Modern Day Slavery

Why Businesses use Modern Day Slavery

When we think about slavery,first impact is that this phenomenon has been faded with the revolution the world has gone through but there are still a lot of places who practice it and a lot of people who suffer the effects of it.The relation between the economy and slavery is significant in a lot of aspects but the negative impact is greater,that’s why there is a lot of focus on working against slavery around the world.

What are at least two examples of prejudices, stereotypes, and/or misuses of power evident with the use of MDS by businesses

First stereotype I can think of is the racial stereotype of the blacks as inferior toward the whites.Thinking on economic terms,black slaves play a major role working on the tabacco,rice,cotton,sugar and this work force brings huge profits to the businesses by working hard,in bad conditions and getting payed less.Since white is the dominant race,they easily take advantage of the black people by subjugating them.The inferiority of them is even related to the laws.According to Encyclopedia Britannica,” Laws known as the slave codes regulated the slave system to promote absolute control by the master and complete submission by the slave. Under these laws the slave was chattel—a piece of property and a source of labour that could be bought and sold like an animal. The slave was allowed no stable family life and little privacy. Slaves were prohibited by law from learning to read or write“. “Black men convicted for vagrancy would be used as unpaid laborers, and thus effectively re-enslaved”(VCU Libraries). Even though we can’t assume that slavery is based only on the stereotype of blacks,we can’t deny the fact that it’s a widespread phenomenon,either.

Nowdays is kinda harder to start a slavery because of the development of people’s rights so another example of a misuse of power is descent-based slavery. “Descent-based slavery describes a situation where people are born into slavery because their ancestors were captured into slavery and their families have ‘belonged’ to the slave-owning families ever since. Slave status is passed down the maternal line”( Antislavery Organization).There is more power on people that are born into slavery.The economy profits from this because it doesn’t have to pay for getting the job done.Because of the advantage of this stereotype that allows owners to take childrens,pushes them to the misuse of women and girls in order to expand their labor and profit more.

“The huge stereotype of child slavery counts 10 million children around the world”( Antislavery Organization ).Childrens are obligated to work in bad conditions,exposed to danger,no matter how old they are.Young age is considered to be a good work force,so businesses take advantage to this by paying them low rates for being 2 times more productive than older people.Also,is much easy to enslave them because they tend to obey the rules headed from fear.Let’s suppose a country forbids child slavery.Firstly,families would lose the income generated by slave children.Secondly,the supply of labor would decrease,increasing wages for adults.Finally,the time spent to work would make them stay in school where getting the right education is going to add more skills and open new opportunities on the future by not only creating a wealthy family but helping the economy increase.

Why does MDS exists given the fact it is illegal in most countries

“There are estimated 40.3 million people in modern slavery around the world”( The Global Slavery Index).This number is pretty huge taking in consideration the fact that it is illegal.Thinking in general view,modern day slavery is focused on undeveloped countries where the systems of economy are also related to the power of certain people that control the rest.Most of the slavery in mainly focused in countries that don’t practice democracy. The conflict between people’s rights and existant slavery is what makes it present given the fact that is illegal. In a country that tends to not rely on democracy, gives people limited rights and is based on the power of its most wealthy ones,there is going to be misuse of power toward illegal slavery.The existance of slavery is also related to the isolation of a country or even small parts of it from penetrating the laws or even the penalties against this stereotype.

Corruption is a major problem I would refer as the reason slavery exists even though illegaly.Small countries have the power of control into a lot of the most important institutions by breaking through the government too. In general ,there must be written laws that forbid slavery at any reason,but because of the “benefits” it bring to the economy of these wealthy people,they take advantage of their role by hiding proves but still accomplishing their interests.Also,there must be institutions to report the mistreatement but in a place that is led by corruption and misuse of power, an organization like this would easily be inconsiderable.

Submission is a form of practicing illegal behavior easily.The lack of education is a reason why people feel powerless toward slavery.Being unimformed of the ways you can protect yourself, makes you accept the worst and live with it.Living with fear is what keeps slavery going toward illgegality.Brainwash is the tactic used to these people for indicating the importance of following the rules of the “owner”. Slaves are not conscious of what they are able to do in order to fight slavery so this situation keeps evolving by practicing an illegal and destructive phenomenon.

What are two ways this issue can be lessened or the problem eliminated

“According to a BBC news about slavery,in August 2007 Mauritania’s parliament passed legislation making the practice of slavery punishable by up to 10 years in prison”.So,the most important way to fight slavery is referring to laws.By reinforcing the regulations,bringing the right controls that can measure the presence of slavery in an economy and punish the people who practice it, slaves can get rid of the cruelty.Another action we should take is supporting anti-slavery organizations by being conscious as human beings to help them abandon that kind of life.I thought I knew enough about slavery but on my research I discovered a lot of things starting from the actions they’re obligated to do, what is allowed to them and ending up with the different messages that the ones who escaped,direct to the public for help.

Restavek Freedom gave a good point of stoping slavery by gaining knowledge.I agree that we all should look up informations to get informed in order to understand the importance of stoping it(Restavek Freedom). Also,a good path we are all aware of is the sharing of the enlightening articles and organizations we usually find on our social medias. It is a helpful education of those who may not be aware.We have seen a lot of donations as well as volunteering programs that seek our attention to participate.

