From the "sobering and upsetting" file: there's a new book out by investigative reporter Benjamin Skinner that lays out the horrifying prevalence of human slavery today. (In addition to the NPR story, read the excellent reaction and further commentary at On the Square.)
The book (a short excerpt of which you can read at the NPR link above) sets out to smash any lingering hope you might have that slavery is a thing of the past. Skinner didn't just compile other people's research, either; he marched right into the pit of modern-day slavery to find out how widespread the problem really is:
Southeast of Port-au-Prince, Skinner quickly finds a slave broker, and in this “banal” conversation—he told NPR it was “as if I was negotiating on the street for a used stereo”—Skinner asks for a nine- to twelve-year-old to cook and clean for him.
[He proceeds to negotiate the price down to $50.] “Here, 600 miles from the United States, and five hours from the desk of the UN Secretary-General,” summarizes Skinner, “you have successfully bargained a human being down to the price of the cab fare to JFK.” Benavil even offered fake adoption papers to transport the girl to the United States. This took place not in the remote past but in October 2005.
The On the Square post also talks at length about what Skinner learned of the state of prostitution around the world. I doubt most of you have any sort of romantic Pretty Woman ideas about prostitution, but if you do, Skinner's findings dash those as well. Surprise, prostitution in most of the world is pretty much the same thing as slavery:
A majority of the prostitutes in a 2003 study had severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Most were clinically depressed. As John Miller often pointed out, 90 percent wanted to leave prostitution. And among trafficking victims, 95 percent of whom were physically or sexually abused, the situation was even graver.
The United States is not free of the problem, as was lately shown in the case of 52 Indian workers forced to live and work at an Oklahoma factory in conditions you could reasonably call slavery.
A bit of googling turned up an extensive list of organizations that are fighting slavery, sex trafficking, and related abuses. It's good to know that there are people and organizations fighting modern-day slavery, and that Christians are actively involved in the pursuit of justice. But even so... come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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Comments (9)
p.s. NPR rocks!
We should personally go find that broker and do whatever is necessary to put him out of business.
We should insist that candidates for federal office commit to employing the resources of our government to suppress the slave trade.
(We should also keep in mind that there is a significant moral difference between slavery being legally accepted, and endorsed from thousands of pulpits as Biblically acceptable, on the one hand, and existing as an illegal traffic in areas of extreme poverty or where there is little if any law operating. Both evil, but not the same.)
Every day that a woman in the U.S. is free and legally protected by our Constitution, this kind of slavery is denied worldwide. That is one of the reasons our nation is called the "Great Satan" - we let women act as independent creatures who are as valuable as men, and there are cultures that despise us for doing this. Especially in the Islamic ruled and highly tribalized nations of this earth, women are divorced or mutilated or raped at whim of their men and become sexual "lepers." These sexually "unacceptable" women are then forced into prostitution - their only option - by these societies that deem them less worthy than men. Remember these countries (the men, women and children of them) in your prayers, for Christ came to set the captives free.
If any man or woman out there views pornography - you are endorsing & taking part in the slave trafficking of women, men, and children; and you are destroying thousands, perhaps millions, of lives - including your own.
So, one thing all people, but especially Americans, can do to help end human slavery is to stop viewing pornography, whether online or on paper or in movies (a man I was close enough to discuss the issue with once told me that looking at Playboy magazine was okay, because "the women really love being sexual objects, I can tell by their pictures"). Do not use prostitutes (another man told me that, during his stint in the military, he was doing Filipino prostitutes a favor by using them, since he was "helping them out financially"...
Quit justifying the unjustifiable and battle for the oppressed in your own lives.
Thank you for your post, and thank you for including my list of anti-trafficking organizations, I hope the readers find the list very helpful. Please also see my various posts on modern slavery and anti-trafficking as well as my other resources on the subject, such as books and films all of which can be found on the FPA Children's blog at http://children.foreignpolicyb... On the site you can even find a review of Ben Skinner and Kevin Bales books.
If anyone is interested to learn more please also see www.stopmodernslavery.org which is a DC based community group dedicated to the abolishment of slavery. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance on this issue.
Best
Cassandra