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Category Archives: Wage Slavery

Free Slavery Essays and Papers

Posted: June 18, 2017 at 11:06 am

Title Length Color Rating Slavery and the Anti-slavery Movement - Anytime we hear the word slavery, we tend to think of the Southern United States during the Pre-Civil War era. What many people dont know, is that this horrible act has occurred worldwide. The term slavery has many different definitions, and has occurred all throughout our world history. It wasnt until the early 18th century that the thought of anti-slavery came about. Many economic, social, and technological forces have played a part in the decline of slavery around the globe. The first definition that comes to mind when we hear this term, is the act of being a slave or a person who does not own their own labor.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 11 Works Cited 1030 words (2.9 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Analysis of Arguments for the Slavery Institution - Analysis of Arguments for the Slavery Institution The foundation of this paper will highlight the following questions: How might southern apologists for slavery have used the northern wage slave discussed in the last chapter to justify slavery. To what extent do you agree with this argument. How did slaves use religious belief and kinship to temper their plight. Did this strategy play into the hands of slaveholders. How were non-slaveholding whites and free people of color affected by the institution of slavery.... [tags: Slavery] 513 words (1.5 pages) Good Essays [preview] Enormity of Slavery - In the 1800s, many slave owners thought it fair for Africans to work without pay, because they believed that this particular group of people were made by God for this sort of work, and that slave owners were ever caring and conscientious of their slaves anyway, making slavery an easy life; truthfully, however, as both Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs experienced in being slaves most of their lives, and then showed in their narratives, this cruel and unusual practice was the epitome of iniquity- notwithstanding the fact that they were created equal to their malefactors.... [tags: Slavery] 1612 words (4.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] 18th Centry Slavery In North America - People crying for freedom and liberty from tyranny built a nation out of greed and unethical acts. The rapacious desires of a nation to gain wealth and possessions lead to the emotional and psychological trauma of West Africans and African Americans. In spite of being taken from Africa, the sweat and blood of these Africans contributed to the birth of the beautiful nation that would eventually recognize their descendants as equals. The Exploration Age commenced in the fifteenth century when European nations decided to expand their power for technological, demographic, and economic reasons.... [tags: Slavery] :: 5 Works Cited 917 words (2.6 pages) Good Essays [preview] An End To Slavery - The society that became known as the United States had its beginnings when the first English settlers set foot on North American soil. Whether that settler landed in Massachusetts or Virginia, their beginnings on this continent were all influenced by the society that they had left behind. These included many aspects of England's society, culture, economy, and politics. Those societal, cultural, economic and political beginnings can be traced throughout our history in the mindset that both the North and South represented.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 1394 words (4 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Origins of Chattel Slavery in Colonial North America - The Origins of Chattel Slavery in Colonial North America There have been many illuminating studies in the field of the origins of chattel slavery in Colonial North America. Alpert, 1970; Edmondson, 1976; Jordan, 1962: Ruchames, 1967; Starr, 1973, wrote seminal studies that did much to bring insight to the subject. Goetz, 2009; Mason, 2006; Smaje, 2002; Neeganagwedgin, 2012, presented evidence that have either reexamined old questions or used new methods and approaches to ask news questions to add insight to this topic.... [tags: Slavery] :: 13 Works Cited 1586 words (4.5 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Consequences of Slavery - Abstract Slavery, like many ill-fated and evil inventions reached epidemic levels in early Europe and the American colonies. The history of slavery is documented most acutely during the period when slaves first arrived to the new land and when the colonies had first developed into the fledging United States of America. This would lead us to believe that slavery had not existed before this period or that the consequences and relevance of it had little historical, social, or economical importance.... [tags: Slavery, history, informative] :: 6 Works Cited 2031 words (5.8 pages) Better Essays [preview] Slavery and Abolition - The term slave is defined as a person held in servitude as the chattel of another, or one that is completely passive to a dominating influence. The most well known cases of slavery occurred during the settling of the United States of America. From 1619 until July 1st 1928 slavery was allowed within our country. Slavery abolitionists attempted to end slavery, which at some point; they were successful at doing so. This paper will take the reader a lot of different directions, it will look at slavery in a legal aspect along the lines of the constitution and the thirteenth amendment, and it will also discuss how abolitionists tried to end slavery.