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We're all complicit in the slave trade
The Courier-Mail (Australia)
April 11, 2008
It may be more than 200 years since there was a legalised slave trade, but today the illicit trade in humans is thriving.
It is estimated that more than 27 million people are trafficked or enslaved in an industry worth almost $US31 billion ($A33.3 billion). It is growing so fast it is third in size to the black market for drugs and arms.
In our globalised world we can no longer think of slavery as something that happens "over there".
In fact every time you go to the supermarket you are potentially fuelling this boom in human trafficking and slavery – in which the greatest victims are children.
If you eat chocolate or drive a well-known brand of car with tyres from one of the bigger-name companies, chances are these products have raw ingredients linked to human slavery, exploitation and trafficking.
Recently there has been a push for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to remove chocolate from Parliament House vending machines.
After being hidden in the shadows for years, the issue of slavery and forced labour and its taint on everyday consumer products is now a hot issue in the United States.
It still amazes people that slavery exists today. I first encountered it when the Indian restaurant I used to frequent was in the news after the owner was arrested for trafficking more than 500 girls and boys through the business and on to the sex industry or other worksites.
The children didn't get paid. They were not free to leave when they wanted. They were slaves.
It prompted me to travel the world – covering five continents – to investigate the workings of modern slavery, including going undercover to gather evidence.
It shocked me to find cases in India where up to four generations of one family have been in bonded labour all because of a debt of just $10 that their ancestors took out and were never able to repay.
When workers are given no rights, charged exorbitant interest on their debt and then have their "wages" withheld for rent, food or even materials, they have no hope of ever paying the debt. Yet it is the products made by these people that end up on our supermarket shelves.
In Australia, World Vision has a campaign to highlight the issue of child exploitation on the cocoa fields of West Africa. This cocoa ends up in shops in Australia.
This campaign is designed to raise the awareness of consumers, to get them to seek out fair trade chocolate but also to pressure manufacturers to do more to ensure their products aren't tainted by slavery. And it is this kind of consumer backlash that is a key to getting international action to curb slavery.
Australian companies should also be aware of the public relations risks if they fail to ensure their supply chains overseas are ethical. This is particularly so for countries with operations or links to China.
Australian companies with operations in China have a choice: lead by example or risk the media spotlight being turned on you. Having just returned from China, I can assure you there is increased sensitivity to international scrutiny.
Just last month Nike released a corporate responsibility report focused on China, citing attention from the Beijing Olympics as the main reason for its publication.
Dr David Batstone is an award-winning journalist, ethics professor and author who founded the anti-slavery movement Not for Sale
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