The trafficker, the slave owning entrepreneur, and the unfortunate bonded individual all have one thing in common, and that is the need for economic success. Exploiting individuals to achieve the minimum cost of labor satisfies the demand for maximized profits. As long as there are individuals who are willing to exploit humans in efforts of attaining the maximum profit, slavery is said to continue.
Those who fall into slavery often come from vulnerable situations. Extreme poverty contributes significantly to global slave trade. Desperate families will sell their children with the allusion that the child will experience a better life, or simply the family cannot afford another mouth to feed. Traffickers prey on desperate situations including natural disasters. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti last January, despite promises from Haitian leaders to protect orphaned children, the number of smuggled individuals (especially children) skyrocketed. This same behavior was witnessed in south Asia after the tsunami in 2003. After both disasters children were devalued to the point that smugglers offered to trade children for sex, cooking, and laundry.
Traffickers have very little to nothing invested in their slaves, resulting in up to 500% profit. This economic venture proves too tempting to those whom have traded their morals for potential economic growth. A simple way to combat this issue and to minimize the exploiters' profits is, as a consumer to demand fair traded items. The combination of excessive materialism and the desire to spend the least amount of currency possible fuels the human trafficking industry. When we as consumers decide to elevate the fad of buying fair trade and organic items into a movement and demand true fairly traded items, the profits reaped by slave owners will diminish significantly.
Raising awareness along with passing and enforcing legislation can also minimize the number of those who reside in bondage. Organizations such as the Polaris Project and Free the Slaves are successful in both raising awareness and inspiring legislation. While slavery is illegal in every country, indifferent public officials seldom seek to assist those who are enslaved. We as responsible citizens of society have the moral obligation to demand people of power to take actions against exploiters and assist those who have been taken advantage of.
I agree with you on the aspect of fair trade, but that only extends so far. If human traffickers are selling children for "sex, cooking, and laundry", how would you suggest that aspect of the problem be solved?
ReplyDeleteYou say this issue of slavery can be solved or diminished by "demanding true fairly traded items" which is definitely true yet how would the average westerner go about doing that? Today's society, especially in America and the western world, is too fast paced to take the time to discover where their goods come from. No one seems to have the time to care or bother in doing research, and quite honestly, I don't see that changing anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI think Martha makes a very good point in saying that we as citizens have to demand that governments be more proactive in prosecuting slaveholders, alleviating poverty, liberating enslaved people, and assisting former slaves in their transition to freedom. Free trade products are great but for more significant progress to be made we must pressure governments worldwide to enforce the laws regarding slavery and human trafficking.
ReplyDeleteI agree Martha, bringing about awareness of slavery is always the solution. However, as Dynah pointed out, this country is much too fast paced to "worry about" fair trade. Unless our government makes this an important concern of theirs, I also cannot see a decrease in slave profit happening. How might you suggest awareness be made public nationally other than small or regional organizations?
ReplyDeleteWe all agree that awareness is an important strategy in fighting slavery. But as we've mentioned in class, this has become sort of cliche. The issue of changing legislation is a very important one. If slavery is illegal in all countries, what are the laws that need to be addressed that will aid in the fight against modern day slavery?
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