Slavery

Slavery is when individuals are owned or controlled by others without their consent. Slaves are treated as property, forced to work with no reward, or have no freedom or autonomy over their lives.

Slaves are subjected to inhumane treatment, with overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions, inadequate food, and brutal punishments.

They can be bought , sold , sexually abused or killed at any time by their owners..

Throughout the annals of history, slavery has taken various forms, encompassing private ownership by individuals as well as state-sanctioned systems. The experiences of those ensnared in its grasp have been marked by unrelenting brutality and dehumanization.

Slavery has endured for millennia, taking on different incarnations, often involving captives of war, debtors, and individuals born into servitude. The enduring legacy of this abhorrent practice has left a dark stain on the pages of history.

# Human trafficking

The use of violence, threats or coercion to transport, recruit or harbour people in order to exploit them for purposes such as forced prostitution, labour, criminality, marriage or organ removal

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud, coercion or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.

What trafficking really means is people groomed and forced into sexual exploitation; people tricked into accepting risky job offers and trapped in forced labour in building sites, farms or factories. It means being recruited to work in private homes only to be trapped, exploited and abused behind closed doors with no way out. It’s a serious crime and a grotesque abuse of the people it affects – which is why tackling it is one of our four strategic priorities (including child slavery, climate change and modern slavery, and responsible business.)

# Forced labour

Forced labour is any work or services people are forced to do against their will, usually under threat of punishment

Almost every form of modern slavery includes some element of forced labour. It’s the most extreme way in which people are exploited for some form of gain – including for profit, sexual gratification or other things.

Forced labour affects at least 27.6 million people worldwide – with at least 17.3 million people experiencing forced labour exploitation in the private economy , and nearly 4 million people in state-imposed forced labour, and over 6 million people in commercial sexual exploitation. Forced labour exploitation is most often found in industries with informal workers and/or little regulation.

These include:

· Agriculture and fishing

· Services such as hospitality and transport

· Domestic work

· Construction, mining, quarrying and brick kilns

· Manufacturing, processing and packaging

· Sex work, including sexual exploitation

· Market trading

· Illicit trades and illegal activities

It is often the most vulnerable and excluded groups in a society who become trapped in forced labour, including:

· Children

· People living in poverty

· Unemployed people, or those who cannot find sustained work

· People who struggle to access education

· People who belong to so-called lower castes – including Dalits in India

Migrant workers are at much higher risk of forced labour exploitation than other workers. They are often targeted as they may not speak the language, they may have smaller networks to call upon, limited rights and be dependent on their employers (for things like accommodation, food and the legal right to remain in the country)

# Debt bondage/bonded labour

The world’s most widespread form of slavery. People trapped in poverty borrow money and are forced to work to pay off the debt, losing control over both their employment conditions and the debt

According to estimates in 2022, around one-fifth of all people in forced labour exploitation in the private economy are in situations of debt bondage.

# Child slavery

is when a child is exploited for someone else’s gain. This can include child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage and child domestic slavery.

an estimated 12 million children around the world wake up each day trapped in modern slavery, with over 3 million children exploited in forced labour, and nearly 9 million children in forced marriage.

Some have been forced into back-breaking work in mines, brick kilns, sweatshops and private homes.

Others are forced into marriage, into sexual exploitation, begging or selling drugs.

# Forced and early marriage

is when someone is married against their will and cannot leave.

Most child marriages can be considered slavery

Marriage involving children under 18 years old is still an accepted practice in many societies.

UNICEF estimate that about a fifth of young women worldwide were married before their 18th birthday.

Although boys can be affected by the practice, it is mostly girls who suffer slavery as a consequence of child marriage.

Not every marriage involving under-18s will amount to slavery, especially those between couples aged 16 to 18.

But in many cases, child marriage causes serious harm to children’s physical and psychological health. Increasingly, countries understand the need to protect children from forced marriage.

# Prison labor programs as modern slavery

Forced labor in prisons is often built into “rehabilitation” or “educational” programs.

Many who are incarcerated report being threatened with solitary confinement or longer sentences if they refuse to work.

