Modern Shackles: Slavery Still Haunts The Modern World

During my second year in Uni, I took a course on African literature. Basically, we explored the experiences and literary works written by Africans from the earliest times to the present day. One of the interesting topics we covered was slavery. Slavery is almost as old as civilization itself. Before the Europeans came, Africans were already practicing slavery. However, the Europeans arrived with their own gruesome methods. During the 15th to 18th centuries, Africans were gruesomely exploited and forced into chains. The biggest and most gruesome slave trade in history was the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. During this period, Europeans forcibly transported Africans across the Atlantic Ocean. They were made to desert their homes and loved ones. More than 2 million people died. According to a book I read, Africans were chained in uncomfortable positions and could barely move. There were no rooms or facilities for them to relieve themselves so they did everything on the spot, those who couldn’t continue with the torture, unalived themselves.

In essence, my point is that there was a period when human beings practiced slavery and took it as their trade; they made money off people. However, long ago, slavery was abolished in different regions. Of course, slavery was abolished in different regions at different times. For example, the British abolished slavery in 1807 while Brazil abolished the act in 1888. Despite this, slavery is still practiced in many forms around the world. The topic for today’s Hive Learners’ prompt is MODERN DAY SLAVERY. Although slavery has been abolished and made illegal in many countries, is it still being practiced today?

Slavery still exists in many countries, although it is somewhat different from the type that was practiced centuries ago. One of the ways that slavery is still being practiced is through sex trafficking. Months ago, I read a book by an African author; On Black Sisters’ Street by Chika Unigwe. In the novel, four African women are taken to Belgium with promises of greener pastures. They were not doing well in their countries. In fact, one of the women was a first-class graduate who couldn’t secure a job in her country. Unfortunately for them, they fell into the hands of Dele who promised them better lives in Belgium. However, once they got to Belgium, they were forced into prostitution. They could not make choices by themselves or escape the job (and the country) without punishment.

Even today, this form of slavery is still practiced. The truth is that people will always fall into this trap, particularly people living in countries where the economy is poor. In search of a better life, they fall into the hands of sex traffickers. Once they fall into their hands, it is almost impossible to escape. They will take them to a country where they don’t know anyone and no one really cares about them. And they cannot just escape because eyes are on them. In the novel I mentioned above, one of the women tried to escape. Unfortunately for her, she was murdered by the boss.

Another form of slavery in today’s world is forced marriages, which are common in some African countries. Marriage is not just anything to dive into. But I guess civilization hasn’t gotten to some parts of the world, or maybe it has, but some households choose to be ignorant about this fact. Back then, forced marriages were common. Women were not allowed to complete their education because it was believed that they belonged in the kitchen. So once they came of age, their fathers would marry them off to rich families. This was mostly done to increase territories and wealth. Although forced marriages are not as common as they used to be, they still happen and to me, it is slavery. Because tell me why you want a woman to spend the rest of her life with someone she barely knows. In most cases, these forced marriages do not turn out well.

It will be difficult to completely eradicate slavery. Sex traffickers are all around the world, looking for victims to devour. One of the ways to combat this is to implement solid punishments for those who are caught. This might not completely eradicate it, but it will make things a bit better.

Images in this post are mine.

Thanks for reading.