A few days ago my friend, Janine, sent me the post below.
The Dark Side of Chocolate: What You Need to Know Before Buying Your Kids Halloween Candy This Year
A link to this post: Chocolate and Child Slavery is embedded in it.
Modern slavery. . .
The Global Slavery Index provides research for Alliance 8.7 — Global Estimates of Modern Slavery & Child Labour explaining “on any given day in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people were victims of modern slavery. Of these people, 24.9 million were in forced labour and 15.4 million were in forced marriage.
Here is more:
“There are more females (71%) than males (29%) in modern slavery.
“One in four victims of modern slavery are children.
“At any given time, some 16 million people around the world are victims of forced labour exploitation in the private sector (not including sexual exploitation). On average, they are held 20.5 months before escaping or being freed.
“At any given time in 2016, 4.8 million people are victims of forced sexual exploitation. On average, they are held for 23.4 months in their situation before escaping or being freed. The vast majority are women and girls. Children represent more than 20% of the victims.
“At any given time in 2016, 4.1 million people around the world are victims of forced labour imposed by state authorities. Some work for years, while many work for only a few weeks.
“At any given time in 2016, there are 15.4 million people living in a forced marriage. While men and boys are among the victims, most are women and girls (84%). An estimated 37% of victims living in a forced marriage were children at the time of the marriage. Amongst the child victims, 44% were forced to marry before the age of 15. The youngest victim in the sample was 9 when she was forced to marry.
“The rate of modern slavery is highest in Africa, with 7.6 victims for every 1,000 people in the region.
“Where victims of forced labour have migrated, most are exploited in a country in the same income-based regional grouping as their home country. But a larger proportion of victims from lower-middle-income regions are exploited in higher-income regions.
“This information is based directly on the report, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage that was developed by the International Labour Organization and Walk Free Foundation in partnership with the International Organization for Migration.”
Walk Free Foundation has information for us on their Understanding Modern Slavery page:
“Slavery has existed in different forms since ancient times. Despite being outlawed in most countries and the abolitionist movement in the 1800s, the crime persists in ways more pervasive and complex than ever.
“Modern slavery refers to situations where one person has taken away another person’s freedom – their freedom to control their body, their freedom to choose to refuse certain work or to stop working – so that they can be exploited. Freedom is taken away by threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power and deception.
“Modern slavery is a plain English term. It is not a legal definition.
“Different countries use different legal terminologies, but “modern slavery” includes the crimes of human trafficking, slavery and slavery like practices such as servitude, forced labour, forced or servile marriage, the sale and exploitation of children, and debt bondage.”
Why Should We Care?
“Globalization has brought tangible benefits and positive changes to many across the world. Technological advances have connected the world unlike any other time in history. Consumers are also more socially aware. And still, slavery continues to persist.
“Modern slavery is hidden within the depths of criminal networks, trafficking people for exploitation, and occurs where legitimate industries meet informal economies. Modern slavery comes at a serious cost. Modern slavery suppresses the economy and reduces sustainable development.
An Invocation
I invoke Sanat Kumara
and the Universal Law of Elimination
for the elimination of slavery on Gaia.