skip to main content

You Are Here: Home / Learning / Society / International Development / Slavery: a modern-day problem - page 3
 
international development
 

Slavery: A Modern-Day Problem

page

1 2 3
 
Actors playing William Wilberforce and fellow MPs
William Wilberforce and fellow MPs

Chained to slavery

Debt bondage, child labour and human trafficking - slavery still steals the lives of many, over 140 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The Big Question asks can we ever beat slavery?

Order your free prospectus

Find out more about OU courses on offer and ways to study - order your guide to courses.

What’s in a name?

A legacy of the slave trade still exists in modern surnames. How do we trace the bloodlines?

Related programmes

Beth Hertzfeld reveals how slavery is not consigned to the history books, but still very much a worldwide facet of modern life

In South Asia, bonded labourers are traditionally used in agriculture, brick making, stone quarries, silk production, carpet weaving and bidi (cigarette) making; but can be found in many other areas.

Slave working in the fields
Copyright Anti-Slavery International

They are routinely threatened with and subjected to physical and sexual violence. Even though few cases involve keeping them in chains, the constraints are just as binding. Their lives are controlled by those who are owed the debt, to the extent where those who use bonded labour sometimes sell the debts – and thereby the people – on to others. In Pakistan, brick kiln workers tell of being sold more than 10 times.

But, however large the problem of slavery is for the world today, solutions are possible.

Poverty, lack of political will, people’s willingness to exploit those most vulnerable and social acceptance all contribute to the survival of slavery and must be addressed.

It is vital governments develop and implement laws that criminalise the specific forms of slavery in their countries, and ensure an end to the impunity that leaves those who use slaves unpunished.

Governments also need to work with local and international non-governmental organisations to make sure the means are developed to help former slaves live free and independent lives. In addressing the social acceptance of slavery, governments need to support activities that make communities and society as a whole aware of slavery, particularly where it is an accepted norm, and develop alternatives.

Poverty alleviation is essential to securing the long-term elimination of slavery. Development programmes being devised by governments and international agencies to meet the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal of widespread poverty reduction must be aware of the existence of slavery and its causes. Only in this way will the education programmes and development measures, such as micro-credit and job provision schemes, offer real opportunities to end the exploitation and discrimination that continue to hold people in slavery.

As we move closer to 2007, the bicentenary of Britain’s abolition of the slave trade throughout its territories, the public has an opportunity to seize the spirit of popular action that had such a significant effect 200 years ago.

  < previous   Page 3 of 3

Content last updated: 03/03/2005

Beth Herzfeld

About our expert

Beth Herzfeld is Press Officer for Anti-Slavery International. After studying international relations, she went on to live and work in China. She has also worked as a journalist in the UK and Hong Kong.

For more information on Anti-Slavery International you can go to www.antislavery.org

Anti-Slavery International is the world’s oldest international human rights organisation, founded in 1839. It is the only charity in the UK which works exclusively against slavery.

 

Bookmark with:

  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Newsvine
  • NowPublic
  • Reddit
  • Stumbleupon
Please wait while loading. You must have JavaScript enabled to view star ratings.
 

People who liked this page also liked:

Comments

Please wait while loading. You must have JavaScript enabled to view comments.
 
 

Explore Open2

Penguin

Two members of the Life team go in search of penguins in their natural environment. See what they find on Deception Island.

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Would you say you're a Christian? Share your views, and learn about the views of others, in our new Christianity survey.

Breaking news, 1940s style

Keep up to date with our Twitterfeeds of latest news from Open2 and alerts of OU programmes on the BBC.

 
 

Site info and help