Twenty-Seven Million Slaves
Human trafficking, otherwise known as child labor, migrant smuggling, sex worker trafficking, debt bondage, or good old fashioned slavery, adds up to one inescapable reality. An estimated 27 million human beings worldwide today are living lives of exploitation and humanity stripped bare beyond the bone of basic human rights. This is a bigger number than at any point in documented history.
They are objects of ownership, forgotten as children in need of love, nurturing and protection; forgotten as flesh and blood creatures that bruise and bleed and are more than vessels for sex; forgotten as individuals with the desire for purpose and peace and protection from the violence and intimidation they face every day. If they are not a source of revenue for those who own them, they are a useless, expendable tool. The physical pain and the psychological scars that result are indelible. Globally, some 24 percent of victims of human trafficking are children, and 66 percent overall are women. Not surprisingly, 79 percent of the victims are subjected to sexual exploitation.
None of this is acceptable on any level, but it goes on at such staggering levels every day. How? We know that no human being should be the property of another. So how can this be happening? Didn't we learn anything from the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the 400 years of injustice that has followed for its African victims? Why do we need so many dedicated organizations at work every day addressing human trafficking? The world needs to know about the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and their intensive work to begin to understand the scope and patterns involved, including the governmental, criminal and legal ramifications of human trafficking. We need to support NGOs and grass-roots efforts for victim's rights/recovery and global awareness such as Free the Slaves world-wide, Somaly Mam Foundation in Cambodia, and Touch a Life Foundation in Ghana. It is inspiring to see some efforts are founded or shaped by the direct involvement of those formerly enslaved, who are determined to help others suffering the same fate.
While we are getting a handle on how big the issues of human trafficking are from a humanitarian, economic and criminal perspective, we can't escape the truth that this will not go away without addressing the root causes of poverty and ignorance. To heal the wounds inflicted on survivors of human trafficking we can't look away. We have to demand as the human race, at bare minimum, we must make a human being endowed with the inalienable right of dignity so that they cannot be bought or sold.
A few months ago, I was appointed the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Permanent Memorial to Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which will be erected on the grounds of the UN in New York City. It's an honor to be of service in memorializing such a defining chapter in human rights and history. But that's just the thing -- it's a chapter. We've got to be focused on writing the rest of the book and we've got to make sure that humanity does better than allowing the continued slavery of our sisters and brothers who need their race to care.
Follow Russell Simmons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unclerush
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I sincerely believe that religion - patriarchal, misogynistic and untouchable - is the reason why so many can dehumanize another person.
It allows for the rationalization that women and children are somehow inferior to men.
Americans are slaves too. To their employer that pays them a below living wage with 0 benefits to banks, HMOs, Pharmaceutical companies, coal and energy lobby and other big business and special interests. They don't give a damn about the average American.
Americans are slaves too. To their employer that pays them a below living wage with 0 benefits to banks, HMOs, Pharmaceutical companies, coal and energy lobby and other big business and special interests.
Great article...You are hot!
A great article. Thanks sir!
This is an excellent topic...thank you Mr.Simmons.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/131219.html
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/04/04/world/1194839161724/chinas-kidnapped-children.html?th&emc=th
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/06/21/unicef/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/5359477/Children-being-kidnapped-from-Sri-Lanka-refugee-camps.html
http://www.anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/slaverysasia.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0A8T6iOBhM
thank you for bringing this subject out into the open. so many people do not realize how bad the problem is even here in the united states, where as many people are taken into slavery each year as are the victims of murder.
as i am sure you are aware, kevin bales has written some excellent books on the topic, especially one entitled "disposable people."
raising awareness is the best thing that can happen, so that those held in bondage know that they are not forgotten and that there are people working for their release.
as consumers, we can help by checking as far down the supply chains as we can for the retailers we frequent. there are organizations working now to certify products as "slavery free."
every living being deserves the dignity of freedom, safety, respect and compassion. as long as one is in chains, none of us are really free.
thank you again mr. simmons.
