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Sex trafficking is one of the most heinous forms of modern slavery. This form of human trafficking occurs when people enslave other people for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Despite the depravity of this practice, the International Labor Organization estimates that 4.5 million people are victims of forced sexual exploitation. In addition, this heinous industry is estimated to represent about $99 billion in transactions. Sex trafficking occurs throughout the world with varied attempts to combat the practice. While sex trafficking is one of the most disgusting forms of modern slavery, forced sexual exploitation is a possiblity in any system of unfree labor.
Unfree labor describes a relationship in which one person labors against their will and are subject to destitution, detention, or violence if they refuse to work. In most dire situations, violence may be an additional condition of the victim’s labor. In unfree labor systems throughout the world, modern slavery manifests as violence against women and children. One such place are the brickyards of Pakistan. Here, workers are subjected to a system of unfree labor where entire families are trapped in debt, unable to make enough wages to pay the rising interests. Those who attempt to flee may be punished with violence. This thoroughly coercive system exploits families for their productive labor under threat of violence and destitution. All People Free is taking steps to end this exploitation and violence, and we need your support to do so. By partnering with All People Free, you can help pay off familial debts, educate the children of the brickyards, or invest in more humane models of brick manufacturing. Learn more about All People Free and see how you can support our mission. Child labor laws emerged in the late 19th century as a response to industrialization. As the economy became dominated by industrial wage labor, children became perfect candidates for particular roles. For instance, children were used in mines to explore narrow passageways. Poor children in particular were expected to work on behalf of their families, forgoing any educational or social opportunities. While child labor was persistant throughout agrarian economies, the efficiency and brutality of its industrialization led to a great moral outrage. This led to our modern conception of child labor, a concept that condemns work that deprives young people of a dignified childhood. Since 1918, industrialized countries have begun to combat child labor, making it illegal in most western states. However, child labor remains a common feature of the economy in most parts of the world.
In Pakistan, estimates suggest that nearly one quarter of the workers are under 10 years old. Despite numerous laws banning the practice, widespread neglect and economic necessity still force children into the workforce. No place is this more widespread than in the brick industry. All People Free is an organization that seeks to transition these children out of the workforce and into the classroom, and they need your help to do so. By giving these children an education, we hope to improve their social mobility, giving them opportunities outside of the brickyard. If enough of these children succeed, they can free their families from the brutal conditions of generational debt and wage slavery. There are numerous ways your support can aid this mission. Human slavery is an institution that has taken many insidious forms throughout world history. American chattel slavery was abolished in 1865. France abolished slavery domestically in 1794. Russia abolished serfdom in 1861. In 2018, the US state of Colorado abolished slavery as a consequence of imprisonment. What we see from the history of slavery is that even when it is legally abolished, its practice can easily navigate to new legal and economic conditions.
Such is the case in our modern world. All People Free is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the mission of eliminating slavery in all of its forms. Right now, more than 20 million adults and children are enslaved in the brickyards of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. All People Free focuses their efforts on the country of Pakistan, where brickyard owners use housing debt, low wages, and generational debt as a means of keeping their workers enslaved. While the conditions in the brickyards are different than those associated with American chattel slavery, the human plight demonstrates that slavery persists today. So when was slavery abolished? It never was. Thankfully, you can get involved to help these people escape slavery. All People Free addresses the problem of modern slavery in three ways:
The exploitation of children is one of the most grievous crimes one can commit. Unfortunately, this crime occurs every day under the guise of human trafficking, a global multi-billion dollar industry. Often, poverty forces families to place their children into the workforce, usually in cruel and unregulated conditions. Further, this austerity leaves children vulnerable to further exploitation in the home or workplace. Lack of legal protection or economic despair leave these children fully subject to a heinous form of modern slavery.
