International Contemporary Slavery - Research Paper Example

International Contemporary Slavery Introduction Slavery is considered as one of the grossest human dignity and rights violation in human history. Slavery was a global institution practiced on every corner of the earth from the American mines and sugar plantations to the Ottoman Empire harems. Slaves were forcibly removed from their homeland, sold, bought and taken to new sites where they were exploited. They were threatened by violence and forced to work for their masters. However, through abolitionist proclamation of 1807 ending the transatlantic slave trade coupled with the emancipation proclamation of 1863, slavery declined gradually and eventually ceased existing. This study will examine international contemporary slavery and the facts that differentiate it from early forms of slavery. The study will also look at the factors that led to modern day slavery, forms of contemporary slavery, the politics involved, the international law and policies on slavery between countries, and steps taken to eradicate the problem. Contemporary slavery Many people approach slavery as part of collective history subscribing to the “rise and fall” of the slavery trajectory. When people speak of slavery, they imagine enslaved Africans toiling in sugar plantations and finally ending through the two legislations. They do not associate current times with slavery. The fact is that an estimated 27 million slaves exist today in the world. This number is more than double the number of slaves obtained from Africa and transported across the Atlantic. According to the international labor organization, 12.3 million people across the world are in one form of forced labor or another. United Nations estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 persons are trafficked internationally every year. Close to half of those involved in slavery are primarily young girls and women sold out for sexual exploitation (Bales 9). While most countries have anti-trafficking laws in place, their enforcement is erratic and in some, the laws are non-existent. The US State Department points out that 62 countries have failed to convict traffickers under the Palermo protocol as declared by UN. Currently, the slavery industry is estimated to be a $32 billion industry placing it at the same level with illegal arms trade and drug trafficking (Bales 50). International contemporary slavery is similar to past slavery in that it is characterized by violence and exploitation (Bales 12). However, today slavery is no longer a legal institution neither is it significant for any country’s economy. Slavery is also not a relationship based on ethnicity or race. Like in the past, slavery exists in many forms; but modern slavery has two main characteristics, which differentiate it from early slavery. Today’s slaves are cheap and hence disposable (Bales 12). Today, slaves are cheaper than any other period in slave history. A field worker bought for $14,000 in 1850 would today cost only $100. This dramatically changes the economic scale of slavery. Drop in prices for any commodity affects the demand and supply economies. Currently, there are more potential slaves in the market meaning they cost little but generate high returns. Slave owners today can make returns from slaves as high as 800 percent (Bales, 12). Slaves’ inexpensiveness is good for the slaveholder and good for bottom line business but disastrous for the slaves. Buying slaves at a low price means they do not represent large investment that would require special care. This means that a slave is easily replaced. No one pays attention to the maintenance and care of the slaves or make a point of keeping records on their whereabouts. If slaves get injured, ill or outlive their usefulness, they become a burden to the slaveholder and are in turn dumped or worse, killed (Bales 15). International contemporary slavery is facilitated by three main factors; population growth, poverty and corruption (Bales 15). After the Second World War, the world experienced population explosion. After 1945, the world population increased from 2 billion to 6 billion within 50 years. This was due to positive development such as better healthcare, medication for infectious diseases and economic growth. The population growth meant that there were more potential slaves in the market. On the other hand, as some countries experienced economic growth, others were left behind particularly developing countries in Africa and Asia. These countries have people living below $1 dollar everyday. As a result, they are willing to do anything to meet their needs. Slave traders approach the poor with promises of better jobs only to be sold into slavery (Bales 16). Slave traders can confidently conduct their business, as the police force is corrupt. Bribing law enforcers enables slave owners to threaten their slaves with violence without fear of arrest. Corruption of law enforcement agents also enables them to transport the victims easily across borders without proper documents (Bales 16). Forms of contemporary slavery There are different forms of contemporary slavery. Sex trafficking is the most lucrative form of contemporary slavery. Young girls are obtained through deceit of marriage and glamorous jobs, kidnapping, sold off by parents or threats. During transportation, victims of sex slavery are beaten and given drugs to break their will and make them more submissive. Once they reach their destination, their passports and other travelling documents are taken away and are forced to work to pay off the debt of transporting them. To