The Global Slavery Index, published by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation, lists India as the country with by far the most slaves, with an estimated nearly 14 million, followed by China (2.9 million) and Pakistan (2.1 million).
The top 10 countries on its list of shame accounted for more than three quarters of the 29.8 million people living in slavery, with Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh completing the list.
Modern slavery includes slavery, slavery-like practices (such as debt bondage, forced marriage, and sale or exploitation of children), human trafficking and forced labour.
This is the first year of the Global Slavery Index. A key finding from this inaugural Index is that there are an estimated 29.8 million people enslaved around the world.
The Global Slavery Index provides a ranking of 162 countries, reflecting a combined measure of three factors: estimated prevalence of modern slavery by population, a measure of child marriage, and a measure of human trafficking in and out of a country.
Dear To Anyone Who Will Listen,
I sit in my comfortable flat in Kathmandu, listening to music, having had a good meal, playing on Facebook, sleeping in a comfortable bed while others sit in shackles with no hope of a somewhat happy life. I’m hoping that someone, anyone can tell me how is it possible in the year 2013 that there are more than 30 million people, equal to the population of Nepal, who are slaves, including in my birth country, the USA-the “beacon of freedom”. How is it that in a world so much dominated by religion with views towards everyone being God’s children, that some choose to enslave others making them victims of child sexual exploitation, marriage and labor and being part of armies killing others? Why is it that governments, made up of people, maybe like you and me, but maybe not, don’t eliminate slavery? I know that these are rhetorical questions, that many of those who might hold the answers are the ones possibly benefitting from enslaving others.
I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that something that I thought was “Gone with the Wind” could still be so integral to fulfilling the pleasures, the riches, the greed of people who should have no place on this earth. How does someone born of innocence become so evil to treat others as if they are not worth anything? I just don’t get it and feel like crying, as if I’m trying to stay afloat in a gigantic pool of the sweat, tears and blood of the 30 million slaves identified by the Global Slavery Index. Why, why do we allow this to occur?
I feel just as complicit as those who enslave others. What am I doing to help my brothers and sisters, due to who they were born to, having little hope of happiness in this lifetime, to break free? Why aren’t we doing enough to eliminate human trafficking, to eradicating this from the face of the earth? Why should there be such a thing as a Global Slavery Index?
How have we allowed our brothers and sisters to be thought of as less than us and why haven’t we spoken out, forcing our governments to ensure that we all have the same rights? I know, I know, it is because some of us are better than others; just look at those at the top of the economic ladder in the US who dominate the majority or caste systems which continue to perpetuate, although we are in denial, through people’s surnames. Some of us are just born with a “silver spoon in our mouths”. The rest, who cares, just pieces of garbage to do our bidding. Yes, we feel ashamed and say, how terrible, but still go to church or temple or wherever and ask our prayers to be answered by God. I wonder if God hears the prayers of slaves, the children who are killing others because a soul less adult has enslaved them and is forcing them to do so. Is there even a God for children sold as sex slaves?
How can we sleep at night knowing that some are forced to sleep on “beds of nails”, having dreams, if they do dream, of sheer terror with the hope (is there hope?) of waking up realizing that this is all only a bad dream. Even when slaves are “freed or rescued” can they every have a life? How can we not be so outrageously angry that we don’t hunt down the network of scumbags who are out for their own greed?
But is that what really drives the slave owners, is it power, greed, misanthropy, the fact that they were beaten by parents who never should have had children? I feel such a sense of emptiness regarding slavery and many other issues, e.g. drug war, arms selling, long standing hatred of one another. I feel like throwing things against a wall and not stopping until the wall has caved in and somehow want those enslaved to be able to do the same against their oppressors.
Just do me a favor and look at the website http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/report/ and just start screaming as loud as you can to help those who, while you’re reading this, are children sex slaves, are forced into marriages, enslaved in armies, working for no pay, are oppressed because of their surname. Just realize how there are really evil people in the world and ensure that your religious leader speaks out against this, telling our government officials to do something, to crackdown to stop this utter outrageous nonsense. Do what you can.
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