unslaveme

For the Purpose
Of:
Forced Labor
The situation in which victims are involuntarily forced to perform work under the verbal and physical threats of violence to them and their families. A relationship of ownership is exerted on the victims and the their freedoms are restricted to constant supervision and isolation. The majority of human trafficking found around the world, takes the form of forced labor in one way or another. The ILO has suggested that “for every one victim that is forced into commercial sex, nine are forced into involuntary servitude.” Unfortunately, even the women and girls that are sold into the “international maid” industry or other forms of domestic servitudes, report being sexually exploited as well.

Exploitation is the situation that a person takes advantage of a person or situation that unethically or unjustly for one’s own selfish needs.

Bonded Lar, or Peonage
Is a form of force or coercion by trafficker by exploiting the initial costs of recruitment and transportation as part of the terms of employment. By large, this is just the start of a heinous cycle of debt. The victims of bonded labor are in continuous debt to trafficker as they add on the cost of food, shelter, tools and often drugs to the initial debt. Drugs are initially used by traffickers to keep victims compliant, shortly there after, victims become addicted to these drugs. The need, and also blame of drug use, is then transferred from the trafficker to the victim. This method of control is most commonly used in sex trafficking but not by any means limited to it.

In some parts of the world, commonly in South Asia, there are millions of victims still trying to pay off inherited debts from their family that may go back decades. Overall, the majority of the people that fall into human slavery are from countries experiencing economic crises rooting from high rates of “unemployment, poverty, crime, discrimination, corruption, political conflict, or cultural acceptance of the practice.” It is important to educate and bring awareness to these desperate groups to prevent the rising numbers of victims falling into forced labor. In some parts of the world, commonly in South Asia, there are millions of victims that are still trying to pay off inherited debts of their family that may go back decades. This brings attention to how people in power use the accepted traditions only to fuel the growing problem of human trafficking.

Trafficking of Children:
It is estimated that 2 children every minute are trafficked globally!
The ILO has suggested that an estimated 211 million children around the world are subjected to servitude today. Some reports identified children as young as five forced to work in fields and in the sex industry. In some countries, the law allows children to work in certain “safe” conditions. However, in many instances this isn’t the case. This is primarily due to lack of enforcement or political corruption.
As a result, many children of all ages are being exposed to dangerous chemicals like pesticides and long strenuous hours, with little to eat, drink, rest, or pay. While children are forced to work, whether in agriculture, factories, mining fields or brothels, they are being stripped from their childhood, education and humanity.
Without an education there is no other choice but to allow this cycle of human trafficking to prevail. It’s crucial that we emphasis the importance of education for children and their future/ That is if we want to tackle this global problem head on and break the restraints of ignorance.

Children Left Behind

Since a child under eighteen cannot give consent to leave the country at their own will, let alone, participate in consensual acts of sex, the question of initial consent is irrelevant when a child is involved. I say this because although many people are abducted and lured in “willingly,” often enough under false pretext, there are also incidents of co-participant involved in the decision and actions that lead up to the trafficking of a child. For instance, children have reported that they have been given away by parents with the fabricated illusion of a better life, education and job opportunities that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. Others are even sold into slavery by their loved ones with the preconceived knowledge of the sexual exploitation with the promise of earnings and material goods in return. Predominately, these children never return home to their families or reap financial benefit of their situation.

A closer look at the children of Ivory Coast

Have you ever took a moment to think where your tasty chocolate comes from?
The chocolate factory, right…

Or even how and why the chocolate factors sell this wonderful treat at such a cheap price?
Possibly because companies buy the cacao beans at large quantities, many assume.

If this is what you‘ve always assumed, you were wrong! These commonly misperceived conceptions lead to speculations and assumptions that can be seen as a driving force of human trafficking demands.

This view would only be looking at the situation from the surface. Overlooking, what many people do, human beings in desperate situations that need our help and support to unslave and protect them from the chains of the rich and powerful. The rich and the powerful that we create and maintain through abundant consumerism that has taken place since globalization. Therefore, as consumers, we must play our part in decreasing the demand of human trafficking by supporting in this growing demand of cheap labor with our demands of quality goods at cheap prices. We can make a difference by supporting the Fair Trade movement which will ultimately mean paying more for quality goods, and for some, accept having less material goods. Without this commitment, children around the world will be paying the inhumane price for our over-consumption of goods.

The “Dark side of chocolate”

It has been calculated that one child can generate profits of up to 400,000 dollars each. Mainly because the johns that go into brothels tend to prefer adolescent!
Fairs Trade is a social movement that encourages “ better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms for farmers and workers in developing worlds.” This market-based approach challenges current conventional trade by requiring companies to pay market prices in order to achieve sustainability and eliminate exploitation of vulnerable impoverished counties.

Have we convinced you of how important your commitment is in Unslaving these children?

If not, take a closer look at these next clippings! At that time you can re-evaluate your commitment to today’s movement against “modern day slavery.”

Child Sex Slavery: Stop the Pain Campaign

The War Against Child Soldiers: Fighting, Murdering, Dying

Trafficking of Sex:
Includes all children under the age of 18 and adults that are forced, coerced, and deceived into commercial sex. Sex trafficking often enough overlaps bondage labor with the common practice of traffickers telling the victims they must pay off the debt they accrued as “terms” of employment. Traffickers commonly lure victims with the false promise of “good jobs” in “developed countries” that will provide a better life for themselves and their families. Sometimes victims are sold by their family members because he may have been the only means of survival.

