It's amazing how much I've heard, listening to people talk about the fight and the struggles against human trafficking and slavery.
Human trafficking and slavery had come into the limelight recently as one of the worst crimes against humanity. Like our environmental issues, human trafficking and slavery is a global issue. Though they exist and happen in many forms, the suffering and trauma brought upon the victims are still the same.
Human trafficking had turned lucrative because of the amount of profit a single human being can bring. While drugs cannot be reused, a human being is 'reusable' as long as they are physically capable. It is deemed as one of the worst crimes in humanity because when a price is placed on a human being, he or she is being objectified. Each of the 12 to 27 million people sold into slavery are uniquely created and made, but their lives destroyed by the atrocities done to them.
Slavery is forcing someone to do something against his or her free will with the purpose of exploitation. The forms of slavery and exploitation exists in sex trafficking, forced labour, child labour and child sex, child soldiers, organ harvesting, etc. These are the very evident forms of violation against basic human rights.
Just when we thought human trafficking and slavery are far from our comfort zones in our first world cities, these unseen atrocities happen right in our backyards. That's where I believe everyone has a responsibility to contribute in their own professions or stage in life to prevent or help victims of human trafficking and slavery.
As a nation, Singaporeans should look beyond their comfort zones and think about how to improve the lives of our SE Asian neighbours and even the foreigners in our midst. Some of them may be exploited right in our country by unethical employers.
As activists struggle to investigate, provide aftercare, work out economical possibilities, raise awareness, numerous problems have surfaced. Common ones include alternative work opportunities for victims after they are rescued and recommending preventive measures to curb the number of people falling into slavery.
One reason why many victims return to their exploiters is the lack of livelihood opportunities for them. Despite their escape to freedom, the road to normality is blocked with shame, prejudice, mental and emotional trauma, amongst other difficulties. It is a shame then that society is not able to provide the support that prevents them from entering the trade again. Countless women in various parts of the world turn back to the illegal brothels because of poverty. Others returned because of heroine addiction where rehabilitation is not provided.
This calls for greater activism within society. Now that the issue of trafficking is out in the open, citizens of the world should do their part instead of allowing themselves to be fueled repeatedly with emotions. Emotions help fuel the drive to act. But without action, the fight doesn't exist.
Although many in the fight to abolish human trafficking and slavery believe that it is possible to eradicate the problem, I believe that as long as sin exist in this world, trafficking will remain. But it does not mean we turn a blind eye to the atrocities. In Nepal and Cambodia, native women like Anuradha Koirala and Somaly Mam are activists. Various men and women risk their lives by placing themselves at the borders of their countries to stop traffickers from smuggling slaves.
Modern slavery has reached a point where it has become more severe than slavery in the past. The irony is that slavery had been abolished by various governments legislating that slavery is illegal. However, today political leaders and authorities still turn a blind eye to the trafficking and slavery in their countries. In Uzbekistan, school is halted for 6 months or more, so that the children can pick cotton. Each child is paid 2 pence per kg of cotton which they painstakingly pick in the sun. In the Ivory Coast, children are smuggled from all over Africa to work as slaves to harvest cocoa. They are either kidnapped or fooled into following their traffickers to the Ivory Coast. In Cambodia where prostitution is prohibited, thousands of women are children are forced into sexual servitude in the sex tourism industry.
An American couple visited India not too long ago. What they thought was going to be a holiday turned into a rescue mission. They came across babies in trash cans and picked them out. They went to a rice mill and came across a pair of siblings who are working as slaves. Immediately, they took the children and left. Both siblings looked out of the car window in wonder. Never in their lives had they seen the world outside of the rice mill. Despite their successful break for freedom, the children looked disheartened. Curious, the couple asked if they were alright, to which the girl replied "what took you so long?"
So what's taking us so long to start thinking about where we can contribute in the fight against human trafficking and slavery. If everyone in this world would do their part, human trafficking and slavery would decrease dramatically.
