Slavery? In Our World?

According to Free The Slaves there are 27 million slaves in the world today, though there is nowhere in the world today in which slavery is legal. Instead slavery is referred to in a variety of ways: debt bondage, bonded labor, attached labor, restavec, forced labor, indentured servitude, and human trafficking. The US State Department recognizes the reality of worldwide human trafficking and says that there are between 15-20,000 non-US citizens who are being trafficked in the US. Most slaves worldwide are women and children.

But what can an American do about it? Most instances of human trafficking occur in India, east Asia or Africa. How can an average person in the US make a difference? Let me make some suggestions.

First, become aware. A good one-stop resource site can be found at the Not For Sale Campaign. Learn, and then speak out. Express your concerns to your governmental representatives. But in the end, the State Department is already aware of the problem and political forces are already at work to bring pressure on those who deal in human trafficking.

Our other options will challenge our economic interests. One of the reasons there is such a thing as forced labor is because Americans demand everything to be as inexpensive as possible. The Levi’s you wear are likely made in another country by a woman who works 14-16 hour days for wages that even she and her family cannot live on. You see, the US has labor laws that protect people from this sort of thing. A great many other countries around the world do not, and we don’t complain because it benefits our pocketbooks.

But Christians must serve a higher cause than economic prosperity. Some things are more important than saving a few dollars here and there. So pay attention to the things you buy. Is it made in Sri Lanka? Bangladesh? India? China? If it is there is a good chance slave labor (or slave-like labor) helped produce it. Can we knowingly participate in that? Some will object that we really have no choice. But do we understand that that sort of language is the language of slavery? Do we really have no choice? Even in our city of 20,000 there is at least one second-hand store.

Lastly, we must break our own slavery to things. Yes, clothes are a necessity, but clothes are still made by tailors and can still be found from sources other than usual ones. As a parent with small children I’ve become more aware of how much of the stuff that is advertised to them on TV is a) worthless junk, and b) made in some impoverished country so that Americans can happily buy them for next-to-nothing. Perhaps we need to turn our televisions off so that we are not inundated with the constant barrage of advertising that feeds into the problem.

Christmas is coming. What sort of choices will we make in our purchases? My wife and I have committed that we will no longer buy the cheap junk for our kids just because it makes their eyes light up for 30 seconds - only for the thing to be thrown in a corner shortly thereafter. It isn’t worth it either economically for us as a family or conscientiously when we consider who likely made it and at what personal cost. Our Sunday School class at church usually has a dirty Santa gift exchange with a limit of $5 or $10. This year we’ve committed to pool our collective $5-$10 and use it to help either a local ministry, person in need, or some other missions or benevolence cause around the globe.

These things may provide some examples of where we can start. Where will you start?