#MyFreedomDay 2018: Ending Modern-Day Slavery is Our Collective Responsibility

On the 14^th day of March, the Cable News Network also known as CNN observed #MyFreedomDay to remind the world about the global challenge of human trafficking and modern day slavery and why we should all get involved in the fight against human trafficking, its various forms and its attendant implications.

Tony Maddox, EVP and Managing Director of CNN International said, “The Freedom Project has gathered momentum every year since its inception, making a clear and demonstrable impact on modern day slavery. Last year’s inaugural #MyFreedomDay took it a step further, harnessing the determination of young people around the world to put an end to slavery once and for all. But as CNN’s reporting on slave auctions in Libya in recent months showed, we still have much to do. This year’s #MyFreedomDay will help maintain that momentum, and push this issue to the top of the agenda.”

Interestingly, around this same time last year, I posted an article on my blog with a similar topic. The article, titled; HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND ITS CONSEQUENCES: MY WORLD, MY WAY brought the issue of human trafficking and other types of cross-border human exploitation to different perspectives. Excerpts from the article; "On Tuesday, 14^th March, 2017, CNN observed the #MyFreedomDay campaign which was a global outreach to remind the world about the threats Modern Slavery presents to our collective existent on the planet - Earth. The day was set aside to remind everyone of us about the dangers and damages caused by Human Trafficking and forced labour the world over. According to Freedom United (a global NGO that deals with trans-border human trafficking and slavery), an estimated 45.8 million people are currently in slavery worldwide. In every country around the world, people are exploited against their will, controlled by threats, debt, and violence and so on. We may call it by many names, but it amounts to the same thing: Modern Slavery. It is illegal everywhere, but it continues to thrive because so many of us do not understand it, do not want to think about it or/and do not know how to change it." To read the full length of the article, please click here.

Unfortunately, a significant number of people believe that slavery ended in 1863, when in fact, modern slavery exists in every corner of the globe. Not just in remote parts of Southeast Asia, but in your hometown, in your backyard.  In America, there are 60,000 men, women and children enslaved at this very moment. Globally, human trafficking is the second largest and fastest-growing organized crime in the world. There are an estimated 21 million people enslaved today, 4.5 million of which are in the sex industry. Estimates for revenues in all forms of exploitation and slavery total upwards of USD32 billion a year, and profits from sex slavery amount to nearly USD10 billion. (Culled From: How to End Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking - Somaly Mam)

Previously, we addressed the definition of human trafficking, human trafficking and other forms of Human rights violations, the United Nations efforts and achievements. The call to action also served as a wake-up call to everyone of us to ensure that we contribute our individual efforts to end all forms of modern-day slavery in the previous article I wrote which was inspired by the first #MyFreedomDay campaign of  CNN. This write-up is an update version.

In consequence, we will identify situations that provide a serene atmosphere for human trafficking and other Human right violations to flourish. Prevention is bad than cure.

Risk Factors for Human Trafficking

Trafficking and modern day slavery has not remained a static phenomenon. On the contrary, at times it seems as if it has picked up momentum, grown exponentially, especially in areas of conflict, economic depression, and disasters, all which make certain populations (poor, rural, women, etc.) more susceptible to trafficking. They are itemized in subsequent paragraphs;

v  Trans-national criminal syndicates such as the Yakuza in Japan and the Mexican cartels have become templates for business for localized, regional street gangs. San Diego, California, at the border of the United States and Mexico has witnessed the shift from gangs trafficking in drugs to gangs trafficking primarily in sex.

v  Natural disasters also represent a growing threat, leaving children exposed to trafficking, especially the selling of babies through sham adoptions. This predicament came to light after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Soon after the earthquake, hundreds of children were taken out of the country, supposedly to be “adopted.” With such widespread devastation, the paperwork, certificates, agreements, and contracts of adoption were difficult to substantiate. There were also thousands of children who were left orphaned when their parents were lost or killed. Seemingly out of nowhere, couples asserted that they were in the middle of the adoption process and demanded their children. While this might have been  true,  traffickers  used  the  circumstances  as  a  guise  to  get  large  groups  of  children  out of the country and sell them for sex and labour.

v  Conflicts and other forms of unnatural disasters also leave communities at risk to trafficking. Conflicts such as civil wars create situations of dire impoverishment, displacement, loss of national identity, and disruption of family systems. For example, the Syrian conflict since 2011 has resulted in millions of Syrian refugees outside of the country and internally dislocated. Three out of four Syrians lived in poverty by the end of 2013 along with the added burdens of high inflation rates for basic market goods and inaccessibility of services. The level of vulnerability to trafficking is extremely high in these humanitarian situations where there is a lack of migration policies or refugee resettlement services. Syrian  cases  of  trafficking  have  been  reported  in  labour  exploitation,  domestic  servitude,  conscription  in  armed  conflict,  forced  marriage  and  sexual  exploitation.

v  The political and social situation is aggravated by cultural and religious mores, which do not protect women and girls. Da’ish militants in Syria have also been reported as kidnapping  boys  into  the  armed  conflict  as  child  soldiers  and  abducting  thousands  of  girls  for  forced marriages and sexual slavery. This is only one example of conflict occurring in a world where there are over 20 identified significant or critical conflicts.

The Call to Action 2.0

Conclusively, the news about the release of the recently kidnapped Dapchi girls was received with some much jubilation and fanfare. There were wide commendations of the present administration on its efforts to make sure the kidnapped girls were released unconditionally. However, we need to remind our leaders that prevention is also better and easier than cure. Governments, NGOs, the International community and every one of us need to wake up to humanity’s call and ensure that the fight against human trafficking and other forms of modern day slavery is won.

#MyFreedomDay.

God Bless Us All

Olusanya, Oluwole Sheriff