Thank you Mr. Simmons. Please continue to speak truth to power and stand for the inalienable God-given rights of all free men and women. The march from slavery to freedom is comparable to marching from darkness into the light. It is a very long road, but it does not need to be a lonely road. Know that there are millions around the world only waiting for someone like yourself to reach out and let them know they are not on the road alone.
Mathew 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
The Word is going out faster than the devil can contain the Truth.
So my post was moderated out?
Because it asked for some honestly when thinking about modern day slavery and trafficking of women?
Because it pointed out the irony of a Hip Hopster campaigning against slavery, when there is so much within the Hip Hop industry that dehumanizes women?
Maybe because you're like the Kanye West of this post...
"Yo Russell, I'ma let you finish but I just wanna say slavery is bad but hip hop is the worst music of all time!"
So you want to put all Hip Hop in one bucket. That is really ignorant of you. You should only the judge an individual.
Read the post. "...much within the Hip Hop industry..." Big difference between that and "all Hip Hop in one bucket."
Thank you for speaking up and out about this horrible travesty; one that goes on every single day all around the world.
Sadly, most of this slavery and trafficking happens on the continent of Africa. Something needs to be done.
Thats a lie. Most human trafficking is occuring in Eastern Europre. Another parrot repeating and spreading lies.
india has the highest number caught up in the slave trade.
but even japan has become notorious for the number of "entertainer" visas they issue each year in order to import girls for the sex trade.
nowhere is immune.
Uh, don't be so quick to defend Africa. I live in Europe. Depending on what country you search, you will see that Nigerians are everpresent in every single country. However, some countries, tend to have preferences for certain people. Italy, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Russia, and many other places is where you will see that the majority of prostitutes are African women. They are smuggled in by Black men, and held in captivity by other black people. I would strongly advise you to take a better look at Africa before you go on the defensive.
try India and east asia as well
This would be a great speech at the "Values Voter Conference" today. But as usual, they will never invite Mr. Simmons too address the crowd. There's just too much truth in it. Alas, a great, gut wrenching article, along with Arianna's piece on the foreclosure crisis increasing the numbers of homeless children in this country.
when I think of the modern world . . .
with it's human slavery, widespread poverty and wars
I am reminded of the saying:
''Those possessing power lack goodwill
and those possessing goodwill lack power''
but it's better to light the candle
than to curse the darkness.
The book "Not For Sale" is a powerful, eye=opening treatise on this subject. What I particularly love about Batstone's approach is that there are certain small actions we can take to help stop it. For example, most of us here wouldn't think of hiring prostitutes or buying child pornography, but do we bat an eye when we buy chocolate. Some estimate that as much as 80% of chocolate is produced by slaves and the majority of those are children. Next time you are at the store, take 2 minutes to talk to the manager about only carrying "Fair trade" chocolate and promise to inform your friends and neighbors. The book is filled with info on little things like that we can do in our complex lives to make a difference on this horrendous issue.
Yeah, that's the problem. We don't know what it is we're buying and more to the point, who we're buying it from. Just like our money has traces of coke on it, it also has traces of blood on it. The blood of the innocent. -----
People call us 'protectionist' and backwards when we speak ill of "globalization" and the neo-liberal/neo conservative/ neo fascist 'new world order' that is following along with it. But look at what they've brought to the table over the past 30 years or so. Bottom line. There’s a right and a wrong way to buy, sell and trade. I would argue that the rise in slavery and the global economic crisis are more than enough proof that we're moving in the wrong direction.
Not just chocolate...high price tennis shoes made in sweat shops as well!
Congratulations on your appointment, Mr. Simmons. Thank you for bringing some light to this shameful situation, which I heard recently is a GROWING problem. In this day and age!! Economic development in poor countries rather than war & occupation would go a long way towards alleviating these conditions.
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