Kevin Bales: How to Combat Modern Slavery
*Note* The following information was found in the book "Chronology of World Slavery" by Junius P. Rodriguez. All information is cited according to what page it was found on.
"1948: The United Nations ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document states that 'no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms" (page 378).
Unfortunately, this was not the end of slavery...
Who was Iqbal Masih?
(page 386)
Iqbal's story is just one of many stories of children who are enslaved in the world today.
Rodriguez, Junius P., and Orlando Patterson. Chronology of World Slavery. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999. Print.
- Iqbal was an outspoken 12-year-old former child slave from Pakistan who spoke out against child slavery to the entire world.
- When Iqbal was "loaned" by his father to a carpet factory when he was only 4 years old so his parents would have money to pay for his older brother's wedding.
- He experienced horrific treatment including verbal and physical abuse, being chained to factory equipment, as well as being forced to work in dangerous and otherwise horrible conditions for more than twelve hours per day.
- He escaped his enslavement in 1992 when he was 10 years old and was helped by the Bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF) to attend school where he learned to read and write.
- Using the skills he acquired from his limited schooling, he began to speak out publicly against child slavery. "The BLLF estimates that Iqbal's highly publicized speeches and work on behalf of other child slaves helped free over 3,000 other child workers".
- In 1994 he traveled to Sweden and the U.S. to continue to speak out against child slavery.
- In 1995 he was shot and killed in Pakistan. Though it is not clear who killed Iqbal, the BLLF believes that he was killed by the carpet manufacturers who had taken a $10 million loss in sales after Iqbal exposed his horrendous experience in captivity.
Iqbal's story is just one of many stories of children who are enslaved in the world today.
Rodriguez, Junius P., and Orlando Patterson. Chronology of World Slavery. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999. Print.
In this reference book, a chronological timeline of worldwide slavery is presented in addition to special articles including (but not limited to) the Bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF), the enslavement of undocumented aliens in the United States, and Iqbal Masish. It does cover other topics related to slavery throughout history, such as slave labor during the Holocaust and the enslavement of blacks in America. Excerpts, photographs, and official documents are all included. Definitions of slavery in this book are broader than the narrow-minded vision of an overseer with a whip, which include 1) debt bondage, 2) serfdom, 3) lack of free choice for women in marriage (including considering her as an inheritable object upon the death of her husband as well as her right to refuse entering into a marriage), and 4) the sale or gift of a child by their guardians or parents with the intent of exploiting the child or by gaining a reward. This book also defines such terms as the modern day “slave trade” and other practices that are similar to slavery.
Edited by: Becky Culnan, 5 December 2012
*Note* This website was originally created for a class at the University at Albany. Thus the use of "we" or "our group."
*Note* This website was originally created for a class at the University at Albany. Thus the use of "we" or "our group."