Today, 27 million people around the world are still forced to
labor with no pay under the threat of violence. Fifty thousand of
these victims reside in the United States.
In recognition of slavery as a prominent issue around the world,
UCLA’s Amnesty International held a four-day modern slavery
exhibit this week, aiming to expose students to the fact that
slavery is not just an issue of the past.
The display, which consists of eight interactive easels,
features numerous forms of modern slavery, including sexual
slavery, bonded slavery and child slavery. The exhibit is part of
UCLA’s Amnesty International’s Modern Slavery Action
and Awareness Week.
Though the organization existed at UCLA in the past, it was
re-founded three years ago. Every year, they aim to launch two to
three campaigns relating to human rights issues.
Members of Amnesty International at UCLA believe this topic is
extremely important because of its underexposure.
“Modern slavery is growing, and it is only now starting to
become exposed. … So few people know that it is still going on,
both in other countries and in America,” said Caitlin
McShane, president of Amnesty International at UCLA. “We need
to abolish slavery again.”
McShane said she hopes more people will become familiar with the
issue of modern slavery, equating it to the domestic rights issue
that became popular in the 1970s.
“The modern slavery issue stands where the domestic rights
issue stood in the 1970s, in that it was just coming out as a
powerful issue,” she said.
Modern slavery is becoming more prevalent around the world.
According to the group’s display, in some countries girls as
young as seven-years-old are gang raped, beaten and forced to
prostitute themselves to up to 20 clients a day. These girls often
suffer up to an 80 percent HIV/AIDS infection rate.
Mauritania, a country in Africa, is one of the few countries
that still has an 800-year-old system of chattel slavery that
involves the buying and selling of people.
According to the American Anti-Slavery Group’s Web site,
in India some children are forced to roll beedi cigarettes for no
pay and in Pakistan some children are forced to weave carpets in
looms.
Through this weeklong campaign, the members of Amnesty
International share one goal.
“Our first goal, at the least, is to educate students
about modern-day slavery because it is very unexposed. When people
start talking about it, we know we have done our job,” said
Mary Vardazarian, a third-year political science student and
Amnesty International member.
For some students, it comes as a shock that slavery still exists
in the United States in the underground sex industry and in the
domestic realm, as well as the garment and agricultural industries.
Immigrants are often drawn to the United States with the promise of
living a comfortable life and attaining a good job, only to find
themselves enslaved.
Slavery is documented in numerous textbooks as a part of history
and has been an integral part of many students’ educations,
yet the topic of modern-day slavery seems to be ignored. As the
issue becomes more pronounced, classes both at the college and K-12
levels are beginning to integrate this human rights issue into the
curriculum.
At UCLA, General Education cluster 24, Work, Labor and Social
Justice in the United States, includes issues of modern-day slavery
in its curriculum.
To increase this trend, a nonprofit organization called Free the
Slaves has created an education pack that goes out to K-12 teachers
and encourages them to teach modern-day slavery in their
classrooms.
Jeffrey Hipp, communications director for the American
Anti-Slavery Group, stresses that there is a greater need for
abolitionists than ever before.
“It’s essential that colleges educate people that
slavery is still existing in our shadows. … It is a global
problem, and the upcoming generation of leaders needs to address
this,” Hipp said.
The trafficking of people has become the third-largest illegal
economy after the sale of illegal narcotics and the sale of illegal
arms. By 2010, it is expected to outrank the these trades in both
guns and narcotics, Hipp said.
The week will come to a close tonight with featured speaker
Francis Bok, a former Sudanese slave.
The Amnesty International display can be viewed at the
Dickson Court Perloff Quad today. Francis Bok will be speaking in
Dodd 147 tonight at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the
public.