100 Facts
1) There are more people in slavery now than at any other time in human history.
- According to research carried out by the organization Free the Slaves, more people are enslaved worldwide than ever before.
In its 400 years, the transatlantic slave trade is estimated to have shipped up to 12 million Africans to various colonies in the West. Free the Slaves estimates that the number of people in slavery today is at least 27 million.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center suggests that three out of four slavery victims are women and that half of all modern-day slaves are children. ‘Countless other’ people are in other forms of servitude which are not legally classified as slavery, according to the Anti-Slavery Society, described ambiguously by some as ‘unfree labour’.
2) The value of slaves has decreased.
- A slave in 1850 in American South cost the equivalent of approximately $40,000. According to figures published by FST, the cost of a slave today averages around $90, depending on the work they are forced to carry out.
People have become disposable and their living conditions are worse than ever before as a result of their value. Expert Kevin Bales says that because modern slavery is so cheap, it is worse than that of the Atlantic slave trade.
3) Slavery still exists in the US.
Estimates by the US State Department suggest up to 17,500 slaves are brought into the US every year, with 50,000 of those working as prostitutes, farm workers or domestic servants.
According to the CIA, more than 1,000,000 people are enslaved in the US today.
4) Slavery is hidden behind many other names, thus disguising it from society.
These names are chattel slavery (the traditional meaning of slavery), bonded labor, trafficking, forced labor, and forced marriage, amongst others.cases go undetected each year and many are difficult to take to court as it can be difficult to prove force or legal coercion.
5) The least known method of slavery is the most widely used.
Bonded Labor occurs when labor is demanded in order to repay a debt or loan and the cyclical nature of debt and work can enslave the person for the rest of their life. Some conditions are so controlled that slaves are surrounded by armed guards while they work, many of whom are slaves themselves. This has been found in Brazil. It is estimated that there are 20 million bonded labourers in the world.
6) Human trafficking has recently been described as “the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world.”
This shocking claim was made by former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. The UN estimates trafficked human cargo generates around $7 billion dollars a year.
7) Bonded laborers out of slavery could cost as little as $40 per family.
The $40 figure was provided by the Center for Global Education, New York. Kevin Bales compares the total cost of ending all slavery with one’s week’s cost of the war on Iraq.
8) Free the Slaves believe it is possible to end all slavery within 25 years.
Ending slavery won’t be easy, but humanity is up to the challenge.
9) Many slave-produced goods might reach your home without you realizing their origin.
Industries where slave labor is often highly suspected include cocoa, cotton, steel, oriental rugs, diamonds and silk. Currently the only way to ensure the products you buy are slave-free is to buy Fair Trade certified goods.
10) Your actions affect global slavery.
By buying fair trade, learning more about modern slavery, spreading the word, and joining a movement such as Free the Slaves, Anti-Slavery International, or the American Anti-slavery group, you as an individual can help abolish slavery completely.
With the number of slaves rising due to increasing economic returns, a universal lack of awareness and anti-slavery laws not being enforced, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center believes “efforts to combat slavery will have only limited effectiveness” unless something is done on a larger scale.
The bicentennial of the abolition of the slave trade would be better commemorated by every individual taking meaningful action to help end the exploitation of human labor once and for all.
11) modern American society respects the rights of children through various labor laws
12) his cruel and unjust reality can be seen in various industries which produce goods that are sitting on the shelves on many stores across the United States such as the clothing industry
13) innocent children are forced to work in rough conditions and long hours to produce clothing for Gap Kids:
14) The hand-embroidered garment on which his tiny needle is working bears the distinctive logo of international fashion chain Gap
15) There is high evidence of child slavery working at a Gap Kids factory located in New Delhi, India.
16) espite Gap’s efforts in 2004 to abolish all child slave labor producing factories making clothing for their various chains, abusive subcontractors who continue to try and lower their cost of production to meet the strong demands for cheap clothing from the west still use cheap child slave labor
17) the factory in which one child work and many other children work “ is smeared in filth, the corridors flowing with excrement from a flooded toilet ”
18) Working conditions in factories such as this are obviously subservient to the high demand from the west for new, cost-efficient products.
