Your friend asks you to help her move house. Or she needs you to take her to the airport at 1am. She says thanks but doesn’t pay you. You didn’t expect payment because you’re friends. As you leave, you joke “that’s slave labour!” You think it’s a joke. Slavery doesn’t exist anymore, right? We abolished that in the previous century didn’t we?
Shockingly, no we didn’t. You may be surprised to learn that slave labour is well and truly in existence ALL OVER THE WORLD. Today, 21 million women, men and children are trapped in slavery. Yes, here in Australia. Yes, over in the USA, the UK and in Europe. In Asia and in India.
Slavery takes on many forms: people trafficking, sexual exploitation, child labour, forced marriage and the forced recruitment of child soldiers are all cases of slavery.
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December, marks the date of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution 317(IV) of 2 December 1949).
The world needs to act, and we as individuals can do our bit to help. Knowing 26% of today’s slaves are under the age of 18 and that 55% of victims are women and girls… it really takes your breath away.
If you want to help make a difference in someone’s life and reduce the impact of slavery and violence join 100 Women. Join today as a full member or a part of one of our mini-circles.
If you would like more information about slavery and how help in the fight to abolish it forever, check out the links below.
http://www.un.org/en/events/slaveryabolitionday/
http://www.iloartworks.org/take-action/take-action-against-forced-labour/
Author – Rachel Boros
www.facebook.com/simplysbcreations
Rachel works as a freelance writer and proof reader. She is also full-time Mum to a very energetic toddler! With a BA in Journalism, Rachel previously worked in Marketing and Administration roles. Her “free time” is spent with the family of course, but also hiking, running, cooking, drinking good wine, and more recently, volunteering with the “100 Women Project”.
