“We worked day and night. We hardly got time to rest. We worked hard to earn peanuts and our treatment was worsening day by day. Every night we were raped by the owner’s husband and he threw us a thrash. It was a jail for women like me, where we work, and we work all day like a machine” voice of Laboni, living in Nepal currently.
She is talking about her slavery period when she moved to Virginia with hopes to find a job and help her family. She was a part of modern slavery and escaped from their house when the owner’s house was burnt to ashes. She still has burn marks on her hands and feet, a reminder of her haunting past.
Let’s read through more about modern slavery:
Modern Slavery- A Modern Method Of Humiliating Women
Modern Slavery is an international crime, affecting millions of people around the globe. It is a growing global issue that surpasses age, gender, and ethnicity. It is so unfortunate for people, especially women to be forced to work illegally against their own will across different sectors like agriculture, construction, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, and many more other departments.
Contemporary slavery or neo-slavery are some of the common names referred to Modern Slavery, which continues to occur even in the present day light. As per the reports recorded in Wikipedia, the estimated number of enslaved people today ranges from around 38 million to 49.6 million, depending upon the method of slavery used. It is very difficult to narrow down statistics because of less awareness about slavery and identity.
As per the reports received, one of every 130 females globally survives modern slavery. However, around 71% of female victims are trapped and strangled by this contemporary style of slavery.
Here goes the statistics:
People across the globe live in Modern slavery who are majorly women and children: 49.6 million People in forced labor and forced marriage.
22 million people are in forced marriages. Among them, every other person is female child. Of the 27.6 million people trapped in forced labor, 17.3 million are in forced labor exploitation in the private economy, 6.3 million are in commercial sexual exploitation, and nearly 4 million are in forced labor imposed by state authorities.
Recognize the victim:
Here are some of the important signs to recognize a potential victim:
- Malnourished and tired all the time
- Language skills are poor if they are from overseas.
- Unsuitable clothes for work or weather.
- Reluctant to interact with others. Fear of being questioned and thrashed later.
- Avoids eye contact.
- Working for long hours with no/fewer days off
- Anxious and fearful all the time
- Untreated injuries
- Others answer on their behalf
Some of the other reasons you need to look for are:
- Appearance looks scruffy and unwashed clothes on
- No personal possessions on them
- Picked and dropped at unsociable hours
- Home or work address is unknown to them.
- Less/ no contact with the family
- Money never reaches their hands despite working for hours together
- ID proofs and passports are not in their possession.
- People perceive that they are in debt and that’s why they are here.
- Female victims are underage pregnant.
- Repetitive talking as if someone taught them word to word.
Types Of Slavery Today:
In today’s modern world, slavery has taken its new version. Here are some of the most common forms. Read through to find out:
Human Trafficking:
This is one of the most popular types of humiliation. This type of violence includes threats, forceful transport, and harboring people to exploit them for some the purposes like:
- Forced Prostitution
- Labor
- Criminality
- Forced Marriage
- Organ removal
Forced Labour:
When people are forced to work or provide services against their own will, usually under a threat of punishment can be categorized as forced labour. Migrants are the target for forced labour as they need work and in need of money.
Bonded Labourer:
This is another type of widespread slavery across the globe. People are trapped in poverty, and they borrow some money to make ends meet and they are forced to pay off their debts by losing control over their employment and debts. Females are bonded with slavery if their husbands die or are killed.
Descent-Based Slavery:
This category belongs to people who are born into slavery. A very old form of slavery, where people are treated as their property, and the slave status is passed down the maternal line.
Children Slavery:
Young, growing kids are sold away by their parents for some extra cash, or are kidnapped from the road and are involved in some of these slavery acts. This includes child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage, and child domestic slavery.
Forced And Early Marriages:
This type of slavery happens with young, underage women who are married off to older men against their own will. They cannot leave the marriage and cannot escape. Such marriages also include child marriage, which is one of the common forms of slavery.
Domestic Servitude:
Domestic helpers and servitudes are not under the category of slaves if they are properly regulated with work and salary. This can be their main source of income if working for resourceful families. However, this is another paving way for slavery as the person can be exposed to abuses, exploitation, and fear of being tortured if they complain, dependency on money and lack of knowledge about legal procedures can be some reasons for slavery to rise in some countries.
Why Are People Trapped In Slavery Today?
This is one of the questions that is frequently asked. Why? People are trapped in slavery with the intention, to trick and exploit people under them, showing and proving to others their power. This can also be a result of poverty and exclusion. Another reason is the law is not dutifully protecting them from being exploited.
People, particularly females are exposed to modern slavery when the external circumstances are such that they are forced to take up risky decisions, take up opportunities to support their families, or they are pushed into activities and jobs that are exploitative.
Situations can also be included as being in debt, or not having access to their passports. Physically tortured and fear of being exposed through the internet. Some of the reasons can also include crises like the Covid-19 pandemic and global warming where people are forced to move out of their locations and shift to a new place.
Where Do We Find Slavery?
Slavery is surrounded us, everywhere.People across the globe are pushed into the river of slavery. Millions of Females and children are exposed more than men in every corner of the world. We may not be able to view or witness but it is spreading like wildfire. Although people presume the issue affects only distant countries, that’s not true. The International Labour Organisation estimates that 3.6 million victims of slavery have been living in Europe since 2016. However, the lot had few survivors who overcame the social stigma of being called “A Slave”.
Every community has modern slaves present, and so the fruits of their labor: from seafood delicacies caught by indentured fishermen to car washing by migrants; from children are made to beg on the streets to women suffering sexual exploitation, deemed to be underpaid employees.
From Glasgow to London, from Paris to Warsaw, to Moscow, to Dubai, to Hong Kong, to Los Angeles, to India – no city, no country is slavery-free.
However, to save our women from heinous acts of exploitation, the I’m Safe app is here to save women and their league from being harassed, exploit, or abused in any way. If you hold a smartphone in hand, you can save yourself from mental trauma, and earn peace and happiness in one go. All you need to do is Install our app- I’m Safe. We have features like SOS, Fake Call, and Track Me. There is also a helpline icon on the right side, which has all the important numbers at your fingertips.
You are never alone. Slavery may have taken many years of your good life, but it’s time to stand up for yourself because you are stronger than you think and smarter than you believe. Let’s end Modern Slavery with modern techniques.
