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Editorial
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because he has anointed me
To bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind
To let the oppressed go free.”
This was the text Jesus proclaimed, quoting from Isaiah (Luke 4: 18-19) when he preached, early in his ministry, in his familiar synagogue in Nazareth. It was his study of the Bible and Christ’s teaching which lead William Wilberforce to campaign against the slave trade in the 19th century, when most of his fellows – and society in general – regarded such slavery as both necessary and acceptable. Christians today should be careful about condemning their blindness, for, as this newsletter shows only too clearly, we too are blind to the many forms of oppression which constitute modern slavery. The 200th anniversary of Wilberforce’s achievement in securing legislation to abolish the slave trade in UK should be a spur for our recognition of the continuing exploitation and oppression of women, men and children whom Christ died to set free. And, as with William Wilberforce, action must follow recognition.
Slavery Past and Present
2007 marks 200 years since Britain abolished the Slave Trade, an important step on the way to ending one of the most brutal chapters in human history. But the achievements of 1807 did not mark the end of slavery as a practice or system.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade itself stands apart from both past and present forms of slavery in terms of its scale and brutality, the legal framework that supported it and the long-term repercussions it would have on three continents.
Approximately 24 million people were violently abducted, taken from Africa and enslaved. Only some 10 million managed to survive long enough to reach the Americas and the Caribbean. They were removed permanently from their homelands and had little chance of freedom. They were wholly owned and, in law, had no rights and were equal to property.
Today, the legacy of the Slave Trade continues to have consequences and remains at the root of some acts of racism, discrimination and intolerance against the black community as well as the underdevelopment of countries and communities from which people were abducted.
The bicentenary provides an important opportunity not only to draw attention to the realities of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its legacies, but also to focus attention on the fact that slavery is still a reality for millions of people worldwide.
Today at least 12 million men, women and children are in slavery. They are forced to work through the threat or use of violence. They are denied freedom, dehumanised and treated as property or bought and sold.
Slavery today takes many different forms. In Ghana, for example, girls as young as five years old are used as domestic slaves; young boys are used as bonded labour in India’s brick kilns; in Brazil men are used as forced labour to clear the Amazon; and men and women are trafficked to the UK and forced to work in agriculture.
Even though slavery is illegal under international law, no region is free from this abuse and slavery is found in most countries.
One of the most extensive forms of slavery today is bonded labour, which alone affects millions of people across South Asia.
People become bonded when their labour is demanded as repayment for a loan, often taken to pay for such necessities as food and medicine. Entire families can be enslaved in this way, with the debt passed from generation to generation because of high interest charges. Bonded labourers work long hours, often up to seven days a week.
In India, Tyaiya Lal Shetha was 12 when he became a bonded labourer. His father had already worked as a bonded labourer for 10 years after borrowing 3,000 rupees (£34) from his landlord. But when he became too old to work, the landlord demanded that Tyaiya work instead. He has to work from early in the morning, ploughing, planting, harvesting and doing any other work demanded, regardless of the hour. In return, he gets just 1.5 kilograms of rice. But Tyaiya may not collect the rice himself. The landlord requires Tyaiya’s mother to collect it instead. But first she has to clean his house.
One of the fastest growing forms of slavery is human trafficking, enslaving at least 2.4 million people throughout the world. Traffickers promise well-paid work or education. Desperate to improve their lives, people are tricked or coerced away from their homes into conditions they have not agreed to.
Leila (not her real name), was trafficked from Sri Lanka to the UK as a domestic worker. She had to work 16-18 hours every day and was not allowed any day off for the first two years. She was not allowed to eat with the family and was given only leftovers to eat. When any food went missing, she was automatically blamed.
She was treated with brutality and had no privacy, no room of her own. She had to sleep on a sofa bed in the sitting room, where she was disturbed by anybody who would come in late and whenever they wanted to use the room. Her employers deliberately kept her without a visa, so that she could not run away. The only time she was allowed out of the house was to do the shopping in the local supermarket.
However large the problem of slavery is, solutions are possible. Two hundred years ago, hundreds of thousands of people across Britain demanded an end to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Today, Anti-Slavery International is calling on everyone to harness the abolitionist spirit and demand action is taken to eliminate slavery once and for all.
Anti-Slavery International was founded in 1839 by the same abolitionists who led the campaign against the slave trade in 1807 and fought for the abolition of slavery in 1833. The charity continues to work for an end to all forms of slavery throughout the world and is the leading organisation in this field. To find out more about slavery today and to take action. see www.antislavery.org
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