Time to go deep

I have talked at length about structural issues leading to the problem of modern slavery. In addition, I have provided a theoretical model for understanding the common mechanisms by which it operates.

To review, human trafficking can be thought of in terms of economics. There is a supply side and a demand side. Additionally, there is a transit and aftermath phase.

The supply side is represented by people at risk for being exploited. The main contributing factor to this is lack of security. The components of security are effective law enforcement and legal systems. They are also economic advantages and access to resources. In sum, these break down the most when the community or society in which people live is poor. In such circumstances, corruption tends to dominate and people tend to take desperate measures to survive. Poverty produces the supply.

The demand is represented by those willing to take advantage of this. Moreover, it is those social and power structures and norms, which permit corrupt individuals to take such advantage. Again corruption is a major issue. So is a lack of effective laws for dealing with such crimes. As to norms, ignorance of the problem is a major contributing factor, as is lack of discussion of solutions. These are the main issues being combated here at Sustainable Anti-Slavery.

However, in the interests of attacking the problem on all sides, we must deal with the transit phase. This is simply enough when people are being moved from the supply to the demand side. Criminal organizations are the main agents in this area. Thus the solution is one of effective law enforcement and good governance. Again, corruption is a major challenge, as is ignorance.

Finally there is the aftermath. People who have been through traumatic experiences tend to need special care. They also need to be reintegrated with society. Criminals also need to be prosecuted and punished. The aftermath is the most neglected element of the problem. Effective aftercare for for victims is underdeveloped, and perpetrators have repeatedly evaded conviction. Why this happens tends to also be linked with norms. Aftercare isn't considered as exciting as brothel raids. Laws relating to human trafficking also make it hard to impose effective punishments against the perpetrators. In many cases here in the US, they are only convicted on immigration charges and go free after a few years. Corruption may again be at play.

As is evident from this analysis, the contributing factors of every element of the problem link and overlap across a broad spectrum. The solutions must be just as integrated and full spectrum. Such theoretical analysis only goes so far without practical application. Thus it is time to go deep and explore more about how this hits the ground around the world. We will embark on case studies of modern slavery from around the world and analyze it based upon the theoretical framework laid out above. From this discussion solutions will arise.

Confronting the Economic Causes

Some say money is the root of all evil. Others say the lack of money is the root of all evil. In fact, when reality is examined, there is truth in both statements. Money is indeed the root of all kinds of evil. Greed drives people in positions of power to neglect their responsibilities and fortify their own interests at the expense of the poor they should be protecting. Poverty drives its victims to seek desperate measures in order to survive, or ensure the survival of loved ones and the community. For example, corruption and all its wows of no clear responsibility and the damage to society that results from this is what made possible the inadequate capacity to deal with the recent earthquake in Haiti. It is the extreme stress of having what little security that did exist taken away that will likely drive the poorest people to do things they normally would not. Things like selling a child to pay for medicine. This sort of things is happening all the time.

However, above all else, money is power. Power to feed the hungery and treat the sick. Power to rebuild and free the oppressed. Even power to properly motivate corrupt officials. In this light, it is a tool. A tool which waits for good people to properly use it to cut the chains of poverty and bondage. How to do this is the question, which must be resolved.

The common practice of providing charity in the form of hand outs is good for disasters. It is very, very bad for transforming societies. People can be kept alive on a hand out, but they can not learn to feed themselves. Someone can be bought from slavery, but will quickly be replaced. They key is to find a sustainable solution.

Most fortunately, I am not alone in this opinion, or in actually taking steps to put such plans into action. A proven method of addressing endemic poverty was pioneered by Muhammad Yunus when he founded the Grameen Bank, the first major micro-financing institution in the world. Today, it is credited with being the main factor in reducing the poverty in Bangladesh over the last few decades.

What made Grameen so successful was its truly long term vision. Low interest loans were provided to enable people who would have no access to credit otherwise to invest in capital to start their own businesses and bring themselves out of extreme poverty. Above all else, it respected the poor and treated them as partners, rather than victims or subjects. In this way, people had "buy in" and the result are speaking for themselves. Economic security has been achieved for thousands of families and the threat of having to sell a son or daughter is no longer a concern.

This threat is not something to be taken lightly. It is a common occurrence throughout the world and western history for that matter to sell a child so save the family. Instead of passing judgment, making possible a reality in which this choice does not need to be made should be the goal.

One way this goal is being achieved by my friend, of whom I wrote in the article before this, is be investing what money is raised for his children's home into agriculture, such as vegetable gardens and rice fields. The children get experience, not only in farming and other useful hand skills, but also in the business acumen needed to turn a profit. All the revenue that is generated by the surplus food that is grown is reinvested in new land or projects or is used to pay educational and other expenses for the children. The home is on its way to not having to accept charity anymore. Surviving families of the children would not think to try to sell them because that would interrupt their valuable education and cut off any future support they would be able to provide.

Such self sustaining humanitarian enterprises are possible throughout the world and can be based an any number of industries, form hand crafts to livestock, and even to services, like garbage disposal. There will always be trash and with the global initiative to reduce pollution, there will be increased demand for recycled goods. Sorting out recyclables takes time and manpower in underdeveloped areas. A garbage sorting facility close to a community could provide employment and excess profit could be reinvested in the community. This is actually being done now in a few towns in Brazil.

The critical factor to consider is what will be sustainably profitable to the whole community. When that is determined, the social business model can be applied and economic security can be won.

However, no measure of economic security for potential victims will help those already enslaved. For this, we will move up the spectrum to explore direct action to free the oppressed.