In addition, incarcerated people are often paid nothing –  or almost nothing – for their work, a situation that leaves them with almost no savings to re-enter society upon release.

# Sex Trafficking , slavery and dark side of porn

The legal definition of sex trafficking actually includes 'any instance in which the individual is forced, tricked, or coerced.'

Some young people are more vulnerable to being trafficked than others, and often one risk factor overlaps with and amplifies others. Particularly vulnerable groups of students tend to share histories of poverty, family instability, physical and sexual abuse, and trauma.

Not all performers are in porn by choice—some are forced, tricked, or coerced into performing in explicit videos that are shared online.

Here are some common examples of sex trafficking in the porn world:

· An actor is forced or tricked by their agent or the director to perform a sex act or have sex with an actor that's on their “no” list.

· A porn performer shows up on set to discover that the scene is more aggressive or degrading than they’ve been told, and their agent threatens to cancel their other bookings if they don't go through with it.

‘I had to do whatever the producer pleased and I had to accept it or else no pay. Sometimes you would get to a gig and the producer would change what the scene was supposed to be to something more intense and again if you didn’t like it, too bad, you did it or no pay.’ Jan Villarubia, ex porn actor

You’re viewed as an object—not as a human with a spirit. People do drugs because they can’t deal with the way they’re being treated.” Tanya Burleson, formerly known as Jersey Jaxin, ex porn actor.

# Prostitution

Violence against prostitutes occurs worldwide, both through physical and psychological forms. The victims are predominantly women. In extreme cases, violent acts have led to their murder while in their workplace.

As a sex worker, its possible to make roughly 10x more by the hour than in porn, and some claim working the streets is actually less physically demanding and degrading, although there are many risks involved.

For some though, getting into prostitution isn’t a choice. Porn actors can be tricked into prostitution by agents, who pretend they're booked for a film, leaving the actor with no choice but to comply when they get to the job.

In January 2020, Pornhub was the 10th most visited website on the planet, with more visits than Netflix or Amazon.

Until very recently, there was no control or regulation over who or what was uploaded onto the platform. More and more films that were non-consensual and that involved sex trafficking were being uploaded.

Viewers got used to extreme, aggressive content, so the demand for content of women being treated violently went up, and the problem continued to grow.

Following a global campaign led by Trafficking Hub, by January 2021 Pornhub had deleted 80% of its content (a staggering total of 10 million videos), and is now facing 7 major lawsuits, and is under international investigation for child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and other illegal activity.

People may end up trapped in slavery because they’re vulnerable to being tricked, trapped and exploited, often as a result of poverty and exclusion and because laws do not properly protect them.

Anyone could be pressed into forced labour, but people in vulnerable situations – such as being in debt, or not having access to their passport – are most at risk.

Slavery exist in every stage of the supply chain, from harvesting or extracting raw materials – such as cocoa or cotton – to manufacturing and shipping.

The reality of this is children forced to mine cobalt for use in the latest mobile phones, or women forced to produce coffee for one of our best-known brands.

For eg brands Nestle, Mars, and Hershey all source cocoa from West Africa, where cases of child labor and forced labor have been discovered and still persist.

Modern slavery is connected to crisps, ice cream, and lipstick through palm oil.

The palm oil industry employs 3.5 million people.

Fast fashion giant Boohoo is facing an investigation into accusations of modern slavery after it emerged garment workers at factories in Leicester, UK were being paid just £2.50 an hour.

# **Status**

According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery (2022) from Walk Free, the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration:

· 49.6 million people live in modern slavery – in forced labour and forced marriage

· Roughly a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children

· 22 million people are in forced marriages. Two out of five of these people were children

· Of the 27.6 million people trapped in forced labour, 17.3 million are in forced labour exploitation in the private economy, 6.3 million are in commercial sexual exploitation, and nearly 4 million are in forced labour imposed by state authorities

· The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the conditions that lead to modern slavery

· Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to forced labour.

# Propaganda

West USA Propaganda wants to make everyone believe that slavery died in the 1950's. That is a lie.