1. “None of us is truly free while others remain enslaved.”
Modern Day Slavery
“None of us is truly free while others remain enslaved.”
–Archbishop Desmond Tutu

2. ‘Slavery…I didn’t know about all these forms that existed
‘Slavery…I didn’t know about all these forms that existed. I think it’s largely because we aren’t expecting it. It is hidden. Generally people would not believe that it is possible under modern conditions. They would say, “No, I think you are making it all up,” because it is just too incredible…’ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

3. Slavery is a word often associated with the past, evoking unimaginable injustices we would rather forget.

4. Slavery: A Background
The abolition of the transatlantic slave trade began 200 years ago, but the practice of slavery did not end.
New forms of slavery are prevalent today – it is estimated that there are currently at least 27 million men, women and children, the equivalent to the entire population of Canada in the early 90s, in slavery around the world.

5. Imagine…
What does that slave look like? What is that slave doing? Where do they live? Are they living in any particular period in history?
Try to imagine your answers to these questions in as much detail as possible.

6. Put your hand up if you imagined a slave who was:
A woman
A child
Alive today
Doing housework, such as cooking and cleaning?
Living in this country
Of white racial background

7. Although the slave trade was abolished 200 years ago, it is estimated that there are at least 21 million men, women and children in slavery around the world today.
Slavery exists even in Canada and affects people of all ages and ethnic/racial backgrounds.
UNDHR:
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement.
Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Article 25
Everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living for … health and wellbeing, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services.

8. What is a Slave? Think-Pair-Share A slave is someone who is:
Forced to work through mental or physical threat
Owned or controlled by an ‘employer’
Physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement
De-humanised
Bought and sold as ‘property’
From women forced into prostitution, children and adults forced to work in agriculture, domestic work, or factories and sweatshops producing goods for global supply chains, entire families forced to work for nothing to pay off generational debts; or girls forced to marry older men, the illegal practice still is present even today.

9. Someone is in slavery if they are:
There are many different characteristics that distinguish slavery from other human rights violations, however, only one needs to be present for slavery to exist.
Someone is in slavery if they are:
Forced to work-through mental or physical threat
Owned or controlled by an “employer”, usually through mental or physical abuse, or the threat of abuse
Dehumanized, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as “property”
Physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement

10. Modern-day slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, gender, and races.

11. Fact or Myth Quiz Slavery still exists today.
FACT: Although traditional slavery is illegal in all countries, it still persists today in various forms.
Slavery still exists in the United States.
FACT: Estimates by the U.S. State Department suggest that up to 17,500 slaves are trafficked into the U.S. every year, with 50,000 of those working as prostitutes, farm workers or domestic servants. According to the CIA, more than 1,000,000 people are enslaved in the U.S. today.

12. Victims of human trafficking in the US are always illegal immigrants.
MYTH: Human trafficking does not require the physical movement of a person (but must entail the exploitation of the person for labor or commercial sex). Additionally, victims of human trafficking are not permitted to leave upon arrival at their destination. Trafficked victims in the U.S. are both U.S. citizens and immigrants (legal and illegal) and all are equally protected under all legal statutes regarding trafficking.
Sex trafficking is the only form of human trafficking.
MYTH: Elements of human trafficking also occur in situations of forced labor or services. The broader concept of human trafficking encompasses both “sex trafficking” and “labor trafficking.”

13. Human trafficking only occurs in illegal, underground industries.
MYTH: Elements of human trafficking can be identified whenever the means of force, fraud, or coercion induce a person to perform commercial sex acts, or labor and services. This means that trafficking can occur in legitimate business settings, as well as underground markets. Victims of trafficking can be found in domestic situations (where victims are forced to be nannies or servants), sweatshop factories, construction, farming, landscaping, fisheries, hotel or tourist industries, the sex trade, janitorial services, restaurant services, and in other sectors.
Trafficking and slavery victims are always poor and uneducated.
MYTH: Although poverty is one of the biggest risk factors, anyone can become a victim of human trafficking and modern enslavement. In fact, victims come from a range of income levels—some victims are university-educated, some are professionals, and some come from middle class and upper class suburban areas.

14. Most slavery victims are women and children.
Slavery is hidden behind many other names, thus disguising it from society.
MYTH: Some of these names include chattel slavery (traditional slavery), bonded labor, trafficking, forced labor, and involuntary servitude.
Most slavery victims are women and children.
FACT: The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center suggests that three out of four slavery victims are women and that half of all modern-day slaves are children.

15. The value, or cost, of slave labor has decreased over time.
FACT: In 1850, the monetary value placed on a human being sold into slavery was approximately $40,000. According to figures published by Free the Slaves, the parallel cost today averages around $90, depending on the type of forced labor.
There must be elements of physical restraint, physical force, or physical bondage for the situation of an individual to be classified as trafficking or enslavement.
MYTH: Physical restraint or bodily harm is not required for an individual to be considered a slave or trafficking victim. Individuals may also be held against their will through psychological means of control (such as threats of violence) or abuse of the legal process.

16. There are more people in slavery now than at any other time in human history.
FACT: According to research carried out by the organization Free the Slaves, more people are currently enslaved worldwide than ever before. In its 400 years, the transatlantic slave trade is estimated to have shipped up to 12 million Africans to various colonies in the West. Free the Slaves estimates that the number of people in slavery today is at least 27 million.
If a person consents to the initial situation that then leads to human trafficking, that person is not a victim but a willing participant.
MYTH: According to the United Nations, consent is irrelevant in the case of exploitation.