No place is this more prevalent and appalling than the brickyards of Pakistan. Here, many children are born into modern slavery, forced to work in order to pay their parent’s housing debts. While they toil in the clay, the interest on their family’s debt accrues faster than their combined wages. This cruel system extracts the dignity of generations in exchange for profit. Thankfully, there’s something you can do to alleviate the hardships these children face. All People Free is a nonprofit organization working to alleviate the conditions in the brickyards. With your support, our programs can have a larger impact. All People Free has three initiatives that are designed to help people in the brickyards. The first aims to pay off household debts and liberate people directly. The second seeks to create schools and educate children, such that they can seek better opportunities for their future. The third invests money into other brickyards, ones that have better technology, higher wages and better conditions. Your help is needed to make these initiatives succeed. See how you can get involved today. Human trafficking has been dubbed “modern-day slavery” for good reason. While the term is multifacted, each aspect of human trafficking is no less insidious than the last. One of these aspects is unfree labor. Unfree labor describes any condition in which someone is forced to work under threat of violence, destitution, or detention. Unlike free labor, which gives the worker a certain level of agency and freedom, unfree labor deprives them of dignity. Systems of unfree labor have persisted throughout human history, with many institutionalized forms having been abolished. Despite this great progress, human trafficking and unfree labor continues to be a huge facet of many modern economies.
One way of enforcing a system of unfree labor is through the use of debt. By trapping a worker in debt (usually for medical needs or dowries, an important part of many cultures) and depriving them of the means to pay off that debt, a human trafficker has essentially made that worker a slave. All People Free is a nonprofit organization that wants to end human trafficking throughout the world, but is especially focused on the brickyards of Pakistan. In the brickyards, owners coerce workers into housing debt and then do not pay them enough in wages to satisfy the debt. This coerces entire families into a lifetime of unfree labor under threat of destitution, and this is passed on from one generation to the next. Fortunately, you can help. All People Free employ a variety of tactics to combat the problem of human trafficking in the brickyards. Whether it’s through education, debt relief, or investment in alternative industries, your support can help end human trafficking in this region. Indentured Servitude was an economic system that became popular in the early modern period in Europe and North America. In contrast to chattel slavery, indentured servitude required that a worker sell their labor at no wage in exchange for a fixed payment or to fulfil a legal obligation. These indentures had no regulations for the working conditions of the servants, leading to brutal working conditions. As a result, many servants died before their obligations had been fulfilled, passing the debt to their living family members. So while indentured servitude differed from slavery in its terms and social status, it too was a system of unfree labor that led to the misery and death of its victims. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared in 1948 that both indentured servitude and slavery are antithetical to human rights. Despite this, indentured servitude and other forms of unfree labor persist today.
All People Free is a nonprofit organization that seeks to end slavery and indentured servitude in the modern world, where millions of people still find themselves under the heavy hand of this form of slavery. Doing so requires help from people like you. Currently, All People Free is focused on the brickyards of Pakistan, where workers of all generations face conditions akin to modern-day slavery. Like the indentured servants of the past, these workers are coerced into deplorable working conditions with little compensation for their work. While indentures would one day end, the debt and wage slavery of brick workers persists indefinitely. All People Free has a number of initiatives that seek to aid these people and their conditions. Your support can make a difference in their lives and the lives of their families. Most people think that slavery and its incarnations are a relic of human history. While much of our pre-modern world was built on the backs of slaves, we are inclined to believe that the progress of modernity was due to systems of free labor. While it’s true that slavery has been legally abolished in many countries, insidious systems of slavery still persist throughout the world. In fact, modern slavery exists in both the developed and developing world in various forms. In the United States, modern slavery is most associated with human trafficking, and the cruel underground economy that it operates within. However, in other parts of the world, modern slavery happens at the surface and goes completely unpunished.
An example of this in the developing world is in the brickyards of Pakistan. Here, modern slavery traps generations of workers into inescapable debt, preventing them from achieving any social, legal, or economic means of escaping their condition. Thankfully, there are people and organizations trying to eliminate this practice, and they need your help. All People Free is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the elimination of modern slavery in Pakistan. All People Free provides debt relief, education, and investment in these workers, freeing them and their families from these inhumane conditions. If you’re passionate about ending modern slavery, partnering with All People Free is a great place to start. See how you can get involved and combat modern slavery. |
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