The issue
In today’s society, every country has enacted laws officially abolishing slavery. Minimum working conditions have been established, as have complex laws on the migration and movement of individuals across international borders. Yet despite this, Slavery is still far from being an issue of the past. The international Labour Organisation estimates that at least 12.3 million adults and children are in forced or bonded labour or commercial sexual servitude at any given time. Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery and is the second largest criminal industry in the world after drug trade and tired second with arms trade. However according to some researchers and non-government organisations, as many as 27 million people may currently enslaved around the world.
Facts
1. Globally, the average cost of a slave is $90.
2. Trafficking primarily involves exploitation which comes in many forms, including:
3. According to some estimates, approximately 95% of Human trafficking victims experiencing physical or sexual violence during trafficking. 4. There are approximately 25 to 30 million slaves in the world today. |
5. According to the U.S. State Department, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. More than 70 percent are female and half are children.
6. The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14-year-old. Many victims are runaway girls who were sexually abused as children. 7. Human trafficking is the second largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and tied second with arms trafficking).
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Nature of the Issue
The International contemporary human rights issue of Human Trafficking and slavery involves illicit activity, accurate statistics describing the extent of the problem are difficult to obtain. And it can be difficult to recognise some activates as slavery. Contemporary slavery can take a number of forms. The main categories include:
Many victims of slavery are often forced into slavery by human trafficking, which is the commercial trade or trafficking in human beings for the purpose of some sort of slavery, usually involving recruiting, transporting or obtaining a person by force, coercion or deceptive means.
All businesses have supply chains. Many businesses work to provide the products that we use on a daily basis, however it is important to know where raw materials to make these products are coming from, or who is assembling these products before their final stages. The lack of transparency allows for unregulated production and many times unsafe or illegal practices in the workplace, including modern day slavery. Vulnerable people and communities are targeted by recruiters and traffickers and through deception, fraud and coercion are brought into slavery. It is important to consider the supply chains of certain businesses and how certain businesses that supply consumers with products may be using slaves to provide products for every day consumers.
- Forced labour, which is work performed under the threat of a penalty or harm and which the person has not voluntarily submitted to. The ILO estimate that at least 12.3 million people in the world are subjected to forced labour.
- Debt bondage is a situation where a person is forced to repay a loan with labour instead of money, where the proper value of the labour is not applied towards repayment, and/or the type or duration of services is not properly limited.
- Sexual slavery, involves the repeated violation or sexual abuse or forcing of a victim to provide sexual services; it often takes the form of forced prostitution or forced labour where sexual abuse is also common.
Many victims of slavery are often forced into slavery by human trafficking, which is the commercial trade or trafficking in human beings for the purpose of some sort of slavery, usually involving recruiting, transporting or obtaining a person by force, coercion or deceptive means.
All businesses have supply chains. Many businesses work to provide the products that we use on a daily basis, however it is important to know where raw materials to make these products are coming from, or who is assembling these products before their final stages. The lack of transparency allows for unregulated production and many times unsafe or illegal practices in the workplace, including modern day slavery. Vulnerable people and communities are targeted by recruiters and traffickers and through deception, fraud and coercion are brought into slavery. It is important to consider the supply chains of certain businesses and how certain businesses that supply consumers with products may be using slaves to provide products for every day consumers.
Human Trafficking Awareness Day: How Many Modern Day Slaves are Supporting You?
The United Methodist Women in August 2009 launched the Human trafficking Team training program through the Office of policy in Washington, DC. The program was a train the trainer opportunity in which nearly 11,000 people have been made aware of the existence of human trafficking through resource distribution and education. The team has 21 members, who each have developed an action plan to raise human trafficking awareness at the community, conference, state and national levels. Human trafficking awareness day promotes individuals to take actions to investigate how many slaves are providing some kind of service for the individual, and to request from supplier’s slavery-free products, and to be involved with freedom projects that reduce the numbers of slaves as well as exploit Human trafficking organisations. The United Methodist Women claim “On this Human Trafficking Awareness Day, let’s all focus on ourselves as ‘traffickers’ and take action to end modern-day slavery”. This helping to prevent modern day slavery by requesting that businesses that provide consumers with products, do not incorporate slavery in their business operations.
The United Methodist Women in August 2009 launched the Human trafficking Team training program through the Office of policy in Washington, DC. The program was a train the trainer opportunity in which nearly 11,000 people have been made aware of the existence of human trafficking through resource distribution and education. The team has 21 members, who each have developed an action plan to raise human trafficking awareness at the community, conference, state and national levels. Human trafficking awareness day promotes individuals to take actions to investigate how many slaves are providing some kind of service for the individual, and to request from supplier’s slavery-free products, and to be involved with freedom projects that reduce the numbers of slaves as well as exploit Human trafficking organisations. The United Methodist Women claim “On this Human Trafficking Awareness Day, let’s all focus on ourselves as ‘traffickers’ and take action to end modern-day slavery”. This helping to prevent modern day slavery by requesting that businesses that provide consumers with products, do not incorporate slavery in their business operations.
Luke Clark Year 12