In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, (1831) Victor Frankenstein created a horrific monster, which was so ugly it hid from the public eye, and ended up taking many innocent lives. We have a monster even more horrific in our modern day world that also thrives in secrecy, stealing innocent lives. This monster is slavery. It is a common misconception that slavery no longer exists today, that we got rid of it in the 1800s, or that it exists still in some countries, but it isn’t nearly as bad as it was in the days of the transatlantic slave trade. Unfortunately, according to Ethan B. Kapstein, Arizona Centennial Professor of International Affairs, (2006) slavery has become more prevalent in our modern day world than ever before in history (Kapstein, 2006). This statement was affirmed, years later, by the International Labour Organization’s report, The Cost of Coercion (2009). These assertions were being made five to eight years ago, and the estimates of victims of modern day slavery are only getting larger, yet awareness of this social epidemic is still incredibly low.
The two main types of slavery today are labor exploitation and sexual exploitation. Most would agree that both of these forms of slavery are major issues, but it is hard to pin point which is the bigger problem today. According to the International Labour Organization, 78% of slavery victims are that of labor exploitation, and 22% are that of sexual exploitation (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2012). Looking at another U.N. report, as told by Washington Times’ Edith M. Lederer (2013), “trafficking for sexual exploitation accounts for 58 percent of all trafficking cases detected globally” (par. 3). Though the statistics of the matter remain fairly questionable, is ...
... middle of paper ...
...for Youth-Sex Trade in U.S. (2010)
+ Miami, Portland, Ore., and Las Vegas
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein concluded with a tragic death of almost every influential character. If Americans were to intelligently and intentionally spread awareness of these real life monsters, maybe similar endings can be avoided for many of these innocent victims, these real life Williams and Justines and Elizabeths.
Works Cited
International Labour Organization. (2009)
Kapstein, E. B. (2006), The new global slave trade. Foreign Affairs Vol.85, no.6, , 103-115. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com
Lederer, E.M. (2013, Feb 13). UN says human trafficking found in 118 countries. Washington Times.
Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com
U.S. Department of Labor. (2011)
Office of Refugee Resettlement. (2012)
Neubauer, C. (2011). Sex trafficking in the U.S. called 'epidemic'. Washington Times.
This makes for a very interesting read. Johnson’s personal writing style does not shine through much due to the way he chose to build narrative around historical sources, but nevertheless he tells an interesting, cohesive story that draws the reader in and exposes some of the insidious history surrounding the trade of slaves in our history. The book is divided into seven sections, ten including the introduction and epilogue, as well as a section dedicated to illustrations of historical documents alluded to in the text. Johnson also includes a section entitled “Notes,” where he has compiled his sources. The “Notes” section is not a straight bibliography. It also includes helpful author notes describing the context of sources that did not fit in the main narrative, and references for those wanting to do their own research. For example, one note includes information on a book by Tadman which contains information on the number of slaves traded. The author includes a summary, including migration numbers and the percentage of those numbers directly related to the trade. This section is helpfully divided and labeled, with the notes referred to in each part of the book labeled by section. Each notation and illustration is referenced within the text by numbers, which coincide with each note or illustration offering more
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slavery was cruelty at its best. Slavery is described as long work days, a lack of respect for a human being, and the inability for a man or a woman to have gainful employment. The slaves were victimized the most for obvious reasons. Next on the list would be the families of both the slave and slave owners. At the bottom of the list would be the slave owners. Slavery does in fact victimize slaves, slave owner and their families by repeating the same cycle every generation.
As victim count continues to rise, its difficult to see how such great numbers of men, women and children are bought and sold every year. Trafficking can be found in many forms, including: prostitution, slavery, or forced labor (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). It wasn’t until the 1980’s that international human trafficking became globally noticed. With the lack of government intervention and control in several nations, and the free trade market, slavery once again became a profitable industry (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). As previously mentioned, easier movement across nations borders is one of the outcomes of globalization. It is also what makes human trafficking so easy today. It is estimated that about 20.9 million people are victims across the entire globe (United Nations Publications, 2012); trafficking accounts for 32 billion dollars in generated profit globally (Brewer, n.d). 58 percent of all human trafficking was for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and of this 55-60 percent are women (United Nations Publications,
According to a new report from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center as many as
Slavery is one of the issues that was, is and has been a major concern in the world. The nature of contemporary slavery is unknown, but estimates show that there are millions of victims of slavery across the globe. Slavery covers a wide variety of human rights violations such as sexual mutilation of men, women and children, child prostitution, sale of orphans, child pornography and many others. On the other hand, human trafficking is an area of concern that involves recruiting, transporting, buying or selling a person by means of force or fraud for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. Human trafficking deprives the victims of their human rights, and is one of the causes for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases
Norton, Beth, et al. A People and a Nation. 8th. 1. Mason, OH: 2009. 41-42, 65-67,161,173.