19) It is the duty of the American public in conjuncture with Gap, Inc. to become aware of and subsequently abolish all factories producing goods destined for shelves in Gap’s clothing stores across the United States.
20) The Ivory Coast, located in West Africa is the source of about half of the world’s production of cocoa.
21) the main ingredient in the delectable indulgence loved by many, chocolate.
22) “ The International Labour Organization, part of the UN, estimates 284,000 child laborers work on cocoa farms (in the Ivory Coast) `>>
23) ‘These [children] are either involved in hazardous work, unprotected or unfree, or have been trafficked,’ says the ILO ”
24) The chocolate that we buy in our local stores bearing the names of Nestlé, Mars, and Hershey all import cocoa cultivated in the Ivory Coast
25) Whether or not this cocoa came from an indirect third party, as many of the executives of these companies claim, it is still highly probable that their cocoa is being produced by children slaves in the Ivory Coast.
26) Americans have already responded negatively after learning of the prominent child labor force in the cocoa farming industry.
27) Various lawsuits have been filed against chocolate companies that import their cocoa from the Ivory Coast such as Nestlé.
28) With a workforce of about 284,000 child slaves, many of which were tricked into working on these cocoa farms, the pro-active lawsuits against such companies were much needed
29) A particular lawsuit against Nestlé “claims that the three plaintiffs were taken from their homes at 14, beaten, threatened with torture and forced to work up to 14 hours a day, six days a week, with only meager meals as compensation”
30) The reality of forced child slave labor on the Ivory Coast is an extremely pressing issue in our current society today, especially since over half of the world’s cocoa is produced there.
31) More steps need to be taken; however to ensure the complete abolition of child slavery on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast.
32) More steps need to be taken; however to ensure the complete abolition of child slavery on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast.
33) Today, it is estimated that over seventy-five percent of the world’s toys are produced in China.
34) Key to this thriving under-market is a flagrant disregard for human rights, on the part of the Communist Chinese, who still permit the exploitation of slave labor.
35) U.S. capitalists and consumers as well turn a blind eye to the human suffering and abuse involved in producing the under-market cheap goods flooding the American retail market from China.
36) These slave-produced toys are sold to popular United States companies such as Disney, Mattel, Hasbro, McDonald’s, and Warner Brothers.
37) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) describes the average Chinese toy producer to have an average age between 12 and 15 years, earn between 6 cents and 40 cents an hour, work an average of 19 hours a day during the busier periods of the year for 6 days a week, and are forced to work in unbearable working conditions
38) Although the demand of cheap labor in China is a major stimulus to their economy, the Chinese government has taken action towards breaking up labor rings which mainly utilize the work of forced child slave labor
39) New York Times,” David Barboza reports the efforts of the Chinese government in breaking up “a child labor ring that forced children from modern slavery, inland areas to work in booming coastal cities, acknowledging that severe labor abuses extended into the heart of its export economy”
40) Factories such as this in the town of Dongguan, China – one of the countries largest manufacturing centers for consumer goods around the world – which supply products such as toys and electronics to companies like Wal-Mart have recently been subjects of child slave labor inspections.
41) suppliers will do whatever necessary to provide false information of fair wages and sufficient working conditions in order to avoid being shut down because of infringing on child slave labor laws. (Barboza) From this.
42) It is evident that even stronger labor rules should be enforced by companies that receive products from factories in China and more scrupulous mandatory inspections should be made.
43) The International Labor Organization (ILO) has estimated that of the 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work in developing countries
44) 61 percent are in Asia
45) Although we live in an extremely modern age, there is, in fact, child slave labor present in China
46) Some of these children work in sweatshops
47) A sweatshop is a workplace where workers are subjected to extreme exploitation, including the lack of a living wages or benefits, poor and dangerous working conditions, and harsh and unnecessary discipline, such as verbal and physical abuse.
48) Sweatshop workers are paid less than their daily expenses.
49) Thus they are never able to save any money to invest in their futures.
50) They are trapped in a never-ending cycle.