Shame is a common tool among traffickers worldwide, that “enslaved women at practically every turn.” Sadly, it often starts within the victims family and is continued throughout their imprisonment. Young children, especially girls from impoverished families, are told they are the blame for their parents destitution . They are told, for example, that “good” daughters manage the health and welfare of their mother and father. This constant ridicule translates into shame, making the victims more willing to make any sacrifice to change their condition.

This same method is used by traffickers and brothel owners alike, also use this cultural value to manipulate girls. If a new recruit tries to resists the idea of having sex with a paying customer, the slaveholder might rape her himself and say, “Now you are used goods; you might as well give it up for other men.” Tragically, the girl is subdued to understand the logic of this manipulating brainwashing and resigns herself to life in the sex trafficking. Leaving many victims in an even further vulnerable position that lead to a number of complexities when dealing with victims of human trafficking.

Complexities and Realities of Human Trafficking:
Many trafficking victims do not speak the native language or understand the culture of their new destination. Many coming from impoverished countries like Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Often they don’t know where they are being held because they are frequently moved to escape detection. Traffickers lure the victims to “developed countries” with promises of good paying jobs, marriage and good life for themselves and their families back home. Instead, these dreams quickly becomes a nightmare that includes inhuman physical and mental abuse and threats to their families back home.

A commonly shared practice among traffickers is the direct and indirect threats to the victims family members back home as a method of control. It is not unusual for the traffickers to know the details of the victims past life since they are typically a family member, neighbor or spouse. Traffickers will casually mention “updates” on parents and siblings in conversation with victims when they start to display resistance or deviance from their submissive roles. This reminds the victim there is no way out. They feel helpless because if they do try to escape, their families will pay the price. Whether by death or as the replacement of their labor. So they find it within themselves to continue in order to protect and ensure the safety of their families. The families that are sometimes thousands of miles away or even played co-participants in their trafficking situation.

For this reason, many victims do not self-identify as victims. They often don’t see themselves as someone that is homeless or drug addicted or that they rely on shelters or assistance. They may not even look like they need help because they have a place to live, something to eat, so called “health care” that is provided by trafficker and what they believe to be a paying job. Some feel its their fault that they are in this situation. As a coping mechanism or survival skill, victims may even develop loyalties and positive feelings toward their trafficker/owner because they feel they provide them “safety,” from deportation for example, and in return they try to protect them from legal prosecution. This coping mechanism is often known as “Traumatic Bonding” or “Stockholm Syndrome.” Traffickers will even coach the victims on a “cover story” that includes being here on vacation, as a student, housekeeper, construction worker, janitor, waitress, or Nanny. The criminal intelligence involved in human trafficking makes it difficult for authorities to identify who is doing things legally or not. This is what makes human trafficking invisible to the common eye.

With that said, these mechanisms of control lead to psychological health problems. Psychological trauma, like stress disorders and phobias for example, are a result of the daily emotional abuse and physical torture. Other mental health conditions include depression, from being isolated from families and controlled on a daily basis, and disorientation and confusion from the drugs given to the victims by the traffickers.

How do the other culturally accepted traditions fuel human trafficking demands?

Another accepted tradition that promotes human trafficking found around the world, particularly in Central Asia, is the kidnapping of wives. In the following clip you will witness this common practice in the country of Kyrgyzstan. In some instances, but not all, the parents of the victims agree to the kidnapping for a fee while the offender’s family part take in the abduction and rejoice the forced “union.” As you will see, most often the brides start off as unwilling participants and then coerced into the arrangement, knowing there’s no other option. In some of these countries, the acceptance of the involuntary arrangement is the only way the female will receive equal treatment from society, and in other cases, the only means for the family to survive. Consequently, a number of these kidnappings end badly. For example, after being coerced into the marriage, it’s usually the forced sex and domestic labor that brings on feelings of self devalue and shame which sometimes leads to suicide. This is just one of many traditionally accepted practices found worldwide that promotes the demand of human trafficking.

Kyrgyzstan: Bride Kidnapping

Well over 88,000 Chinese women were kidnapped in the last five years and given as wives to lonely men that can not afford the “Bride Price. ”
Bride Kidnapping found in other regions of Asia.

Human Trafficking is not limited to the poor, nor immune to developed countries.

This highlights the global issue we are faced with today, that is too often passed off as an international problem. The reality of human trafficking is that it’s not immune to the United States. Not only is it happening in “our own back yards,” it’s widely promoted, accepted and driven by our own culture’s, along with other’s, beliefs and traditions. It is important to raise awareness and questions about one’s own role in the rising numbers of human trafficking victims. Whether physically taking part in recruiting, transporting, harboring, receiving, or obtaining, you may unknowingly behind the force that fuels the demand of cheap human labours.
Vulnerable groups come in all forms and sizes. The fact is that it could be a handful of the 40,000 runaways found in the US annually, or the daughter of a low to middle class family that is driven by social mobility and fabricated illusions of a wonderful modeling career, fed to her by recruiters. These dreams of a “better life” for her and her family back home, soon turn into a parents worse nightmare.
It’s important to educate on and bring awareness to the fact that no one is invisible or immune to the problem of human trafficking. As this knowledge is the power that can help drive the movement in prevention of rising numbers of victims falling into forced labor.

“We are living in a world where we don’t necessarily know what’s going on next door to us”
- Julia Ormon

Friday, April 22, 2011