During the era of 1450-1750 CE, the characteristics of human slavery throughout the world started as a system of assistance gained from the capturing of enemy soldiers and adopting them into the victors society, but changed to a large trafficking business reaching overseas, and then to inherited positions gained from being born into slavery. However, throughout this time period, slavery continued to center in Africa and the Middle East, and remained a prime source of human labor in every society, due to their ability to be easily obtained and cheaply managed.
2 John Bowe, author of Nobodies: Modern Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy said if he could sum up what his book was about it would be “we all seek control. Control equals power. Power corrupts. Corruption makes us blind, tyrannical, and desperate to justify our behavior” (268). He is writing about the slave trade happening in our own Land of the Free. He wants Americans to be aware of the slave trade and recognize that it is not only happening in other countries, but effects items we use in our everyday lives, like the clothes we wear and the food we eat. As he is an immersion reporter, he visits three different sites of slavery: Florida, Tulsa, and Saipan. The stories and facts in this book are all from people who experienced some aspect of the abuses he writes about, whether a victim, a lawyer, or just a witness to the heinous crimes. He is not satisfied with half truths, which seem to fly at him, especially from those who did the abusing he was talking about, he does his research well and I appreciated that while reading this book.
When one thinks of slavery, they may consider chains holding captives, beaten into submission, and forced to work indefinitely for no money. The other thing that often comes to mind? Stereotypical African slaves, shipped to America in the seventeenth century. The kind of slavery that was outlawed by the 18th amendment, nearly a century and a half ago. As author of Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People, Kevin Bales, states, the stereotypes surrounding slavery often confuse and blur the reality of slavery. Although slavery surely consists of physical chains, beatings, and forced labor, there is much more depth to the issue, making slavery much more complex today than ever before.
For most American’s especially African Americans, the abolition of slavery in 1865 was a significant point in history, but for African Americans, although slavery was abolished it gave root for a new form of slavery that showed to be equally as terrorizing for blacks. In the novel Slavery by Another Name, by Douglas Blackmon he examines the reconstruction era, which provided a form of coerced labor in a convict leasing system, where many African Americans were convicted on triumphed up charges for decades.
The film “Slavery by another name" is a one and a half hour documentary produced by Catherine Allan and directed by Sam Pollard, and it was first showcased by Sundance Film Festival in 2012. The film is based on Douglas Blackmonbook Slavery by Another Name, and the plot of the film revolves around the history and life of African Americans after Emancipation Proclamation; which was effected by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, for the purpose of ending slavery of African Americans in the U.S. The film reveals very brutal stories of how slavery of African Americans persisted in through forced labor and cruelty; especially in the American south which continued until the beginning of World War II. The film brings to light one of my upbringing
Haldeman, Annette. "Slavery in the Modern World: A History of Political, Social, and Economic Oppression." Reference 2011: 130-32. EBSCOHost. 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
Sex trafficking is a world wide epidemic. It targets unknowing victims such as women and children enslaving them and exploiting their innocence. Human trafficking is becoming one of the biggest money making organized crimes in the world. The sex trade is one of the most profitable of all current slave trades. Through the age, gender, class, and race many are trapped in a never-ending cycle of coercion and abuse in order to survive in the corrupt society around them. In order to stop this monstrosity in the world, we need to start at the root of the problem. We must bridge the barriers between gender, class, and race in order to respect one another and live in harmony
"Facts On Human Trafficking And Sex Slavery | Soroptimist." Soroptimist.org. N. p., 2017. Web. 14
The word “slavery” brings back horrific memories of human beings. Bought and sold as property, and dehumanized with the risk and implementation of violence, at times nearly inhumane. The majority of people in the United States assumes and assures that slavery was eliminated during the nineteenth century with the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth; rather, slavery and the global slave trade continue to thrive till this day. In fact, it is likely that more individuals are becoming victims of human trafficking across borders against their will compared to the vast number of slaves that we know in earlier times. Slavery is no longer about legal ownership asserted, but instead legal ownership avoided, the thought provoking idea that with old slavery, slaves were maintained, compared to modern day slavery in which slaves are nearly disposable, under the same institutionalized systems in which violence and economic control over the disadvantaged is the common way of life. Modern day slavery is insidious to the public but still detrimental if not more than old American slavery.