In contrast to what many people assume, slavery is still rampant all around the world even though it is illegal. So, why people don’t pay attention to that problem and why we still know very little about it is hard to understand. To understand how people suffer from the slave trade, it is important to know the details of what exactly they are forced to do.
Firstly, I would like to explain in what conditions slaves are forced to to work. They have to work for 17 or 18 hours a day without any break, in very hot and dusty weather. For example, the ones who work as miners stay under the ground and in the dark for 72 hours. They have no guarantee that after that 72 hour period they will be able to get to the surface and that they won’t get injured or even die before seeing the sunlight. A body covered with sweat, in the dark, dusty air and voices of coughing everywhere… that is the life of the coal miner slaves. If we take slaves in the textile sector as another example, we could say that their conditions are no different from the former. They also have to spend all their lives working without any pay and being terrified of the masters, suffering from diseases caused by the toxic paints and dyes.
Secondly, it is also not important whether the slave is young or old, male or female. Everyone suffers from the same circumstances and everyone has the same destiny. Some children are even born as slaves. There are child slaves all around the world carrying stones that weigh more than themselves or going fishing at 1 o’clock in the morning without even knowing how to swim. Just like the children, women are also forced to obey the unwritten rules of slavery. They can be seen on plantations, in gold mines or in brothels. They have fear, no hope of running away and no reason to be happy.
Lastly, why are we not aware of this problem? I am personally ashamed of my lack of knowledge. People suffer whereas we sit and enjoy our freedom. Some people would say that it is impossible to free them unless you are a citizen of the country that they belong to and they would be right but there is also something that they don’t see. There are lots of organizations such as “Free The Slaves”, and with their help some slaves get their freedom back every year. What we can do is be sensitive, learn about the details of the issue and pay attention tot his illegal trade. They just want support. At least that is something we can do,isn’t it?
To sum up, many people think that slavery is not a global problem at present but they are actually wrong. The number of slaves is not decreasing even though slavery is forbidden everywhere. The cause of such thoughts is that they don’t know enough about slavery, about their working conditions and about their suffering. What should be done is research the problem and spread awareness all around the world.
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