pay off this debt, the slavery victims are made to work in brothels, strip clubs, on the streets, in hotels and apartments. The girls and women used for sex exploitation belong to a pimp who decides which clients they service. The pimp also receives the money paid by these clients. Women who have been in the trade for longer are able to demand for a cut from the payment done by clients, the younger or newer victims however rarely get any payments for their services. Sex slavery is particularly common in Thailand, India, China and European countries (Bales 57). Debt bondage is the second form of contemporary slavery popularly practiced in Indian continent. Debt bondage is when a debtor pledges his services to the person they owe a debt. The debt incurred in this case is real. In the Indian subcontinent, there are two forms of debt bondage. The labor power of the debtor is exchanged as collateral for the debt incurred. This creates a trap of bondage for the debtor. Since all the labor is offered as collateral until all debts are paid, the debtor is never in a position to earn enough to pay off the debt, which is the typical arrangement in India. In the second form of debt bondage, though the work done by the debtor is applied as payment for the debt, through extortion of interest and false accounting, repayments of the debt is forever out of reach (Bales 59). Sweatshops are defined as factories that do not observe two or more of the labor laws. These laws may pertain to benefits, wages, working hours or child labor. Individuals working in sweatshops are subjected to extreme exploitation with no benefits or living wage, arbitrary discipline through physical and verbal abuse and poor working conditions. Sweatshop workers are usually paid less than what they spend on a daily basis and are never able to save enough to help them improve their lives (Bales 65). Child slavery also comprises part of contemporary forms of slavery. There are different forms of child slavery depending on the country. In warring nations, especially in Africa, children are kidnapped and made to join the military where the serve as child war soldiers, for example the Lord’s Resistance army in Uganda. Children as young as five years old are kidnapped in India and made to weave on looms used to make carpets in exchange for food. They work for ten or fourteen hours (Bales 62). International laws and policies of slavery between countries In the 21st century, significant efforts have been made to address the issues of contemporary modern slavery through international laws and policies. Despite these great efforts, conflicts have repeatedly risen from different states concerning slavery. As a result of these disputes, states have come to a realization that various systems of laws and policies are needed in order to provide infrastructures to manage and compact current slavery in the world. This has resulted to the emergence of anti-slavery initiatives that advocate for the termination of slavery in the modern world. Moreover, transitional organizations and convections have been established to address issues of current contemporary slavery. These organizations have been very instrumental in defining, solving and combating slavery issues around the world by creating international laws and convections (Weissbrodt 4). League of Nations Slavery Convention This convection was created in 1919 but was signed and entered in force at Geneva in 1926. It was then amended in 1955 at United Nations headquarters in New York. This was the first international law that was meant to regulate slavery across the world. In addition, it also addresses issues of forced labor, debt bondage and human trafficking. According to this convection, slavery and slave trade has been regarded as crime with no exception. It, therefore, abolishes and suppresses slavery across the world (Pearson 5). Convection number 29 on International labor organization has also been established to abolish forced labor across the world. Following this convection, forced labor has been viewed as any service extracted from people under menace of penalties and in which individuals have not offered voluntarily (Pearson 16). Many countries across the world have been party to this convection in an effort to combat forced labor. This is because a lot of men, women and children across the globe have been engaged in forced labor on various sectors such as agriculture, mining and construction. In addition, some people have also been forced to engage in street begging, prostitution, recruitment into militias, sweatshop and domestic labor. In addition, Article 1 of the convection has also defined abolishing of human trafficking across the world. This article has transnational organized crimes and human trafficking protocol that suppress, prevent and punish those engaging in trafficking of people (Weissbrodt 12). The protocol has created offences related to transfer of people by use of force or any other form of deception, fraud, coercion and abuse of power. It, therefore, prevents individuals from having control over others for exploitation purposes. In addition, this protocol offers international legal corporation avenue on exploitations associated with trafficking. This is because most of the people involved in trafficking are engaged into prostitution, servitude and forced labor. