IS THERE SLAVERY IN OUR WORLD TODAY?
Denise Boyle
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This personal testament of a young woman is a reminder that slavery continues to exist. It has a new name, trafficking in human persons. Deceit, captivity and exploitation are the trademarks of this burgeoning industry. In 2004 APPROXIMATELY TWO (around four) million people were trafficked world-wide, netting about five billion euro for the traffickers.
Most women and children are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Young men and older people are trafficked primarily for labour exploitation. Increasingly some trafficked persons are being exploited for their organs to facilitate organ transplants.
Traffickers look for their victims in countries where there is dire poverty, few educational or job opportunities and political UNREST, PLUS economic and gender discrimination. (This is the same seedbed in which the HIV/AIDS pandemic is thriving, thus inextricably linking these two sad realities.) Those involved are skilled people who know how to exploit the poor by offering them the opportunity of training or a well paid job, of making money and breaking the cycle of poverty in which they are trapped.
The actual reality for the victim unfolds into a terrifying experience; normally in a country they do not know, far away from their family and friends. On arrival at their destination their passports and visas are taken by the traffickers, leaving them vulnerable to the law as illegal residents. This acts as a strong deterrent to their seeking help.
Sigma Huda, the UN Special Rapporteur for Trafficking in Human Persons, has asked governments to ensure that their legislation is sympathetic to the victim of trafficking and tough on those found guilty of this heinous crime. Nearly every country is now either a country of origin or destination. In some instances victims are re-trafficked through several countries.
As no country is exempt from this new form of slavery, any one of us could meet a victim of trafficking who desperately needs our help but is too frightened to ask. Their fear is real. People involved in trafficking are violent towards their victims and use threats of reprisal on their families to prevent them from trying to escape.
The Liberian woman whose story you read at the beginning of this article was one of the rare, lucky ones who managed to escape. Additionally, she received professional support, from people trained in this specialised area, facilitating her return into society. After such a traumatic experience professional support is vital.
The debasement of a person to a ‘thing’ that is bought and sold violates the fundamental rights of a human being and is evil. It is shocking to read or hear about, and possibly leaves us feeling overwhelmed and helpless. But we can do something, we can help.
We can, for instance, work with others to address the root causes that create the environment that permits traffickers to lure their victims. Poverty is one of those root causes. Indebtedness to international financial institutions is a major reason why countries of the two-thirds world are so poor. An impoverished country cannot provide education or job opportunities for the majority of its people and the young especially are very vulnerable to smooth-talking traffickers. Initiatives such as the Make Poverty History–Cancel the Debt campaign need and deserve our involvement.
Supporting fair trade campaigns by buying products that ensure the producers get a fair return for their hard work is another concrete thing we can do. We may have to pay a little more for the coffee, or other goods, but the producers will receive just recompense for their products as opposed to being exploited. The income that these small scale farmers or artisans receive will help them to take care of their families and to break out of the poverty trap.
Trafficking and the root causes that permit and encourage trafficking are essentially justice issues. By virtue of being human, each of us has a mandate to work for justice; (to), as Scripture advises, TO live justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.
And working for justice is not just about doing. It is also about being. How I live my life day to day does make a difference to others. My attitudes and prejudices either bring life or take life. What we do in our own countries does impact negatively or positively on the lives of others elsewhere.
When Jesus said, ‘whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me’, he was highlighting our interconnectedness and our responsibilities to each other.
SO IT IS VITALLY URGENT (And it is surely imperative) that we take PERSONAL AND collective responsibility to rid our world of human trafficking.
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