December
2001/January 2002
Editorial
Unnecessary Fuss
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All this fuss for nothing, grumbled Antoine Kandissounon,
director of Benin’s main port in Cotonou. He was referring to
the flap over the MV Etireno, the ship suspected of carrying 250 children
destined for lives of slavery, which floated around off the western
coast of Africa for several days earlier this year. When the ship finally
returned to Benin, authorities found some 40 kids aboard, but they
were
all accompanied by adults claiming to be relatives. So, the international
hand-wringing over a prospective slave ship transporting children to
miserable careers appears to have been for naught and the incident
quickly
forgotten.
Whether or not that particular ship carried enslaved kiddie cargo,
the ugly truth is there are an estimated 27 million humans enslaved
worldwide
in one form or another. Anti-slavery groups consider this to be a
conservative figure. People who believe that slavery was abolished
in the 19th century
are quite mistaken: there are more humans enslaved now than at any
other time in recorded history. What makes today’s slavery so onerous
is that it has many different faces and is not easily detected; there
are few auctions with specimens in shackles on the block for the highest
bidder (although this does occur in Mauritania and the Sudan). It may
not often be named as such, but the conditions of contemporary slavery
are the same as ever: forced labor under constant threat of violence
for no or little pay. It’s a power dynamic that utilizes debt bondage,
child labor, servile marriage, and prostitution. Modern slaves can be
maids, camel jockeys, or cane cutters. They weave carpets, make bricks,
or clear forests. Indeed, today’s slaves are virtually invisible
to the Western world, voiceless and hopeless. And the simple reason
it’s so prevalent is that inexpensive labor is profitable.
Some may feel that in this modern day and age, every individual has
the power to change his or her situation; one need only be willful
enough.
Not only is this argument naïve and narrow-minded, it is argued
from a level of comfort and power that those in bondage cannot conceive
of. Former slaves point out that for those lucky enough to have known
a world of self-determination their entire lives, it is impossible to
understand what it is actually like to be a thing that is owned, bought
or stolen—to live and breathe an enslaved existence. It’s
vice versa for those enslaved: If you can’t conceptualize freedom
or believe that you are deserving of it, how can you struggle for
it?
Children are bought from parents for small “advances” with
promises of more to come or mortgaged to cover expenses such as medical
bills or home improvements; the transaction will be worked off by the
child. Often, these kids are taken to far-off work sites or camps and
the amount of the “loan” begins the tabulation of debt that
will keep the child in financial bondage for the rest of his or her
life. The majority of these children never see their families again.
Moreover, debt is typically passed on to another family member when
the slave expires, continuing the vicious cycle. Other people are outright
abducted: from their homes, on the way to the store for groceries, or
fleeing from war or poverty. Even more are tricked with promises of
good jobs in foreign lands. Upon arrival, victims discover that their
new jobs are as prostitutes, sweatshop laborers, or whatever. Already
indebted for the exorbitant fee charged by their headhunters, they have
nowhere to turn and no legal recourse. Often identity papers, like passports
and visas, are kept from them. They don’t know the local language,
and can’t go to authorities, for fear of being jailed—or
worse.
Slaves are powerless when it comes to wages: It is up to the owners
to decide whether or not to pay the worker and it is they who “calculate”
debt payments. Usually, slaves are kept in line for fear of physical
violence—beatings, deprivation of food and water, and rapes are
common. If a slave is fortunate enough to be rescued, rehabilitation
is particularly difficult. Child welfare advocates in the Philippines
say that children who have been sexually exploited are oftentimes more
difficult to rehabilitate than kids who have been traumatized by war.
As reported by a British TV documentary, one child in India was caught
escaping from the carpet looms he was enslaved to. His owners burned
him from head to foot with a hot iron. Fortunately, he was rescued;
but couldn’t speak a word for two years.
“Cruelty-Free”—No Sweat
If the existence of slavery is reported at all, the mainstream Western
media tends to point at the Sudan in righteous indignation as one of
the primary offenders. The slave trade in the Sudan is horrific, but,
to focus only on the Sudan is to turn a blind eye to what’s filling
our shopping bags and what’s going on right in front of our
noses. In many cases, slaves are the people who sew buttons onto
the clothes
we buy, knot our Oriental carpets, chop the sugar cane that sweetens
our lives, grow the beans for our steaming lattes, pick the strawberries
we savor, make the bricks that make our houses safe and dry, and
mine
the coal we burn to light up our homes and billboards.
When I first awakened to a vegan ethic, one of the necessities that
was particularly troublesome to find was nonleather or “cruelty-free”
shoes. On a small budget, I was often pleased to find “All Man-Made
Materials” stamped on the inside of prospective footwear at PayLess
and other discount stores; I didn’t think much about the “Made
in China” stamp just below it. What most concerned me was the issue
of animal suffering—what the thing was made of, not how it was
made. As waves of violence crash around us, it is now more crucial than
ever that we offer our compassion for every living thing—human
and nonhuman—and for the Earth and universe we’re all part
of. This holiday season, I encourage everyone to consider even more
carefully what “cruelty-free” means to you, to think deeply
and embrace everyone’s suffering in your concerns.
We all know that our consumer choices can have a powerful effect on
how products are manufactured, what they are made of, and where they
are sold. Using your dollars as a tool for change can be extremely effective.
Abstaining from brands and stores that are more concerned with the bottom-line
than the well-being of the Earth and all its creatures is one way to
make Goliath take notice (just make sure you write a letter letting
them know). Supporting cruelty-free businesses will strengthen that
message and help bring about a more compassionate world. Knowing that
your dollars and actions do not support human slave labor must be part
of the criteria for cruelty-free living.
To learn more about contemporary slavery, contact London-based Anti-Slavery
International (www.antislavery.org),
the oldest human rights group in the world, or visit the American Anti-Slavery
Group (www.iabolish.com), the
anti-slavery portal. For anti-sweatshop campaigns and to find out
if
a company is cruelty-free, visit Sweatshop Watch at www.sweatshopwatch.org.
For an exhaustive (if not entirely user-friendly) database with the
track records of human rights and environmental abuses of all the
major
brands, see www.transnationale.org/anglais. There, you can find out
if a specific item—perhaps the shoes you’re wearing—was
made by sweatshop labor. To find companies that sell merchandise
made
by workers who were paid a living wage, visit Peace through Interamerican
Community Action (www.pica.ws) and
download their Clean Clothes Shopping Guide.
Catherine Clyne
