Modern Slavery

Slavery. You would have thought people would've learned by now that slavery was a horrible, inhuman, punishable way to treat people; that it's just down right evil. But no, they haven't. But know instead of slavery they call it "Human Trafficking". Even with a different name, slavery and human trafficking are still the same.

Just before the month started, President Obama declared that January was to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. He stated:

"Human trafficking endangers the lives of millions of people around the world, and it is a crime that knows no borders. Trafficking networks operate both domestically and transnationally, and although abuses disproportionally affect women and girls, the victims of this ongoing global tragedy are men, women, and children of all ages.
"Around the world, we are monitoring the progress of governments in combating trafficking while supporting programs aimed at its eradication. From forced labor and debt bondage to forced commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude, human trafficking leaves no country untouched.
"With this knowledge, we rededicate ourselves to forging robust international partnerships that strengthen global anti-trafficking efforts, and to confronting traffickers here at home."

Under the comments section of this blog someone posted:

"Someone should probably tell Obama that slavery ended roughly 150 years ago. These symbolic browny points are just a diversion to the fact that Obama is doing nothing to address his now very large list of domestic and foreign problems."

Actually, if he or she was reading the speech Obama made maybe he was see that, no, slavery didn't end, it is still going on even in the U.S. It is hard sometimes to cope with people's ignorance. They jump before they look every time.

Did you know that annually, human trafficking reels in an enormous profit? But just how large is this "enormous profit" you ask? About $32 billion a year. A YEAR! That could pay an average of 1, 600, 000 kid's 4-year college tuition. It's unbelievable what people do to make money. I would like to think it would be far easier to get a good job like as a bank teller or a doctor or a window guy at McDonald's than a Trafficker. What goes wrong in their head to posses them to do should horrible things to other humans.

It's even more messed up that out of the 14,500 to 17,500 people, in the U.S., who get abducted and enslaved a year, about 46% of the people know each other. I can't even tell you how freaked out i would be to learn that one of my family members or close friend's parents or a coworker was trafficking other humans as slaves. I would probably run and never come back.

Now that i have discussed what i think if wrong with slavery and why it's so messed up i think it's time to learn what the actual definition of slavery is. The definition CNN uses is:

“Slavery occurs when one person completely controls another person, using violence or the threat of violence to maintain that control, exploits them economically, pays them nothing and they cannot walk away.”

But, what about human trafficking? Human trafficking can be defined by U.N. Trafficking Protocol as

"The recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, or fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation."

You like chocolate right? I mean who doesn't! But have you ever stopped to think how much work goes into harvesting the ingredients for this delicous treat? That's right slaves, human trafficking victims, children. Some are too young to even know what the word chocolate means! It's not fair, they are just children.

I personally think the 3 most important facts about slavery are:

1. Slavery is not legal anywhere but happens everywhere.
2. 27 million slaves are in the world today.
3. We can end slavery in our lifetime. Everyone has a role to play: government, business, international
organizations, consumers, and YOU.

I think these facts are important because it brings a whole new true to the subject of human trafficking.

Nothing people say can ever justify slavery, but still people try and every day more and more men, women, and children are abducted, abused and exploited. When will they ever learn....

Sources:
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/
http://www.freetheslaves.net/