once they are used up, they are considered disposable. Considering the fact that slavery is considered to be an endless supply, and that there is global demand for it, there is little surprise that business programs - particularly private equity - have an interest in exploiting this situation.

I feel that the first and primary way of combating contemporary slavery is to become informed and to confront denial that slavery does not exist or is not that big of a problem. People, including myself, should get curious, do their research, and contribute to global awareness of modern slavery. I believe that the greed and competitive nature of capitalist countries, which is fed by excessive consumerism, contributes to the epidemic of slavery. The constant need for cheaper laptops, computers, smartphones, jewels, clothing and the like means that global businesses selling these commodities are going to be looking for cheaper ways of harvesting and resourcing the materials for them so that they can still make a profit. They will continue to cut costs by using cheap labor from exploited human beings.