A Destructive Cycle

“The better we can understand the complex forces that give rise to poverty, the better we’ll be able to truly cut at the roots of all forms of slavery.” Arun Gandhi

           

      Governments across the globe have recognized modern-day slavery as a severe violation of human rights. Typically, these governments work to eradicate slavery through a three-step framework of prosecution, protection, and prevention. This framework, however, fails to address the socioeconomic roots that human trafficking stems from. Environmental degradation, poverty, and slavery combine to form a perpetual, vicious cycle in communities around the world.

      Many of the world’s impoverished  people live in rural and remote communities that depend on natural resources for survival. Clean air and water, crop and animal agriculture, forests, and fisheries are several resources that rural poor communities must have regular access to in order to meet basic needs. This access can be halted by natural disasters, such as floods and droughts, or environmental degradation. Environmental degradation can take the form of deforestation, water and air contamination, soil erosion, or the draining of the oceans’ biodiversity – just to name a few. When members of poor communities no longer have access to natural resources, they grow more and more desperate to survive. Without employment opportunities or other forms of capital to fall back onto, the rural poor are left vulnerable. Traffickers then utilize this vulnerability.
      The cycle does not end there. After being tricked and coerced, victims of modern-day slavery are forced to perform work in industries that further deteriorate the environment. Enslaved workers in the mining industries of Ghana contribute to water contamination and soil erosion just as those forced to work in the fishing industries of Thailand contribute to the destruction of coastal ecosystems. As Kevin Bales describes it, “Slaves are being used to perpetuate extreme environmental destruction.”

      Governments, institutions, and organizations around the world must first understand the crucial link between environmental degradation, poverty, and slavery. Only then can efforts to sustainably manage natural resources be paired with the three-step framework of prosecution, protection, and prevention in order to effectively eliminate human trafficking.