Modern Slavery

Slavery is a powerful word.

It’s a word that conjures images of the transatlantic slave trade of cotton picking, sugar cane plantations, human beings in shackles, and slave ships.

Slavery is a crime against humanity. It is the fastest-growing international crime, second to the arms trade. This is because people can be bought and sold more than once.

For many of us, slavery is the stuff of history books that was abolished with the “William Wilberforce” movement about 200 years ago. However, for others, mostly the victims, slavery is not a historical fact but a present-day reality!

2nd day of December marks the International Day for the abolition of the slave trade.

YET,

Millions of people around the world are trapped in modern slavery.

Modern Slavery has assumed a disturbing dimension the world over in spite of all the efforts being made at addressing it. Victims are either kidnapped or enticed under false pretenses, and then held against their will.

Many of them are forced to work long hours…….Under horrible conditions and oftentimes, without pay!. Victims are often beaten, violated, or starved into submission.

For instance,

The Chibok girls sold by Boko Haram Insurgents as sex slaves and child brides.
Blacks sold in Libya as slaves.
Migrants sold in Oman as slaves.
Yazidi girls – Slaves of ISIS, etc…

SO,

If you think slavery is a thing of the past, THINK AGAIN!!

Slavery restricts freedom, controls by force, and does not treat people as unique individuals but as commodities through which money can be made…..THIS IS SAD.

When you look at what modern slavery entails, you can’t but wonder what the world has turned into.

I say this because IF animals are capable of showing love to their kind, then one should expect that the humanity in us should show in our conduct and interactions with others.

I always wonder what makes humanity lose its face!

Seriously,

What makes us stop caring for others or lose that sense of pity and compassion?

These questions among many others keep crossing my mind especially when I visualize the sad faces of people, old and young working under extreme conditions. Their crime is only the fact that they are poor and have no means of earning a decent livelihood. Hence, the employers or agents they use to get jobs exploit this to their advantage.

No country has been able to stamp slavery out and it’s staggering how our lives connect to it. Once we start seeing how it connects to our lives, we would realize that slavery exists in all sectors of our society.

From the domestic help at our houses, the sales attendant at our favorite grocery store to our next-door neighbor who’s living in a forced marriage. All of these people, may not be in shackles or on plantations BUT the shackles are still there….. just INVISIBLE!

Therefore, in your own little way, what efforts do you think you can make to help eliminate slavery and stop the tears of victims?

I would like to stop here today with this,