Modern Slave trade…

It is Wednesday evening, at a around 10pm. I am in one of the fast food restaurants in Nairobi. I just ordered food, so I have to wait for 10minutes before I pick my food. A young girl goes to serve herself, she looks age 14 or 15…

Do you know that slave trade is in existence to date!! It is referred as contemporary slavery or modern slavery. I believe majority of us witness it , some of us recognize it while others don’t or if they do they assume it

It is prudent to note that slave trade is not legal. I know this is obvious but the parties involved in it seems to ignore the fact. 

Modern slavery is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the world today. According to a report by United Nations, India has most slaves of any country, China second, followed by Pakistan then Bangladesh.

According to a data by the United States Department of State, an “estimated 600,000 to 820,000 men, women, and children [are] trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 70 percent are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors. The data also illustrates that the majority of transnational victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. It is estimated that 50,000 people are trafficked every year in the United States and Arabic countries.

United Nations defines Human trafficking as the the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

So this young girl that I was telling you about earlier, serves herself and goes upstairs. After getting my food, I went upstairs as well. So I notice this young girl again, this time she was with a company, a white man who looks around 50 of age and a young girl of a similar age as hers. The man was taking pictures of them and telling them how beautiful they looked. Hope this doesn’t sounds like being too nosy? If it does then you have to  pardon me! So the two girls are enjoying the packet of food as the man takes their pics…

There are several types of slavery trade today. Slavery by descent is one of them. This is done through conquest, where a conquered person is enslaved.

Another type of slavery today is bonded labor. It all starts when individuals take extreme loans under the condition that they work off debt. This “loan” is designed so that it can never be paid off. This loan is often passed down for generations.

Forced migrant labor. This is where individuals are often enticed to migrate with the promise of work, only to have their documents seized and be forced to work under the threat of violence to them or their families.

This type of slavery has been affecting most African countries. A story that I can relate to in my country Kenya, where people are taken to work in Middle East, and being abused both physically, mentally and even sexually. As I was interned at HAART Kenya such cases were the most that were being handled by the organization. However there were internal cases of the same characteristics.

Illegal immigrants may also be taken advantage of. This is to those who don’t have legal residency, they often have no recourse to the law. this is often experienced in US, Western Europe and Middle East.

Sex slavery as a type of slavery, has affected mostly child sex slaves. They are trafficked from their state of residence to Western countries and Middle East.

Early or forced marriage, this is driven by certain regions. Usually when a family cannot support their children, their daughter are often married off to wealthier, and more powerful families. The men are significantly older than girls.  The females are forced into lives whose main purpose is to serve their husbands. This always fosters an environment for physical, verbal and sexual abuse. This is a common culture in North Eastern region  and The Rift Valley region as well as  Eastern region of Kenya. Young girls are forced into marriage at a tender age. I was shocked the other day when I was watching KTN News when a 9 year old girl was featured as one of the victims of  such an incident. This is disturbing. Surely do such people have conscience!

Child labor is another form  of slavery. Children comprise about 26% of the slave today. Most of them are domestic workers. Many are trafficked and sexually exploited. In war- torn countries, children have been kidnapped and sold to political parties to be used as child soldiers. This is a dominant form of slavery in Haiti, Somali and South Sudan.

I watched this documentary by Aljazera on Slave Trade, I was amazed how slavery has dominated the Western countries. Young girls and boys are kidnapped and then forced into prostitution. This business seems to be booming in the region. As much  as there is Modern Slavery Act 2015, that is used to combat slavery. Such cases are still in existence. Let me still hope that sooner we, if you are interested… we will be able to ensure that slavery is reduced if not to eradicate it completely.

Islamist can also be categorized as a form of slavery, in 2003 Shaykh Saleh Al-Fawzan, a member at the time of Senior Council of Clerics, this is Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, issued a fatwa stating “slavery is a part of Islam. Slavery is part of jihadist and Jihad will remain as long there is Islam and that  anyone who says otherwise is an infidel”

Boko Haram, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are the one known to take part in this form of slavery.In 2014, both groups were reported to have kidnapped large numbers of girls and younger women.According to August 2015 story in The New York Times, in territory of the Islamic state “the trade in Yazidi women and girls has created a persistent infrastructure, with a network of warehouses where the victims are held, viewing rooms where they are inspected and marketed and dedicated fleet of buses used to transport them.

The man receives a call, then the three walk out of the restaurant. One of the girls is dressed in a ragged leather skirt, and a vest. She looks miserable to me, but maybe that’s the latest fashion or trend of dressing that am not familiar with… The other girl was dressed in a short dress. There is this lady who sat in the  table next to me. She was apparently   observing the trio as well. When they were leaving, she started laughing at them. After which we had a short conversion about them.

It will be wrong of me to state that the girls are victims of slavery, or the white man has an intention of making them his slaves.  This is because I have nothing as an evidence to point at that. Maybe he is an uncle, father, guardian, friend… who has just taken her dear ones for a late dinner date. But that incidence got me me thinking on contemporary slave trade.

Those parties involved in the transaction use our weaknesses, our vulnerability, what we admire and desire, our goals, dreams name them to lure us into victims of slavery. Some victims are taken by force. It is  our key responsibility to address modern slave trade.This can be done in all platform available, be it institutions, seminars, any forum that you may have. Let us do our best to eradicate any form of modern slavery.