Icon for the "Not For Sale Campaign"
Though many of us prefer to pretend it no longer exists, or that its effects are far away from our pretty, polished Western Civilization lives, human trafficking is in fact a global epidemic.
With over 30 million human beings enslaved today – the majority being women and children – we cannot afford to ignore this issue. Women are exploited for sexual work, children are considered the easiest and cheapest form of manual labor (with no pay), and law enforcement does little to no good about stopping the practice and freeing the slaves, especially in impoverished countries where police officers can easily be “bought off” by the slave masters or “pimps”.
But impoverished countries are not the only culprit – nor is Asia, although the Pacific Rim is the most heavily enslaved area on the globe. America itself, the great United States, sports human trafficking as the third highest source of commercial profit, with 300,000 people enslaved today. And it partakes both in import and export of the slave network, with a whopping 14,000 people trafficked into the country each year. Bet you didn’t know that.
Forced labor is not just a denial of choice and rights; it is a violent practice that mandates 20+ hour workdays, institutes abuse and beating when the person grows tired or slows down his/her production, often starves them and denies them shelter, clothing, and pay, and holds a constant threat of death or torture if the person tries to escape. Sexual slavery (forced prostitution) is even more widespread, while women are forced into submissive acts, sexual exploitation with up to 50 “clients” a day, denied birth control and medical exams (so they are often impregnated or contract diseases, at which point their pimps often torture them and throw them out onto the streets to die, or murder them personally.) The revenue this generates is often too “good” for the governments or law enforcements of the practicing countries to ignore – thus, the cycle continues.
So what can we do about it?
Educate ourselves. Knowledge is key to power, and power is key to making change. Educate yourself about the extent of human trafficking, its prevalence and the ways it is destroying the foundations of human rights and equality that so many have tried to build up in today’s global society.
Research companies and industries who support manual labor as opposed to free trade. For example, Bath and Body Works – along with their sister company Victoria’s Secret, as part of Limited Brands – engage in forced labor for manufacturing of their goods. Meanwhile, The Body Shop actively engages in free trade to boost the economies of suffering communities such as in Africa and South America, and furthermore is against animal testing in their products. You can find a list of companies that participate in slave labor at Change.org, in a report released by the Department of Labor.
If you have an iPhone, another handy resource is a “buy this, not that” type of application called “Free2Work.” The program lists products that are manufactured by forced labor and those that practice fair trade, so you are always making a global-conscious decision.
Above all, don’t ignore the issue. Don’t pretend it isn’t happening. There is so much more than meets the eyes, and more than can fill this space in text. Educate yourselves and help put an end to human slavery.
