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TechnoratiChildren in the US grow up hearing about the slavery that plagued America from its founding until the Civil War. The death blow was struck by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which proclaimed that "all persons held as slaves" in the rebel states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." This proclamation sounded the beginning of the end for slavery in the United States. Or did it?
Unfortunately, slavery is still a widespread practice all over the world, including the US. The Civil War may have removed the public sanction of slavery, but it is still a common underground practice. Journalist Benjamin Skinner undertook four years of undercover investigation into "human trafficking" (a euphemism for slavery) in order to increase awareness of this international injustice. His research and experiences are chronicled in his recent book, "A Crime So Monstrous." Skinner posed as a customer at underground brothels in several countries in order to get a better picture of the realities of the slave trade. He was exposed to many heart-wrenching human abuses, including being offered a young woman with Down syndrome for a used car.
Skinner's interview with Salon magazine provides a disturbing look at a widespread practice of which most Americans are unaware. Skinner explains that, "'There are more slaves today than at any point in human history.'" Indeed, according to the recently released Department of State's "Trafficking In Persons Report", the International Labor Organization (a UN agency) "Estimates that there are 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude at any given time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million."
These numbers are not confined to third world countries. The same Department of State report estimates that 800,000 persons are trafficked in the United States every year. Of these, 80% are female, and over 50% are minors. A CIA report indicates that 45,000-50,000 of the trafficked women and children were brought into the US under false pretenses and pushed into prostitution or forced labor. The worldwide circumstances of slavery vary widely. Many of the slaves in the United States are "employed" in brothels, striving to repay a debt to those who brought them into the country—a debt with terms that can never be fulfilled. In other countries indentured servitude is common—men, women, and children strive for many years, even lifetimes, to work off the "terms" of a small debt incurred by their parents or grandparents.
These numbers are sickening and hard to grasp, but more disturbing are the failures of the justice system to stop this profitable "industry". In 2000, only 76 cases of slavery were prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice, and there is not a single shelter for trafficked persons in the United States. While the US has taken some steps in the right direction, according to Skinner the U.N. has remained "tepid and afraid of offending member states." In 1999, the U.N decided to forego the term "slavery" in favor of "intertribal abductions" in order to be more diplomatic.
This weak response to slavery is outrageous. The modern slave trade has become a $9 billion industry, and human beings are traded for as little as $1000 or a used car. Not only is the justice system failing, but so are churches, private charities, and individuals. Most are not even aware of this plague of injustice, and very few are taking action to stop the trade or help the slaves. Continue »
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