slavery today

this afternoon, i chanced upon a movie about a famous american abolitionist fanny kemble. born and raised in england, she moved to america with her husband only to discover the horrors of slavery on his georgian plantation. i was moved to tears. it was such an amazing story and it reminded me that according to statistics, there are more slaves now than ever before. how can that be when we pride ourselves to be more civilised, more modern, more democratic than ever before? how can that be? it’s disgusting and shameful.

her story echoed other famous abolitionists like ex-slave frederick douglass and famous english abolitionist william wilberforce’s never-ending struggles to end slavery. and it made me think, we too, should do something.

some quick stats i got from the International Justice Mission website:
- According to the United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, an estimated 20 million people were held in bonded slavery as of 1999.
- In 2004 there are more slaves than were seized from Africa during four centuries of trans-Atlantic slave trade. (Kevin Bales, Disposable People)
- In 1850 a slave in the Southern United States costs the equivalent of $40,000 today. According to Free the Slaves, a slave today costs an average of $90.
- Approximately two-thirds of today’s slaves are in South Asia. Human Rights Watch estimates that in India alone there are as many as 15 million children in bonded slavery.

and let’s not forget that slavery is everywhere. in australia as well: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/lifting-the-veil-on-the-slave-trade/2006/07/08/1152240536201.html?page=fullpage

what can we do? well International Justice Mission has many ways for people to contribute but I guess the first and easiest way is to donate money! IJM also has other ways in which we can get involved. I’m going to look at those options right now.

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