Originally published in March 2007
Several British newspapers picked up the story and the Commission for Racial Equality was "keeping shipwrecked under review." Lucy's own parents issued a statement to "Wholeheartedly apologise," for her remarks.
But as admirable the public outcry at such an outrageous statement is it has missed a vital point in the story. It is actually impossible to bring back slavery. There is a large amount of legislation across the international community and many UN conventions dealing with slavery in all its forms: but they're not what make it impossible to bring slavery back. It's impossible to bring slavery back because it's never gone away.
Although the slave trade was abolished 200 years ago people trafficking still continues. Somewhere around a million people are trafficked every year. 80% are women and girls, 50% are minors. Trafficking being illegal these people end up being sold into illegal industries; prostitution, forced labour, forced marriage or adoption, forced military service being some examples
But the main form of modern slavery is Bonded Slavery. This is where a person is tricked into taking out a loan when their only collateral is their labour. They are then forced to work until they pay the debt off, but the terms of repayment are harsh and the work is tough and often the debt is never repaid. Sometimes the debt is transferable down subsequent generations condemning children and grandchildren into a life of bonded slavery. It is reckoned that this form of slavery affects about 20 million people internationally.
Anti-slavery organisations reckon that there are around 27 million people in slavery around the world today. That's more than there was 200 years ago. At the height of the legal slave trade an average slave in the American South would have cost $40,000 in modern money; today a slave costs an average of just $90.
But how can this happen in the 21st Century? Why is this being allowed to continue? Firstly, because it's illegal. Long gone are the days when you could just turn up at Liverpool docks with a boat full of people in chains and manacles without attracting the attention of customs and excise. Likewise you can't set up a stall on Altrincham market (somewhere between the fishmongers and the watch battery stall) and sell children. Because buying and selling of people is illegal it has to happen secretively and the trade has been taken over by the criminal underworld. People trafficking is the most visible form of slavery – and that goes on largely un-noticed. Forced marriages & adoptions are difficult to prove, most slaves have been taken from the poorest strata of societies; some have been abducted but some sold by their families, some are runaways or street children, some families are tricked into giving children away. A large proportion of slaves are people that no one will miss, so who's going to raise the alarm?
Secondly you and I support slavery. Through a long complex history of economics and cultural development we have arrived at a situation where the western way of life depends on slavery. Very briefly we in the west demand lots of cheap goods from all over the world. Producers in the poorest countries of the world need to be able to compete with commodity prices set by the highly subsidised western industries and in order to be able to do this they need to cut labour costs as much as possible. Using slave labour is often the solution they employ.
200 years ago the Christian Church was at the forefront of the movement to abolish the slave trade. It's time we picked up the baton and fought for the rights of all those still held in the bondage of slavery. Our faith calls on us to be champions of the oppressed and to stand up against injustice. We need to be aware of what we buy and the effects it has on those who made it. Rather than not buying products we should try to ensure that they have been ethically produced. There are several schemes in place through different industries that give us that guarantee. We have to be prepared to pay slightly more for the goods we buy so that others don't have to pay a higher price for our comfort.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of my brothers you did for me."
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