Standing Up

As has been explained, human trafficking functions in the same way as any other elicit product supply chain. To go beyond base line efforts at confronting the problem by arresting the perpetrators and rescuing the victims, as important as this is, the beginning links in the chain must be addressed. As explained in the preceding story, these links go back to the hometowns and villages of people at risk of enslavement. However, this is not where they begin. They begin with the officials taking bribes to look the other way when brothels continue to illegally operate. They begin with the cost benefits analysis sheets that demonstrate it is more profitable to continue to ignore forced labor in the supply chains of everyday necessities than it is to do the ethical thing and intervene. They begin with bad economic policies that do not properly protect at risk populations. However, if evil really does exist because good people do nothing then this is not the true starting point. These chains begin in the government offices responsible for resource management and with the officials tasked with formulating plans for confronting poverty. They begin with local police officers too afraid to report how their superiors are taking bribes. They begin with people too compassion fatigued to move away from the assumption that the problems of the world are too large to really confront, and towards logical steps to begin that confrontation.

This is where the story really begins with those willing to take the first steps needed, not just to save the oppressed, but also to keep them from being oppressed in the first place. But what does this look like? What does it mean to stand up and confront such evil? Indeed it can take many forms. The fallowing story is a true account of one such form.

I was traveling in Thailand for much of 2008 trying to remain occupied until returning to the US to continue my education. With no concrete plan in mind other than to do what I could to help hill tribe minorities and survivors of the Burmese civil war, I traveled around the north of the country for quite some time becoming accounted with various ethnic groups in the region. On a visit to a Lahu village, I happened to meet a man how was taking care of a number of Burmese orphans. He was trustworthy as far as I could tell and was not asking for money, but rather for help in facilitation opportunities to make what he was doing, saving refugee children, sustainable. I jumped at the opportunity to do what I could and contacted my connections in the US as soon as possible. I found a lot of interest in the possibility and began to plan with my new friend how to set up a sustainable home, making use of social business models for the children in his care. The plans continued to grow and new possibilities continued to open. However, a critical element of protecting these children needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. This was their citizenship status. There are several levels of citizenship in Thailand, and being on the lower levels can be very limiting as it makes one more susceptible to not being protected by law enforcement and being forced into disadvantageous economic situations. These children had no status.



In order to begin confronting this issue, he proposed to move them to a district in which he was friends with a caring official who would do what he could to get citizenship papers for them. This cost much and put us in debt however, it was the only way open.

In Thailand, dealing with local government can be somewhat interesting to someone raised with western notions of respect for the written law and adherence to standards of due process. In the US, getting the government to do something can take months if not years. The bureaucratic maze must be respected. In Thailand knowing the rite people and getting on their good side can get citizenship papers over night.

I got invited to a gathering of the local officials to do just that. As mentioned, getting on an official’s good side can open a world of possibilities. At this gathering, getting on one’s good side consisted primarily of accepting as many drinks as possible in order to demonstrate gratitude and open the door for greater honesty. This is exactly what happened.


In a haze all the next day, I continued to wonder why I had so taxed my liver in the name of cultural recognition. That was until I was told that the officials decided to grant citizenship papers to all the children. I felt victorious as my head continued to spin.

Perhaps it could have happened some other way, but in this way my caring friend, the ethical official who invited us and the sacrifice of my liver all contributed to securing the protection of several at risk children.
What remained to be dealt with was securing their economic protection and that of their brothers and sisters still at risk. How is they supply chain broken on the supply side?

Stay tuned for next time as we explore strategies for full spectrum human security.

Exploring the Complexities of the Human Trafficking Problem

When faced with great challenge, the tendency for most is to be overwhelmed, or to take overly simplistic views of the problems being faced and attempt simplistic solutions. In this case, the simplistic solution always leads to frustration, as the problem never seems to be fully dealt with. This happens all the time and a brief look at the news will show growing fatigue, as the problems we face never seem to go away.

One such problem is slavery. Today, it is normally referred to as human trafficking and it is everywhere. It exists in fields and brick kilns in India and Pakistan. It also exists in suburban neighborhoods in every major US city and quite a few small towns as well. It is second only to narcotics in terms of the revenue it generates for organized crime. It is more brutal today than it ever has been. Unlike in older societies, where there was an economic interest in taking care of the investments slaves represented, today, people are fully disposable. The supply is almost unlimited and the demand is on the rise. According to Kevin Bales, author of Disposable People, the average going rate for a human being in the US before the Emancipation Proclamation was $50,000 adjusted for inflation. Today it is $30. Also, this product can be sold over and over. As big as the problem is, the factors that push people into slavery are even bigger.

Thus, concentrating on the end result of slavery alone always leads to frustration because it never seems to go away. There are laws against slavery in nearly every country on earth and it still exists in every country on earth. Lack of progress leads to compassion fatigue. The more heinous the problem, the faster this happens. In such a state, very simplistic solutions like buying people out of slavery end up getting implemented. This is a truly heinous problem. It is also a very complex problem. However, to every complex problem, there are complex solutions. Embracing this complexity, more holistic approaches to confronting the issue on all levels appear. Concrete plans of action start to develop and, with solid steps to take, we find our way out of compassion fatigue and back on the path to complete abolition.

This abolition will take place as we embrace the full spectrum of strategy to confront all the contributing factors of poverty, crime, corruption, disease, war, etc. that lead to slavery. It is this full spectrum we will now explore.

Photo by mvcorks and used under a creative commons license