Old Habits Die Hard
by Lauren Ting
Child slavery: a concept that seems from the distant past. It conjures up feelings of shame and regret, implying another era, a different place. Yet the issues of child slavery and trafficking remain significant today on an international level, with an estimated 27 million children currently enslaved worldwide, thousands of them being victim to instances of trafficking in the United States. Despite national laws that forbid trafficking and threaten severe punishment for offenders, many cases slip by, subjecting children to the cruel conditions of sex and labor slavery that countless do not escape from alive.
With the recent trend towards globalization, the practice of slavery has actually escalated, as the dire need for cheap labor has created an industry supported by human trade. The dramatic population increase that followed the end of World War II and the economic changes in the developing world have caused the widespread extreme poverty that engulfs many countries today. A newfound vulnerability has arisen among the people within these impoverished communities. Unlike the slavery that was implemented in the southern United States in the nineteenth century - during which slaves were considered investments of marketable value – slavery today consists of economic labor with little liability, and lacks direct ties to ownership.
Slaves today cost little but yield high profits, and can easily be discarded when their productivity declines. While slavery is considered a crime nearly worldwide, societies in many countries will tolerate it if the profits to be gained from cheap labor outweigh the moral costs. The discreet nature of slavery today also makes it very difficult for governments to take action, and the meager attempts by some countries to effect change are often due to the corruption and indifference of authorities.
Slaves today are often controlled by violence, victim to both physical and emotional abuse. They are frequently economically exploited minorities, vulnerable due to their poverty and the low literacy rates that exist within their communities. Many are raised in cultures in which honesty is highly valued, and therefore are easily tempted by debt bondage, in an effort to maintain their reputations as a worker making an honest wage.
Slavery in many Asian and South American nations comes in this form of debt bondage, when a person, often in desperate circumstances and seeing no alternative, makes an arrangement to borrow money in exchange for labor. This may not seem like a bad deal initially, but when it comes time for the debt to be repaid, the loaner raises interest rates, alters record books, and sometimes even forces the debt on to the next generation. This particular brand of labor slavery has been fueled by the decrease in small-scale subsistence farming, and the rise in large-scale cash-crop growing in certain countries.
Another regrettable but frequent form of slavery is that of sex trafficking, in which young women, sometimes being sold by their own parents, are lured by the promise of a legitimate job, but rather than being met with a well-paying job, they are forced into prostitution. One of the most potential dangers one faces with this sort of sexual captivity is the rampant influx of HIV. For example, in Thailand, prostitution is considered a social norm and local authorities are often complicit with prostitution rings, and thus the national rate for contracting HIV has soared in the past several years.
Modern slavery also targets children for their adept fingers and small size, forcing them into dangerous factory work in sweatshops, where they are often severely sleep-deprived and exposed to chemicals and dangerous machinery on a regular basis. Many slaves are also discovered working as unpaid domestic servants in developed nations, often deprived of food and sleep and abused by their captors.
Modernization has created this disruption in the social order that has furthered the divide between the rich and poor, by stimulating economic growth and improving health care and education for the elite and decreasing the options for survival for those on the bottom line. The inaction of North American and western European nations against child trafficking shows that these countries have no qualms with slavery as long as they do not recognize its existence. However, in poorer countries, governments practically endorse slavery as a means to earn more capital.
The United States, in an attempt to bring an end to human trafficking, has created a tier-structured system that places countries based on their responses to trafficking allegations and attempts to halt such activity. While these appraisals have had some success in deterring government corruption, the system contains one major flaw. The United States refuses to rate itself, thus becoming a prime example of the hypocrisy surrounding these issues. By adhering to the mantra “it can’t happen here,” the United States defeats its own system’s purpose to inhibit trafficking productivity in its denial of its existence at home.
Contrary to popular belief, many of the products Americans buy every day are the product of slave labor. As consumers, it is difficult to discern the origin of everything we buy. Many bargain goods are produced through the use of slave-driven factories because with lower production costs, the item reaching the consumer can be priced lower, therefore encouraging more consumers to buy the product, and ultimately obtaining an increase in profit. Commonly purchased items like chocolate, coffee, coal and car parts often originate in slave-driven environments. Only recently have activist groups begun efforts to investigate products and determine those that are produced legitimately.
Despite all our best efforts, some forms of exploitation
and abuse will inevitably infiltrate our society. The United States,
as a nation at the top of the worldwide spectrum in resources, is full
of individuals accustomed to luxury, and who often have difficulty facing
the atrocious conditions that exist elsewhere. Only, however, by acknowledging
the existence of such brutal human rights violations around the world
and at home, can awareness be raised to prompt discussion and stimulate
change.