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 4 Works Cited 1581 words (4.5 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Colors of Slavery - When Americans think about slavery, they tend to think about "Africans" being brought to the New World against their will. Which upon their arrival were sold, the same as livestock, as permanent property to the white landowners. They may visualize in their minds a person of color shackled, chained, beaten, and forced to labor under the control of their white master. Their picture is that of chattel slavery; black and white. Americans have come to the assumption that slavery was imposed on people of one color or race.... [tags: History Slavery] :: 3 Works Cited 1795 words (5.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Evolution of Slavery - A person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; this is the definition of a slave. Over a span of 400 years 12 million Africans were captured, brought to the New World by approximately 40,000 ships and then enslaved. Thats 80 or more slaves per day. The perspective of white Southerners, Northerners and persons of color has evolved and are different. The slave trade into the United States began in 1620 with the sale of nineteen Africans to a colony called Virginia. These slaves were brought to America on a Dutch ship and were sold as indentured slaves.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 4 Works Cited 1044 words (3 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The History of Slavery in the United States - Following the success of Christopher Columbus voyage to the Americas in the early16th century, the Spaniards, French and Europeans alike made it their number one priority to sail the open seas of the Atlantic with hopes of catching a glimpse of the new territory. Once there, they immediately fell in love the land, the Americas would be the one place in the world where a poor man would be able to come and create a wealthy living for himself despite his upbringing. Its rich grounds were perfect for farming popular crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 3 Works Cited 1435 words (4.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Slavery in the American South - Slavery is a form of forced free labor in which one human being is the property of another. Close to two million slaves were brought to the American South from African and the West Indies during the Atlantic slave trade. The American South accounted for over 20% African Americans. As late as 1900, 9 out of every 10 African Americans lived in the South. Slavery supported the economic structure for the planter aristocracy. In 1850 only 1,773 families owned more than 100 slaves each, and this group provided the political and social leadership of the section and nation.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 612 words (1.7 pages) Better Essays [preview] The Cotton Gin and Slavery - ... There were many arguments both for and against but this paragraph will focus only on the pro slavery arguments. Many people used the Bible and religion as support; they would cite passages where 'the good servant obeyed his master'. And even though most priests were initially against slavery many of them, especially in the south, changed after they saw how much wealth could be made with cotton; slavery actually benefited slaves because ' it made them part of a prosperous Christian empire'. Others simply stated that blacks were a lesser race and needed to be ruled over as they were not capable of ruling themselves.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 1160 words (3.3 pages) Good Essays [preview] Slavery in the English Colonies - Although, Slavery had existed for centuries as a lowest social status in different parts of the world like Africa, Roman Empire, Middle East and etc., in English colonies slavery gained an importance, because of increasing demand for labor force and becoming relationship legitimated by law. Therefore, Englishmen were the reason of slavery in the colonies and its consequences. In the beginning of 17 century a group of merchants established first permanent English colonies in North America at Jamestown, Virginia.... [tags: slavery, USA, ] 829 words (2.4 pages) Better Essays [preview] History of Slavery in America - Working long hours, whipped to death, starved, and broken spirits all describe a slave. Its not something you hear every day. Its not something anyone ever wants to hear. Just because we dont hear it every day doesnt mean it doesnt exist. I decided to do Slave Rights to remind people that there is still slavery in the world today. If people are educated about the past then they may not make the same mistakes in the future. It has been postulated that ancient civilizations would not have developed had it not been for slavery.... [tags: American Slavery] :: 15 Works Cited 1738 words (5 pages) Better Essays [preview] Slavery in the American Colonies - 1. In the American colonies, Virginians switched from indentured servants to slaves for their labor needs for many reasons. A major reason was the shift in the relative supply of indentured servants and slaves. While the colonial demand for labor was increasing, a sharp decrease occurred in the number of English migrants arriving in America under indenture. Slaves were permanent property and female slaves passed their status on to their children. Slaves also seemed to be a better investment than indentured servants.