Can Poverty Cause Slavery?

What is the extent poverty can drive people to do the work they do? So can poverty force humans to do inhuman jobs? Then, can poverty cause slavery? Hence, is being forced to do jobs in inhuman conditions without other job opportunities not slavery? Thus, if we think all people in the world have a choice to do the work they want to do, we might be mistaken. So in this post, we’ll discuss how our societies forces people living in extreme poverty to modern day slavery.

In India, poverty forces people to do manual scavenging even if it is unlawful virtually with no protective gear and risk their lives every day. This is because they don’t have any alternative or choice. Then are we forcing these people to do this undignified work under inhuman work conditions? Besides, do we have any accountability? Or it is just because they are poor we can say, hey it is unfortunate and we feel sorry for sure but lets carryon? So, the question may arise: what can we do? Or rather, what should we do? Meaning, do we have a choice to make a difference in their lives? I talk about finding fulfillment in life. But where is life fulfillment for people whom poverty forces into some sort of modern day slavery?

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves”
― Abraham Lincoln

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Modern Day Slavery

According to a report named Global Estimates of Modern Slavery by International Labor Organization on any day in 2016, about 40 million people were victims of modern day slavery. So what is modern day slavery? Since we grew up, didn’t we know slavery was in the past? Which we studied in history classes in school?

Of these 40 million people, our societies or the countries force 25 million into labor and the remaining 25 million into marriage.

Then how does the modern day slavery distribute among females versus males for forced labor and forced marriage? Not surprising the females are the majority at 71%.

More so, how does the data distribute to adults and children? 25% of the modern day slavery victims are children. So did that surprise you?

So how does this distribution of 40 million modern day slavery distribute across the globe? Most of the victims, as we see, are in Africa and Asia/ Pacific. So, do you have forced slavery in your country? More so, were you even aware there is modern day slavery prevalent in our countries? More so, can poverty cause slavery?

Forced Labor

64% of forced labor is exploitation, 19% is sexual exploitation, and the rest (17%) is state-imposed labor. You may ask what is sate-imposed forced labor? Governments use slavery, imprisonment, or conscription to make citizens work for the economy.

Forced Labor Sector

Then let’s dig more into the various sectors of forced labor exploitation. As the data shows, the majority are in domestic work about 24%. Then 18% in construction. Followed by 15% in manufacturing. Then 10% in accommodation and food services. And about 9% in wholesale and trade.

Coercion Means

So what is the breakdown of means of coercion for modern day slavery? How are so-called physical slaves forced to work against their will? About 24% are by withheld wages. Then 17% are by threat of violence and 16% by actual physical violence. Others being 15% and then 12% by a threat against family. 9% had to repay debt and 7% locked in work or living quarters. Another 7% too far away from home and nowhere to go and another 7% punished through fine/ financial penalty. So how does it feel to you the way they coerce modern day slaves to work against their will? Isn’t it heart wrenching?

Debt Bondage

Did you know debt bondage drove that 50% of the entire modern day slavery? So what is debt bondage? It means if someone cannot pay the debt, the only way they can repay is by working as a forced labor. Further, many times work for prolonged periods of time or for their entire life. Doesn’t it sound inhumane? But it’s true, it exists in our societies and the countries we live in, mostly.

Forced Marriage

The data shows over 90% of the forced marriages are in Africa and Asia/ Pacific. Is this a surprise for you? It might be surprising, but we live in a tough world. Just imagine about 15 million, mostly women and children forced into marriage? So have you witnessed this in your countries? If so, what does your country do to prevent it? I get it, it might infringe the privacy or personal matter of someone, but do we have a responsibility as responsible citizens? More so, this is something to think about.

Can Poverty Cause Slavery?

The connection between poverty and slavery in not complicated, rather it is pretty straightforward. And it’s not that we don’t know about it or many times haven’t seen it in our countries. It is for sure not so prevalent in developed countries, but it is blatant in most developing or under-developed countries. Where there is poverty, there will always be someone to take advantage of their situation.

So what do you think? Can poverty cause slavery?

Way Out of Modern Day Slavery

Then how do we deal with the root causes of slavery? How can we end the vicious cycle of poverty? It is primarily a government responsibility. Government policies and implementation of policies drives poverty.

Then do we as citizens have any role in eradicating poverty in our countries? I think we can by raising awareness and driving attention of government to take action. But many times we elect our governments, at least in democratic countries. Then do we elect the right governments? Or we are not qualified to elect our governments who can make the right decisions for our welfare?

Then should we try to move to another country which has more job opportunities and can promise a better quality of life? To escape poverty? And government apathy? But is it not escaping from the problem and not facing it to solve it? Then how much can citizens solve the problems created by the governments? Besides, don’t we make our governments?

Conclusion

I can probably keep on writing on this topic. On poverty and its connection to slavery. But the question is will this writing blogs help anyone? Can we influence any policy maker or policy implementors who can drive a change? Or is it we should opt to join public office to make a change? To conclude, we started with the question: can poverty cause slavery? I shared my viewpoint and thoughts. But what do you think? What do you think we need to do or can do to eradicate modern day slavery?