The Survival of Slavery
“Defeating human traffiking is a great moral calling of our time”
Condoleezza Rice – U.S. Secretary of State
While 2007 marks the 200 year anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain, today slavery has returned. Go behind the façade of any major city in the world and you are likely to find a thriving trade in human beings.
The trade in human beings rivals drug trafficking and the illegal arms trade for the top criminal activity on the planet.
Child slave
Like the slaves who went to the Americas two hundred years ago, today’s slaves are not free to pursue their own destinies. They are bullied to work for the personal gain of those who overpower them. Globally, 27 million individuals live in slavery, forced to do the work of their masters.
According to the Anti-Slavery Society,
"Although there is no longer any state which legally recognizes, or which will enforce, a claim by a person to a right of property over another, the abolition of slavery does not mean that it ceased to exist. There are millions of people throughout the world — mainly children — in conditions of virtual slavery, as well as in various forms of servitude which are in many respects similar to slavery."
It further notes that slavery, particularly child slavery, was on the rise in 2003.
Ten Million Children Exploited for Domestic Labour – this title for a 2004 UN study on the exploitation of children internationally hardly needs explaining. The UN’s survey indicates that children remain in servitude for long stretches of time because no one identifies their enslavement:
“ These youngsters are usually `invisible’ to their communities, toiling away for long hours with little or no pay and regularly deprived of the chance to play or go to school.”
That “invisible” tag often gets attached to descriptions of modern slavery.
In recognition of the fact that human trafficking is on the increase, the Royal Navy fully supports the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea which prohibits the transport of slaves by sea. Working closely with other UK government agencies and international partners, it operates worldwide to give humanitarian aid, deter piracy, intercept illegal narcotics and prevent people trafficking wherever it is encountered.
Further information on the Royal Navy and the Abolition of the Slave Trade www.royal-navy.mod.uk
|
A World of Slavery
Quick Facts
Introduction
Slavery in History
Atlantic Slave Trade
Abolishing the Slave Trade
The Survival of Slavery <<
|
