Michael Abrahams | Slavery, thriving more than ever before

When we hear the word “slavery”, many, if not most of us, conjure up images of dark-skinned African captives shackled and chained, or drawings of slaves packed like sardines on slave ships during the transatlantic slave trade. During this period, from 1526 to 1867, approximately 13 million captured men, women, and children were placed on ships in Africa, with 10.7 million arriving in the Americas. The most active European nation in the trade was Portugal, enslaving almost 3.9 million Africans.

But slavery began long before that. The first documentation of slavery dates back to the Mesopotamian and Sumerian civilisations, located in the Iran-Iraq region, between 6000 and 2000 BCE. The transatlantic slave trade flourished for about four centuries, but Korea had the longest unbroken chain of slavery or indentured servitude of any society in history, spanning about 1,500 years.

Unfortunately, slavery is not a thing of the past, and more people are enslaved today than at any other time in history. Today, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation, 49.6 million people are victims of modern slavery, which includes both forced labour and forced marriage. This is more than three times the amount of people enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade. Women and girls comprise 71 per cent of all modern slavery victims, and children 25 per cent.

Modern slavery occurs when others exploit an individual for personal or commercial gain after being tricked, coerced or forced. Forms of slavery include human trafficking, debt bondage, forced labour and forced marriage. Victims are often owned or controlled by an exploiter or “employer”, dehumanised and treated as a commodity, or bought and sold as property. The common factor, regardless of the type of slavery, is that those who are affected lose their freedom. Globally, the majority of the enslaved are in forced labour, meaning they are working against their will and under threat, intimidation or coercion.

FORCED LABOUR

Those in forced labour are forced into domestic servitude, work in sweatshops producing clothes and other products, reap farm produce, harvest seafood, dig for minerals used in electronic devices and makeup, and work on construction sites. More than 4 million people are in state-sanctioned forced labour. This includes governmental abuse of military conscription, which is prevalent in Eritrea, for example, and forced construction or agricultural work. Some experts claim that slavery exists in the United States prison system. The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude; except as punishment for a crime. About 5 million people working in forced labour are estimated to be sexually exploited, forced into prostitution, nude dancing or pornography, or are part of child sex rings. More than 70 per cent of the sex exploitation victims are in the Asia and Pacific region. Apart from sexual exploitation, over 15 million people are estimated to be living in forced marriages.

Among the images many of us construct when we hear the word “slavery” is one of White European or American slave masters mistreating or beating enslaved Black Africans. The irony is that today, modern slavery is most prevalent in the African continent, with Africans enslaving millions of other Africans. Additionally, Mauritania, a country in Africa, was the last nation to formally abolish slavery. This happened in 1981, but the ban was not enforced until 2007. According to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 32 in every thousand people were in modern slavery in Mauritania at any point in 2021.

BIG BUSINESS

Why is slavery still thriving? Because it is lucrative. Slavery is big business, generating approximately US$15 billion globally every year, more than one-third of which is generated in developed countries, with slave traders earning up to 30 times more than their 18th and 19th-century counterparts would have done.

Slavery exists in every geographic region, affecting people of all ages and genders, but some people are more at risk than others. For instance, people who are homeless, unemployed, lonely, poverty-stricken, or have debts, criminal convictions, mental health issues, learning problems, poor family support, physical injuries or disabilities or who are in foreign countries and are fearful of deportation are vulnerable.

Some victims are forcefully abducted. Some are bought from slave traders. Some are born into slavery. And some find themselves in bondage after being deceived, like being tricked into thinking they will be getting a job or even getting married. Once in the situation, victims may be confined to their place of captivity or controlled by manipulation, fear, dependency, threats or physical violence. When in foreign countries, the threat of deportation is a commonly used tactic. Recent research from the United Kingdom found that many modern slavery victims choose to stay with their exploiters rather than access government support designed to protect them for fear of immigration enforcement.

Slavery is not going away any time soon. As long as people remain vulnerable and money can be earned by exploiting them, the practice will continue to thrive.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator, and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams