Many of us believe
that slavery is a thing of the past.
Regrettably, that is not the case.
It is estimated that there are roughly 29.8
million slaves in
the world today (roughly the combined populations of New Zealand and Australia)! The estimated revenue generated by the slave
industry is more than $32
billion per annum!
Most of the clothes
we wear; virtually all computers, cellphones and other technological
gadgets; the coffee we drink; the chocolate we eat (and many
other foods) and numerous other products we use daily, contain components
obtained via slave labour. The copper
used in copper wire is also obtained via slave labour in many countries.
The Global Slavery Index for 2013
(http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/findings/?gclid=CMaPldnOp7oCFfMQtAodc34AHA#overview)
has just been released and the results are shocking and sad, to say the
least. Out of the 162 countries examined,
South Africa is listed 115th,
with an estimated slave population of between 42,000 and 47,000!
Herewith please find
an article, summarising the findings of the GSI:
QUOTE
African
countries top list of worst performers in global slavery index
Mauritania has the highest prevalence of modern slavery
in the world.
(Author’s note: Although slavery was declared
illegal in Mauritania in 1981, it was only criminalised in 2006/7)
Mauritania has the highest prevalence of modern
slavery in the world, according to the inaugural Global Slavery Index, with 14
other African countries also among the 20 worst performers.
The Index, which will be published annually, is
the first of its kind and gives the most accurate and
comprehensive measure of the extent and risk of modern
slavery, country by country, currently available.
Mauritania is ranked worst on the Index, with the
highest estimated proportion of its population enslaved of any country in the
world. The West African country, with its deeply entrenched system of
hereditary slavery, is thought to have an estimated 150,000 slaves in a
population of only 3.8 million. Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia and
Gabon follow Mauritania in the top ten of the Index.
The research, which makes recommendations to policy makers
in Africa and around the world, reveals:
- Extreme poverty, conflict and traditional practices such as child marriage and hereditary slavery are all factors in the high rates of enslavement in many African countries.
- Kenya is host to thousands of displaced people from neighbouring countries including Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia. These migrants, often irregular, can be subjected to slavery like conditions. Also, Kenyans are known to have been exploited in countries overseas.
- In terms of top performers, Mauritius ranks 143 out of 162 on the Index and leads the region in terms of stability and the protection of human and worker rights. South Africa is ranked 115 and is also singled out for praise by the report for its anti-slavery policies.
The Index estimates that over 29 million
people are living in conditions of modern slavery worldwide. Haiti, a
Caribbean nation where child slavery is also widespread, follows Mauritania in
second place on the Index, with Pakistan in third. The report
estimates that almost three quarters of the world’s slaves are in Asia, with
14.7 million in India alone and another 2.9m in China.
“It would be comforting to think that slavery is a relic
of history, but it remains a scar on humanity on every continent. This is the
first slavery index but it can already shape national and global efforts to
root out modern slavery across the world. We now know that just ten countries
are home to over three quarters of those trapped in modern slavery. These
nations must be the focus of global efforts,” said Nick Grono, CEO of
Walk Free Foundation.
“Most governments don’t dig deeply into slavery for a lot
of bad reasons. There are exceptions, but many governments don’t want to know
about people who can’t vote, who are hidden away, and are likely to be illegal
anyway. The laws are in place, but the tools and resources and the political
will are lacking. And since hidden slaves can’t be counted it is easy to
pretend they don’t exist. The Index aims to change that,” said Professor
Kevin Bales, the lead researcher on the Index.
UNQUOTE
If you want to see what impact you personally have on modern
day slavery, why don’t you go and calculate your slavery footprint:
http://slaveryfootprint.org/
Use the blue menu
button on the left of the screen to fine tune your answers. I promise you will be shocked by the results! I thought I was a conscientious user, as I
try to be environmentally friendly and all of that, but it turns out that 63 slaves are involved in manufacturing the
things I buy and take for granted every day!
Please feel free to redistribute this information to raise the
consciousness of people on the scourge of modern slavery.