Another attitude is the “Shop Informed”.By gaining the knowledge and being fully aware of the necessity of avoiding slavery, there is information available on what brands we spend money at,are doing to fight slavery.There is a website “End Slavery Now” that supports a very good initiative of buying slave free.They even created an app as a shopping guide of brands that are slave-free.This app offers manners of buying fair trade products. By this they mean that everything is made in an ethical way.They also offer direct communication to address the expectations for certain companies to make actions to end slavery.CNN started also a freedom project.”Tweet using the hashtag #myfreedomday to tell us what freedom means to you”.

Definetely,modern day slavery is an old phenomenon that is still present in the world.There are a lot of actions taken to reduce the number of slaves but there is still much to do. If we fight altogether,we can make a change.

Bibliography

1. “7 Ways You Can Stop Slavery.” Restavek Freedom,29 August 2017. https://restavekfreedom.org/ This source is found under Moder Day Slavery Research and it is a great awareness that by giving information about the presence of slavery in the world,asks for attention to help in a lot of ways.They also have done a lot of actions by freeing childrens with their led teams and they have proves to see their impact, on the website.They are also featured on CNN,BBC,npr,The New York Times ect.They have a physical address where they practice their actions and they operate unprofitably.
2. Grochovski,Eliton.”10 Countries Most Affflicted By Modern Slavery.”YouTube,written and narrated by Bryce Plank,3 august 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2FSPdgEguk This video is based on the study of most of the sources I have used further down and they have given a brief view of the situation of modern day slavery which is a good way to get some more informations for this topic. It also gives specific evidence for each country followed by exact examples as a proof of how slavery is developed.
3. “The CNN Freedom Project.”CNN,23 October 2018. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2018/specials/freedom-project/ CNN is the new leader of information delivery with about 4000 proffesionals that using the latest technology bring out the credibility of getting the fastest and realest information.About the freedom project,they have setted up their teams to put in life their freedom project and they have thousand of supporters that are shown on the website.
4. “Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation.”Social Welfare History Project,15 August 2018. https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/civil-war-reconstruction/jim-crow-laws-andracial-segregation/ This website is a great source of historical changes by showing the social reforms that have changed over time.It is launched by John E. Hansan in 2010 in order to help public understanding on different issues we came across.It is also a good source of finding different materials over certain period of time.
5. “Domestic Servitude| Enslavement of Live-in Help.” End Slavery Now,23 October 2018. http://www.endslaverynow.org/learn/slavery-today/domestic-servitude End Slavery Now launched in 2009 by Lauren Taylor in Washington, DC with four features: an action database, an organization directory, learning resources and store. By 2013, the organization outgrew its Washington, DC office, and its leaders knew it was time to find a larger home. That fall, the organization moved to Cincinnati, Ohio – the former gatekeeper to the Underground Railroad – and joined the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Today, End Slavery Now is owned and operated by the Freedom Center as a part of its contemporary antislavery program. End Slavery now still operates three of the original tools (the Action Library, the Antislavery Directory and learning resources) and features many more.This website is found under actions taken to end slavery. End Slavery Now is in partnership with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.It is also a charitable organization that operates in the aim of learning and acting toward this phenomenon.It is supported by Google and The Freedom Fund too (End Slavery Now).
6. “African Americans.” Encyclopedia Britannica,23 August 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American/Slavery-in-the-United-States The Encyclopædia Britannica has been providing reliable and trustworthy information for generations. Over the years its reputation grew as the greatest minds of each generation contributed work to each article.Britannica published its first digital encyclopedia,and it began a journey toward becoming an almost totally digital company. Today this website serves tens of millions of people around the world. They are updated daily (Encyclopedia Britannica).
7. “What is modern slavery?”Anti-Slavery International,23 October 2018. https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/ This organisation is one of the oldest international human rights in the world, funded in 1839.They experience is based on working to eliminate slavery practices in the root causes and consequences of it to achieve change.They also have a transparency on annual reviews ,financial statements and reports.They show a lot of actions they have taken with their partners and the results they have reached by them (Anti Slavery International).
8. “Highlights.”Global Slavery Index,23 October 2018. https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/ The Global Slavery Index provides information by country ranking of the number of people in modern day slavery.Also they analyze the actions the governments are taking as well as the trade flows,forced labour and the factors that make people vulnerable.

Works Cited

1. “Highlights.”Global Slavery Index,23 October 2018. https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/
2. “African Americans.” Encyclopedia Britannica,23 August 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American/Slavery-in-the-United-States
3. “What is modern slavery?”Anti-Slavery International,23 October 2018. https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/
4. “The CNN Freedom Project.”CNN,23 October 2018. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2018/specials/freedom-project/“7 Ways You Can Stop Slavery.” Restavek Freedom,29 August 2017. https://restavekfreedom.org/
5. “Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation.”Social Welfare History Project,15 August 2018. https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/civil-war-reconstruction/jim-crow-laws-andracial-segregation/
6. “Domestic Servitude| Enslavement of Live-in Help.” End Slavery Now,23 October 2018. http://www.endslaverynow.org/learn/slavery-today/domestic-servitude 

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