AFPThis Afghan girl, Asho, has been married off to a 23-year-old man to whom Asho’s family is in debt.
The Netherlands abolished slavery 150 years ago. What many people don’t know is that slavery in new forms still exists all over the world. News hour traveled the world to give victims of modern slavery a face. Because how is it possible that this practice is still alive and kicking?
Today, an estimated 50 million people worldwide are victims of modern forms of slavery. Modern slavery does not have a clear definition, but what international organizations agree on is that there must in any case be coercion and exploitation – in whatever form.
Kevin Bales is Professor of Modern Slavery at the University of Nottingham. He explains that once a human being treats another human being as his or her property, and the victim cannot escape that situation, it is modern day slavery. “This definition makes it a lot easier to understand all the different types and flavors of slavery that are happening around the world.”
Among other things, labor exploitation, sexual exploitation and forced marriages can fall under modern slavery. Other examples are human trafficking and domestic slavery. Forced labor and forced marriages in particular have increased sharply in recent years, according to research by the International Labor Organisation, the International Organization for Migration and human rights organization Walk Free.
From legal to illegal
Modern slavery differs from “traditional slavery” in several ways, such as the transatlantic slave trade. The main difference, according to Bales, is that slavery was legal then, or tolerated, and not now. “It doesn’t happen openly anymore, like it used to. It’s very difficult to determine how many people are entangled in slavery.”
Another important difference is that enslavement used to be an expensive purchase. Bales: “In 1850, a 19-year-old African man cost 50,000 dollars in today’s currency value. With the population explosion that followed and because slavery has disappeared into crime, the price of a human life has completely collapsed. That young man would now only cost $1150, or sometimes nothing.”
New forms of slavery exist all over the world. Nieuwsuur spoke with victims in Ecuador, Lebanon and in the Netherlands, among others:
Today’s enslaved tell their story
‘serious and stubborn’
The UN calls modern slavery a “serious and persistent problem” and therefore appointed a special rapporteur on modern slavery in 2020, Tomoyo Obakata. He docks News hour explains why his position is needed: “Contemporary forms of slavery exist around the world and every country is affected in some way. I have been appointed to investigate, report on and report on reports of slavery. map the problem.”
Obakata says he is very concerned about the high number of people living in modern slavery and even suspects that this is the tip of the iceberg. “I think there are many more victims hidden behind that number of 50 million. This raises the question of whether governments are doing enough to stop these practices. In my view, that is not the case.”
Deadlines
In 2015, the UN established that all forms of slavery must be eradicated by 2030. For child labor the deadline is 2025. “I don’t think we’re going to make it.”
Obakata thinks there is still a lot to be gained in raising awareness among the general public. “Politicians are aware of it because they are making laws to solve this problem. But if you talk about labor inspectors and police officers for example, I’m not sure if this is on their radar. More training and an expansion of enforcement would be a should be a priority for all countries, including the Netherlands.”
2023-08-15 18:30:01
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