Freeing the Slaves
by Lucy Cardet, OSF - U.S. Justice and Peace Committee

God has blessed us. Having shared about human trafficking with persons and organizations we knew, more opportunities for learning and engaging others presented themselves, opportunities that were both encouraging and challenging. When approached by organizers of a February anti-slavery event at NOVA University to fund the keynote speaker's travel expenses, Miguel Milanes, vice president of Allegany Franciscan Ministries (AFM) made the best of the opportunity. He invited the speaker, Dr. Kevin Bales, to come to an AFM-hosted luncheon and also collaborated with Barry University's Department of Sociology, asking Dr. Bales to speak at their anti-slavery forum as well. Dr. Bales is the founder/president of Free The Slaves (www.freetheslaves.net ), the U.S. sister organization of Britain's Anti-Slavery International. He is Professor Emeritus at Roehampton University in London and a world-leading expert on modern slavery.

A canceled flight prevented him from attending the luncheon with about 15 persons from local foundations, agencies, universities and organizations. Instead, we viewed and discussed a documentary on slavery and the collaborative work that is being done to end slavery and to rescue/rehabilitate former slaves. One proposed fol-low-up is the formation of an alliance on human traffick-ing, with the intention of bringing together groups in South Florida.

Later in the day, Dr. Bales gave an excellent presentation on contemporary slavery to Barry students, faculty and guests. This terrible evil impacts the lives of millions. However, the efforts being made at ending it are encour-aging. Additional collaboration with Dr. Bales may be possible in the future. The following information is para-phrased from his presentation.

Although we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the end of slave trade (U.S.), slavery persists. People are now considered disposable and, as the world population has increased, so has the number of slaves.estimated at 27 million in the world. In some countries, a person can be sold for as little as $10.

Getting people out of slavery is both�

    Bottom up - one person at a time

    Top down - government, international organizations to do work and end slavery

Consumers can make a difference. Thousands of chil-dren are enslaved to work at carpet looms in India. Look for carpets sold with "RUGMARK" approval, verifying that no slave labor has been involved.

Governments can make a difference. In Brazil, about 4,500 people are freed from slavery every year, ten times the number in the USA. Brazil has a permanent Commission for the Eradication of Slavery as part of their government.

COST? How much does it cost to get a family out of slavery and help them achieve new lives of dignity and full citizenship (i.e. the cost of supporting the anti-slavery efforts needed)? A family in India - $130; a boy in Ghana - $400; in the U.S. - $20-30,000 (includes health care, etc.). In freeing slaves, look to what is needed for freedom, autonomy and dignity, not just emancipation.

The estimated total cost to get all the slaves of the world out of slavery is about $10.8 billion. A lot of money, yes, but the equivalent of what Boston spent on road tunnels or what Seattle will spend on a projected light rail�c.not much in a global world.

Once again, as we learned more from Kevin Bales and others, we asked, "What can we do?" Pray to know. Continue to raise awareness. Invite Dr. Bales and others who have seen today's slavery to keep us informed. Ending slavery is possible and it is Kingdom work.�God has blessed us.

Suggested Books by Kevin B. Bales: Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy. University of California Press. 2004 (revised edition)
Ending Slavery: How We Free Today�fs Slaves. University of California Press. 2007 (eBook version: ebooks.com)