adminBeaven Dhliwayo Features Writer
The night of August 22-23, 1791, in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) saw the beginning of an uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
It is against this background that the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is commemorated on August 23 each year.
This day is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples.
In accordance with the goals of the inter-cultural project “The Slave Route”, the day should offer an opportunity for collective consideration of the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the interactions to which it has given rise between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.
This special day acknowledges the pivotal struggle of those who were subjected to the denial of their very humanity, triumphed over the slave system and affirmed the universal nature of the principles of human dignity, freedom, and equality.
The horror of slavery makes us think about and question humanity.
Slavery is the product of a racist worldview which perverts all aspects of human activity.
Established as a system of thought, illustrated in all manner of philosophical and artistic works, this outlook has been the basis for political, economic, and social practices of a global scope and with global consequences.
It persists today in speeches and acts of violence, which are anything but isolated, and which are directly linked to this intellectual and political history.
The transatlantic slave trade was one of history’s most appalling manifestations of human barbarity.
Slavery dates back to ancient times and has left its trace across cultures and continents.
Though slavery is now universally prohibited, with protections for individual rights enshrined in national and international laws, it persists.
Slavery exists any time a person has been recruited, transported, or compelled to work by “force, fraud, or coercion,” according to the US State Department.
Victims do not have the means to leave of their own will.
Today, slavery most often occurs in industries that are labour intensive, low skilled, and under regulated.
Modern forms of slavery can include debt bondage, where a person is forced to work for free to pay off a debt, child slavery, forced marriage, domestic servitude and forced labour, where victims are made to work through violence and intimidation.
Slavery did not end with abolition in the 19th century.
Instead, it changed its forms and continues to harm people in every country in the world.
Whether they are women forced into prostitution, men forced to work in agriculture or construction, children in sweatshops or girls forced to marry older men, their lives are controlled by their exploiters, they no longer have a free choice and they have to do as they are told.
In short, they are in slavery. The 2019 Global Slavery Index from the Walk Free Foundation in Australia, defines slavery as “situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, and coercion, abuse of power or deception”.
The report estimates that more than 45 million people are living in modern slavery, with Asia accounting for two thirds of the victims.
In 2016, over 200 Zimbabwean women were reportedly stranded in Kuwait after they were lured to the Middle East country on the pretext that they were going to be offered lucrative jobs by a local human trafficking syndicate.
It was reported that most of these women had their travelling documents confiscated on arrival in Kuwait.
It is believed the women were sold for amounts starting from $2 500 each to individuals that needed cheap labour for a period of over two years.
Most of the women were employed as housemaids under harsh conditions and were not allowed to leave, denied enough food, forced to work for long hours while others were reportedly forced into prostitution.
Fortunately, the Government rescued some of the Zimbabweans from Kuwait, where some had been turned into sex slaves and arrests were effected on the human traffickers.
Modern slavery can affect people of any age, gender or race. However, most commonly, slavery affects people and communities that are vulnerable.
It can be someone living in poverty and having no real prospects for a decent job, who will accept a good-sounding offer of a job abroad that turns out something else contrary to what could have been promised.
Or it might be a young girl who happens to live in a society where early marriages are acceptable, who will have no choice other over marrying an older man, as what happens among the people of some apostolic sects in Zimbabwe.
Again, it might be someone who happens to be born to a mother coming from a “slave” caste, literally owned by their masters from the day they are born.
Across the globe, slavery is also more likely to occur where the rule of law is weaker and corruption is rife.
It can also happen to groups of people who are not protected by the law, for example an migrant whose visa status is irregular is easy to blackmail with deportation.
Many people think that slavery happens only in developing countries.
In fact, no country is free from modern slavery.
An official report released on August 23 show that slavery referrals have soared by almost a third in Wales in the last year.
The 251 reported cases of modern slavery in the country in 2018 include 125 children, the National Crime Agency figures show.
The overall figure represents a 30 percent increase from 2017, when there were 193 referrals.
Most of the referrals, 60 percent, involved labour exploitation, representing 151 of the referrals, including 74 children and 77 adults.
Of the 251 referrals, 94 were women and 157 were men.
The most common countries of origin were Britain 103, Vietnam 21, Sudan 16, Albania 16, Romania 13, China, 11 and Eritrea 10.
Additionally, virtually all cases of slavery documented in Niger concern individuals, whose ancestors were enslaved many generations ago.
Slavery status is ascribed at birth and passed on through generations.
The Tuareg follow a complicated caste system that incorporates slaves at the bottom of society.
Tuareg culture does not allow people to marry outside their caste.
It is entrenched that, in Niger, slaves identify themselves as Tuareg even if their ancestry technically belongs to African people enslaved by Tuareg raiders.
Nobles and warriors are at the top of Tuareg culture, and Islamic clerics, or marabouts come next. Below them are free men, followed by casted groups such as blacksmiths and other occupations.
Nobles and warriors are at the top of Tuareg culture, and Islamic clerics, or marabouts come next.
Below them are free men, followed by casted groups such as blacksmiths and other occupations.
Below all these are freed slaves; the lowest rung is reserved for slaves.
All these free and casted groups can have slaves — even slaves themselves, if they have the financial means.
A slave can be freed in Tuareg culture by his or her master, if they wish to appease Allah to make amends for an indiscretion, or simply out of kindness.
Historically, slaves could be freed if they acted with distinction and valour in battle.
Despite this, freed slaves remain near the bottom of the Tuareg caste system, above only slaves.
The United Nations should play a key role in ending such barbaric practices, which are still common in some corners of the world.
Nations should unite to eliminate slavery in all its present-day forms to shape a better future, one that ensures freedom for all.
Online Reporter