Lauren M. Williams
HONR 2750
R. Arnold
February 20, 2012
Modern Slavery
This article illustrates the problem of contemporary slavery and the challenge it poses for professional social workers. Some of the primary concerns of the article are providing a concise and generally accepted definition of slavery, outlining the types of slavery, emphasizing the scope of contemporary slavery, and detailing the possible policy options available to deal with slavery.
For the modern social worker, difficulty lies in defining exactly what kind of behavior characterizes slavery. The article defines slavery in several different ways, but all definitions are consistent in defining slavery as a form of oppression that uses violence force victims to involuntarily perform work or services as dictated by the “employer.” It also describes the different types of slavery that exist today and where they are most likely to be found across the globe.
Secondly, the article discusses the problem of providing accurate estimates of the number of slaves in the world today. This arises from the fact that advocacy groups tend to inflate their numbers to emphasize the importance of the problem whereas governments tend to deflate their numbers to distance themselves from the problem in their own country. According to these estimates, there are somewhere between 800,000 and 27 million slaves in our world today.
Lastly, this article lists possible policy solutions to this problem and why or why not each of these options would work. Particularly emphasized is the fact that the primary difference between the slave master and slave has shifted from race in the past to economic status and vulnerability today.
Since most of my community service hours will be tied to organizing a fundraiser for the International Justice Mission, a human rights agency concerned with rescuing slavery victims from their oppressors, this article has greatly enlightened me on the different types of slavery and the difficulties of freeing slaves. In addition to the simple enslavement problem, there is also the social aspect of slavery which makes liberating slaves difficult. Many victims are brainwashed by their oppressors into believing that this life is the only thing that they are good for or that they must repay their debt, even after their employer has been arrested. It opened my eyes to the economical aspect of the issue as well as the importance of defining slavery and how this impacts the methods that rescuers use when dealing with victims and oppressors. Also, I did not realize before reading this article exactly how many different kinds of slavery exist in our world. Most advocates emphasize only sex trafficking and child exploitation since they generate the most gut-wrenching and emotional reactions.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Androff, David K. "The Problem of Contemporary Slavery: An International Human Rights Challenge for Social Work." International Social Work 54.2 (2011): 209-22. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.
This article was written by David K. Androff of the School of Social Work at Arizona State University for the academic journal International Social Work. This article addresses professional social workers concerning the problem of contemporary slavery; particularly in definition, policy, estimates, and responses to this problem. This corresponds with my community service project in the aspect that it details the problem of contemporary slavery and the issues agencies face when trying to address this problem. It highlights the importance of a concise definition of slavery for the purposes of better preparing professional social workers to discern what methods to use regarding each type of slavery and the reasons why victims are trafficked. Also addressed is the issue of the uncertainty of the number of human trafficking victims in the world and the importance of using correct terminology and methodology when communicating with slave masters and anti-slavery agencies.