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) gives absolute right of freedom to servitude and slave. Article 8 of this covenant provides that forced labor, human trafficking, and sweatshops are criminal offences and should not be entertained in the world (Pearson 37). This covenant is mainly applied by anti-slavery international that are committed in eliminating all forms of slavery that lowers human dignity across the world. Following the help of article 8, various governments have taken the responsibilities of protecting and promoting human rights. This has been enhanced through prosecution of those engaging in human trafficking and slave trade. In 2005, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was approved by council of Europe Convection. It was the first international standard to guarantee maximum support and protection against slavery and other forms of human exploitations. Since the convection came into force in 2008, it has been signed by over 50 countries across the world. Additionally, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also led to the establishment of supplementary convection in 2009 that expounded definition of contemporary slavery. The convection led to abolishing of practices such as families selling women for marriage, buying and selling of young children for prostitution and other forms of abuses (Weissbrodt 24). Criminal code act Criminal code act was established by temporary slave commission to explore and appraise existence of slavery worldwide. Offences of human trafficking have highly been criminalized by division 271 of the criminal code (Pearson 41). This is prior to terminating movement of people from one place to the other for the purpose of prostitution and other exploitations. This is because according to article 2 of this act, human trafficking has been viewed as slave trade. In addition, the trends of recruiting women in various countries for prostitution purposes have also been criminalized by criminal code act. The act, therefore, makes it an offence for individuals to entice and procure other people for prostitution purposes even through their own consent. Eradicating contemporary slavery Due to the growth of international contemporary slavery and other forms of abuses such as sex trafficking, debt bondage, sweatshop and forced labor, governments from various countries are increasingly responding through restrictive policies. Governments have laid measures of protection to assist trafficked people from oppression. In addition, various governments have also engaged in international monitoring mechanisms to combat issues of slavery. This is because national authorities from different countries posses primary obligation of protecting human rights. This is through prohibition of slavery and other slavery like practices (Pearson 93). Efforts by national authorities are reinforced by human rights norms and procedures that ensure compliance of human right treaties (Weissbrodt 36). Moreover, international law and its treaties ensure that governments across the world are obligated to ensuring all individuals within their territories are respected in relation to jurisdiction. International human right law has also ensured implementation of international covenant on civil and political right. This is in an effort to address human rights violation through abuse of slavery, forced labor and trafficking. International labor standards organization has also established mechanisms of monitoring labor methods that are acceptable across the world. This is by laying effective systems of supervising and reporting any procedure that violate human rights. In addition, international labor organization is also engaged in supervising and investigating states that fail to comply with their obligations of protecting fundamental human rights (Pearson 108). International labor organization is, therefore, essential in ensuring forced labor resulting from slavery has been eliminated. Working groups have also been established to monitor existence of slavery, sex trafficking, sweatshop and debt bondage in different countries across the world. These groups work with large degrees of flexibilities in order to receive information related to slavery, forced labor and servitude. This is in an effort to ensure these practices and manifestation has been abolished across the world (Weissbrodt 57). Conclusion Slavery is the first human right issue that has created international concern. In today’s world, slavery covers variety of human right violations such as sex trafficking, forced labor, sweatshop and debt bondage. Victims of slavery in the modern world are compounded by the fact that slavery victims mainly come from poor families and venerable social groups. This makes slave-like practices to become widespread across the world. This is evidenced from International labor organization report which states that over 100 million children across the world are exploited through forced labor and prostitution. Due to the alarming rate of contemporary slavery practices, governments from various countries all over the world have responded by enacting international law and policies to combat these issues. In addition, international mechanisms have also been enacted to enforce states obligations of abolishing slavery and other practices that diminish human rights. Works cited Bales, Kevin. Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Print. Bales, Kevin. Understanding Global Slavery: A Reader. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005. Print. Pearson, Elaine. "Human traffic, human rights: redefining victim protection." 2002. Web. 18 July 2012 www.antislavery.org/.../hum_traff_hum_rights_redef_vic_protec_fine Weissbrodt, David. "Abolishing Slavery and its Contemporary Forms." 2002. Web. 18 July 2012 www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/slaveryen.pdf Read More