51) The exact number of child labors working in China is still unknown
52) China's repressive political system does not allow this information acquired directly from China
53) There are no Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in this area
54) ...and foreign NGOs do not have access
55) herefore, it is impossible to judge how strictly the Chinese Government enforces child labor laws or to determine the efforts of non-governmental organizations to address child labor in China
56) Most China-watchers conclude that child labor is increasing
57) ...particularly in areas around Hong Kong
58) This deduction is based on a high dropout rate from school and the hasty expansion of foreign investment in export-oriented enterprises.
59) There is indeed increasing evidence that school children are part of the required workforce.
60) An official from the Chinese Ministry of Labor confessed that the employment of children was extremely serious in China.
61) Although no specific Chinese industry is identifiable as a significant violator of child labor regulations, they involve a range of export industries including garments and textiles, fireworks, and toys.
62) The Chinese Ministry of Labor admitted that the child labor situation was very serious throughout the country
63) It stated that exploiting child laborers has become a common occurrence
64) In some coastal areas and particular economic zones, such as Fujian and Guangdong, as well as Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Hubei,
65) here are reported to be approximately four to five million-child laborers under the age of 16.
66) Child laborers under 12 years of age are also found in Whenzhou and in some areas of Guangdong and Hainan.
67) The children usually work 10 to 14 hours a day with half the wages of an adult.
68) Much of the proof that child labor exists in China is taken from data from the large economic zone of Shenzhen:
69) Children between the ages of 10 to 16 are working up to 14 hours a day in factories in Shenzhen
70) It was also recorded that girls work in awful conditions for 13 to 14 hours a day from 7 a.m.- 10 p.m. with two one-hour breaks
71) The China Youth News said that 44 of the 206 foreign-owned companies or joint ventures in Shenzhen employ children less than 16 years of age
72) The United States imports of pyrotechnics and explosives from China is approaching $1 billion.
73) Children are working in the fireworks industry
74) A recent report described an explosion at a fireworks factory in Hebei that killed one child and injured 34 schoolgirls ranging from 11 to 13 years of age.
75) Investigators found that the school children had been forced by their teachers to work for slave wages making firecrackers
76) The children were promised 20 fen, 2 cents, for making one long braid of firecrackers, but in reality were paid three fen, 0.3 cents.
77) In March 2001, 42 people, most of them third and fourth-graders, were killed in an explosion at a school.
78) The school blow up because the Chinese use young students to make fireworks in order to keep the price lower than their competitors.
79) The younger students are required to assemble at least 1,000 fireworks a day while the older children, fifth-graders, are required to make ten times that many
80) Newspaper and journal reports indicate that children are also working in the garment and textile industries of China
81) Imports of apparel and textiles from China to the U.S. market are reaching beyond $4.5 billion each year.
82) It was reported that China's number one textile firm at Qingpu employs children aged 12 to 15 years old that recruited were from the neighboring province of Anhui
83) n Chungsan City, a foreign textile enterprise employed about 160 child laborers and a 14 year old was killed after her hair became tangled in her machine.
84) ournalists also found 12 year-old children sleeping two to three in a bed in dorms and working 15 hours a day for $10 per month
85) The International Child Labor Study staff also received numerous claims of the use of child labor in toy, sporting equipment, and game factories
86) The United States imports approximately $4 billion worth of toys, games, and sporting goods from China every year.
87) A Business Week article reported that, in order to meet the holiday demand for toys
88) Girls at a plant were ordered to work one or two 24-hour shifts each month
89) The average North American toy maker earns $11 an hour.
90) In China, toy workers earn an average of 30 cents an hour.
91) The enforcement of child labor laws is sometimes made difficult by counterfeit identification cards.
92) Southeastern China workers reported the use of counterfeit IDs is fairly common.
93) Some workers admitted that they were three or four years younger than the 16 years certified on their ID cards.
94) The International Labor Organization reports that compulsory education in China is required up to age 16.
95) ...Yet children are reported to be dropping out of school at increasing rates
96) According to the U.S. State Department, Chinese press reports indicate that dropout rates for lower secondary schools (ages 12 to 15) exceed nine percent in several southern provinces, whereas the national average is 2.2 percent
97) An increasing group of children leaving school below the legal work age suggests the possibility of a growing child labor problem
98) Slave labor exists in our world today.
99) It is not some far off problem that the people of America can do nothing about. Americans must education themselves on the issue and learn how to make a difference.
100) These children are in need of help!
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