17. Human trafficking is the 2nd largest criminal industry in the world.
FACT: The United Nations estimates that human trafficking generates around $7 billion dollars a year—a number that is surpassed only by the drug industry.

18. Slavery 101 
Were you surprised to discover that slavery still exists?
Did you know anything about the types of slavery mentioned in the film?
What are your reactions to any statistics regarding the frequency with which slavery occurs? To the statistics on slavery in the United States?
How has your definition or particular view of slavery changed after viewing the film clip? Do you view slavery differently now?
Do you feel that these types of slavery are an issue of concern? Should these modern forms of slavery be addressed in the same way as more traditional forms of slavery that you have learned about previously? Are they, or should they be, considered equally reprehensible?
Does it upset you that people are enslaved in this way? Why or why not?
Why do you think there is not a higher level of awareness of modern-day slavery and those it affects?

19. Modern Slavery
In your booklets, match the definitions with the different examples of modern slavery:
Forced Labour
Sexual Slavery
Child Labour
Bonded Labour
Forced Marriage
Descent-Based Slavery

20. Child Labour: Bonded Labour:
This form of slavery exists when the labourer is below the minimum legal working age. Many young people are forced to work because they are poor and cannot survive without the extra income. Employers prefer to hire workers who are below the minimum legal age because, compared to adults, they are less likely to protest against low wages and poor working conditions.
Bonded Labour:
This form of slavery is when a person is forced to work as a means of repayment for a loan. It is also sometimes known as ‘debt bondage’. The labourer will often receive basic food and shelter as ‘payment’ for their work, but may never pay off the loan, which can be passed down for generations.

21. Forced Labour: Forced Marriage:
This type of slavery affects people who are illegally recruited by individuals, governments or political parties and made to work against their will. The victims of this kind of slavery are threatened with violence and other punishments and usually receive little or no pay for their work.
Forced Marriage:
This type of slavery affects girls and women who are told who they are to marry and are not given any choice on the matter. Many of these girls and women are treated as slaves by their husbands and are often victims of physical violence.

22. Descent-Based Slavery: Sexual Slavery:
This type of slavery affects people who are born into a ‘group’ that society views as suited to being used as slave labour. This ‘group’ could be based on class, race or ethnicity. People born into this group face ongoing discrimination throughout their life and aren’t free to choose what kind of work they do or who they work for.
Sexual Slavery:
This type of slavery affects mostly girls and women, though occasionally young boys too, and involves forcing them to provide whatever sexual services are required. Usually they are locked up and routinely subjected to actual or threatened physical violence as well as sexual abuse. Sex without consent is, of course, rape.

23. Slavery is a global criminal industry, worth about $32 billion annually.
This amount is approaching and set to surpass illegal drug trafficking and illicit arms sales.
Public awareness of modern slavery is low, enabling traffickers to lure thousands of victims into forced labour situations.
Canada is not immune. We are a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.

24. Slavery is increasingly present worldwide, including in North America.
According to the United Nations, an estimated 6000,000 to 8000,000 people are trafficked internationally each year, with as many as 17,500 people trafficked into the United States alone.

25. How is this different from slavery in the past?
Modern slavery differs from chattel slavery of the 18th and 19th centuries in three important respects:
The cost of slaves has fallen to a historical low. Slaves can now be acquired in some parts of the world for as little as five dollars.
Slaves are now held for a shorter length of time and are more likely to be seen as disposable.

26. Slavery is now globalized
Slavery is now globalized. Modern slavery is part of the process of globalization itself. This “dark underbelly of globalization,” as Hillary Clinton put it, is manifestly different than traditional, more publicized forms of slavery, yet it retains many of its characteristics: slaves today are forced to work without pay under the threat or use of violence every day. The millions of “wage slaves” who make as little as $1 or $2 a day are not modern slaves under this definition from which the 27 million estimate has been derived, but rather another category of individuals who live in destitution.

27. Slavery continues to thrive and, in many instances, relies upon trickery and poverty. Individuals are very often vulnerable to slavery because of a lack of job opportunities.
Other all-too-common scenarios include cases in which parents sell their children.
Poverty can be attributed as the underlying structural reason for such human transactions.
Victims of slavery very often do not speak the language of the receiving country and are unable to communicate or seek help.
Their passports are generally confiscated by the perpetrators, and victims live with little or no money and under the constant threat of violence and even death.
Men, women, and children who believed they were seeking a new life find themselves trapped as slaves.

28. Modern slavery may very well be the world’s most under-publicized human rights crisis.

29. What are the causes?
Poverty, vulnerability, war, and conflict zones, and lack of basic rights being protected
Inequality, lack of access to land and education, lack of law enforcement
Commodities and consumerism
Corruption, apathy, and desperation
Lack of awareness and action

31. 3 Reasons Why Slavery Is Rising
The first, a recent population explosion has tripled the number of people in the world, with most growth taking place in the developing world.
The second, rapid social and economic change, have displaced many to urban centers and their outskirts, where people have no ‘safety net’ and no job security.
The third, government corruption around the world, allows slavery to go unpunished, even though it is illegal everywhere.

32. African Slave Trade vs. Modern Slavery
An average slave in the American South in 1850 cost the equivalent of $40,000 in today’s money; today a slave costs an average of $90.
In 1850 it was difficult to capture a slave and then transport them to the US. Today, millions of economically and socially vulnerable people around the world are potential slaves.