Sections:
Eradicating slavery in the world's poorest countries
22 August 2008
Saturday 23 August is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. But with at least 12 million people in forced labour in the world today, and human trafficking now the fastest growing international crime, we need to do more than just remember the past.
Through its support for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Anti-Slavery International, DFID is working to tackle the slavery and forced labour that still exist in the world's poorest counties.
Slavery in Niger: Mariama's story
In 2004 the Niger-based human rights organization Timidria received ASI's Anti-Slavery Award for its pioneering efforts to help eradicate slavery in the West African country.
As well as raising awareness of slavery, Timidria has helped former slaves to integrate into society.
It also successfully campaigned
for amendments to Niger's Penal Code, which defines, prohibits and punishes
slavery. Mariama is just one Nigerien to benefit from Timidria's help.
"I was sold when I was a child," Mariama explains, "and then worked for my master all day every day.
He and his wife beat me."
However, life changed radically for Mariama when she came into contact with Timidria. "One day while I was in the market, I heard someone from Timidria talking about slavery, about how it was wrong and that masters could be sent to jail."
Chained at the ankle
Image
courtesy of Anti-Slavery International
From that moment on, Mariama saw that a brighter future could be in store. "I immediately ran back to the village, grabbed my children and together we came
back to town. I found the people from Timidria and they helped me begin my life
anew."
To prevent Mariama from running away, she was forced to wear an ankle bracelet weighing over 2 kilograms. Timidria saw that this was removed.
Then, when Mariama’s "master" came looking for her, the villagers told him they would contact Timidria if he persisted. "He went away and has never come back," she says.
"Now I live in peace. I knew something was wrong with my life, but I didn’t know what to do. Today, I am treated as an equal in this village. Now I have friends and I hope to find a husband."
Human trafficking: Do Thi Tien’s close call
Like many young women in Vietnam's Hau Gian Province, 20-year-old Do Thi Tien was an easy target for human traffickers. Job opportunities are scare in the province, and Tien had no real skills to boast of - a situation which traffickers are apt to exploit, promising well-paid work which turns out to be in prostitution or other illegal activities.
"I was sitting in a tearoom when a young women I didn’t know started talking to me," Tien recalls. The woman told Tien she lived and worked in Ho Chi Minh City, where, she said, jobs were in good supply. "She told me she could find me a job too," Tien says.
It was a tempting offer. But Tien began to entertain suspicions when her friends warned her about being too trusting of the woman's promises. Around this time, Tien also heard about a programme that, through the Vietnam Women's Union, was raising awareness of trafficking and offering skills training to vulnerable women. Thanks to this programme (supported by ILO), Tien is now learning how to sew, which should help her get a job in a garment factory.
Since 1999 DFID has supported the ILO’s work to combat the trafficking of women and children in South East Asia. The project is active across Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and in China’s Yunnan Province. It works with people who are at high risk of becoming victims, alerting them to the dangers of moving to new towns and countries without being properly prepared or being sufficiently informed. It also supports governments at all levels to ensure safer migration.
Hidden exploitation: Forced domestic service
Forced domestic service is a hidden form of exploitation, with young girls its most frequent victims. Backed by DFID funding, ASI supports local organisations working to help children in domestic service.
For girls trafficked into this work, life can be isolated and lonely. They live in the families' homes but remain outsiders. While the children of the household go to school, they are forced to stay at home and work. Many face physical violence, rape and mental abuse. Without the love and support of their own families they become traumatised and are left emotionally scarred.
When girls reach their teenage years, employers often find them more difficult to control. Fearing the possibility of a domestic worker becoming pregnant, many employers turn their teenage workers out on to the streets and replace them with younger children. Few have the money to make their way home, and prostitution is sometimes the only choice they have for survival.
Debt bondage
Debt bondage is the most common form of contemporary slavery. In Brazil, seasonal workers can build up debts, for transport, housing and food, to unscrupulous recruiters before they start work. Dependent on the landowner’s store for food and drink, as they work they build up more debts that they have little chance of repaying.
The ILO’s Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour and the Government’s Mobile Inspection Units play a key role in detection, release and rehabilitation of forced labourers.
Get involved
These are some of the forms of slavery that exist in the world today. On 23
August, a range of events will be taking place in the UK to remember the slave
trade and its abolition, and to raise awareness of the slavery that continues to
blight people's lives in developing countries.
Get
further information on activities at Directgov
Links
(1mb)