Fair Trade Persuasive Writing.

Slavery in Africa has existed since the 9th century C.E when you could buy a slave for a
considerable amount of money now , however slaves are considered an expendable resource and are can be purchased for as little as $50. This is horrific a human life is worth everything if not a measly $50.

After a slave has been purchased they are forced into years of hard, unpaid, undesirable labour. But after a while you might say well you might get used to it having your life controlled by horrible people but by the time someone might get used to it they will be dead a lifeless, bony corpse the slaves deaths are usually caused by collapses in mines, inhaling toxic gasses and fumes from the factory the work in or from the repeated beating from the cruel people that purchase them in the first place.

But how do they get the slaves in the first place? they get them by abducting children when they are walking home after school and corrupt government officials working in care homes offering the children a home or by a way of making money they are then “trafficked” to the slave sellers or straight to the buyer it works the same way as a bunch of bananas (as in going from the tree to your mouth) the child is “picked” then sent using human “trafficking” to the illegal slave merchant then is put on the market so people can buy the poor child a mine might then buy the child the child is sent to the mine to produce the metal that cases your ipod.

Let me paint you a picture, your a 12 year old slave child working in an illegal mine in Africa that produces steel for the knife and fork that you use to cut your steak. You have been in the slave trade since you were 3 you only surface to sleep you barley get any sleep, you only get sips of water and near nothing to eat, you can count all your ribs and most of the bones in your arms and legs. Yesterday a branch of the mine collapsed, 5 people died and some of the debris landed on your foot you think it’s broken but you can’t be sure because no one cares and you’ve had no medical treatment.

This is the kind of treatment slaves receive. Back when slavery was legal slaves received a good food, decent sleeping quarters, a bit of pay and the occasional beating if they make a bad mistake. What have we done to the world, we may not realize it but we subtly support the slavery system by buying products that have components or that have been fully made by slaves we can’t know for certain if a product is made by slaves but some brands with older models will have a high chance of being made by slaves theses brands include Dell, Apple, Sony, Phillips, Nokia, LG, Flight companies, Gilbert, Nintendo, Samsung, Cannon and no-brand items that include ipod cases and electrical items.

We can’t know for certain if something is made by slaves but it is reassuring to know that there are organizations’ out there that are acting, and are making a difference. Such organizations’ are Fair Trade, Free The Slaves, Freedom Centre, Anti Slavery, Trade Aid and Free The Children, there are probably lots more lesser-known organizations that are acting and making a difference.
Large companies are cracking down on suppliers that are using slavery, this is a great reassurance .

But there are other slaves out there, even prisoners in China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea and Cambodia are forced into slavery, these slaves are tortured more than usual and you would think that the guards would guard you and not torture you but the guards have access to stun guns, baton rounds, pepper spray and batons they use these weapons as well as sleep depravation, food depravation and water depravation but you think this is bad this is worse most prisoners are framed by police just say there was a unsolved murder a few years back you were framed by police saying it was you and getting fake evidence the jury was corrupt you got 10 more years added on to a breaking and entering sentence. This is horrific treatment that no one can stop because the governments of these countries are willing to turn a blind eye to this sick treatment of human lives just to make a few dollars so organizations such as Free The Slaves and freedom Centre can do. I feel sorry for those who have been framed and tortured and can’t be saved.

Let me paint you another picture. You are a Russian prisoner, you were thrown into prison for tax evasion, you are poor and have no money to pay the taxes, the police said you robbed a jewelry store a few years ago thats why you had such an expensive ring in your pocket the robbery never happened it was made up so that you would get more time in prison the ring was your great grandmothers you received a hefty prison sentence and a big fine the ring probably ended up on some rich, corrupt government officials finger and you got 7 years in prison 2 more years than usual because the judge didn’t like the look of you, you have served 18 months so far and you are as thin as a rake you’ve had no food for 2 days and you get tortured everyday you make headphones under the name of a chinese manufacturer your fingers have blisters on them and your back is a mass of scabs and deep gouges made by the guards’ whips’ you think you will die eventually you hope you die eventually because you can’t take much more of the pain. This is horrific treatment of a human life these people are mostly innocent or done something small and got big time for something they didn’t do about a quarter of the prison population in these countries have done something big and are serving time already.

There are 20.9 million slaves at this moment maybe more no one knows, but the numbers are dropping due to the actions of the organizations that are set up to stop this horrific treatment, it  is usually bigger companies that have slave made components coming from suppliers that use slaves without the companies knowledge, this will eventually stop as such companies are cracking down on slave using manufacturers. We can help by looking out for products with the Trade Aid and Fair Trade stickers or packaging on, buy the newer products as they have a lesser chance of being made by slaves so a ipod generation 2 or 3 has a higher chance of being made by a slave than a ipod generation 4 or 5 ( the actual product is fine it’s the components that are pre-made that are a worry ). So when your buying things from groceries to an apple computer look for new products or if they have a Fair Trade or Trade Aid sticker that’s even better for all you know you could be helping a slave child in an illegal tin mine in Africa or a extorted prisoner in Russia.

 Written by Andrew Jopson-Reeves.