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 954 words (2.7 pages) Better Essays [preview] Abraham Lincoln Supported Slavery - The Presidents Day holiday is celebrated in the cold month of February; children in classrooms across the United States are given a litany of the Presidents and their most famous accomplishments: George Washington, who could not tell a lie is the father of our country; John Kennedy, the dashing young man who asked, not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country, was assassinated in a mystery that still remains unsolved, and Honest Abe Lincoln, the Great Emancipator who authored the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves, is credited with beginning the long road in the fight for equality for blacks.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 10 Works Cited 1620 words (4.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Religion's Influence on the Slavery Debates - Slavery was a dominant part of the political and social arenas of 1800s America. However, it was not homogenous as it divided America into two distinct groups: those who supported it and those who did not. Traditionally, the states in the north had been anti-slavery while the states in the south had been pro-slavery. Southern life and economy depended on slavery and therefore staunchly supported the continued legal status of slavery. The northern states on the other hand recognized the inhumane nature of slavery and campaigned to establish equality for all citizens.... [tags: anti-slavery, pro-slavery, theology, equality] :: 1 Works Cited 1362 words (3.9 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Political Debate of Slavery - During the Antebellum period, the issue of slavery affected many religious and political debates. This was seen in the Lincoln Douglass debates, legislation, and the evolution of political parties. The political debates that fueled the slavery controversy were derived from legislation. The first legislation passed was the three-fifths compromise. Naturally, southern states wanted slaves to be counted as a whole person because the slave population in the south was larger. The northern states opposed this.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 2 Works Cited 1195 words (3.4 pages) Better Essays [preview] Thomas Jefferson and Slavery - Thomas Jefferson is a man who really needs no introduction. He was recognized as a luminous writer who was appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence. Congress formally approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Jefferson owned many slaves that worked for him. He would often even sell his slaves to buy others. Why then would he write in the Declaration of Independence, all men are created equal. Is it possible that Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite and only wrote what the population wanted to see.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 4 Works Cited 991 words (2.8 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Abolition of Slavery and the American Constitution - In 1688 the first American movement was the one to abolish slavery when the German and Quakers decent in Pennsylvania. The Quakers establishment had no immediate action for the Quaker Petition against slavery. The first American abolition society was the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully by the Quakers that had strong religious objections of slavery. In 1756 John Woolman gave up his business to campaign against slavery along with other Quakers. Thomas Paine was the first to write an article about the United States abolition of slavery and it was titled African Slavery in America.... [tags: american history, slavery] 726 words (2.1 pages) Better Essays [preview] Lincoln's view on Slavery and How it Evolved - Lincolns View on Slavery.And How It Evolved Abraham Lincoln spent most of his political career as a member of the Whig party endorsing policies that aided economic development, supported free soil and opposed the expansion of slavery. Lincoln was instrumental in creating the voice of the Republican Party and during that process his own views on slavery were shaped. He played the middle ground and therefore appealed to both former conservative northern Whigs, and radical Republicans. The Civil War proved to be a turning point in Lincolns view of slavery and the extent he would go to abolish it.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 2 Works Cited 1675 words (4.8 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Sex Trade: Slavery and Prostitution - Individuals around the world are faced with inhumane treatments and conditions daily. Traffickers use force, fraud or coercion, including techniques such as containment, beatings, rape, confiscation of documents, debt bondage, false owners of employment, and threats of harm in order to maintain control over their slaves (Potocky, 2010). Sex trade is a global problem presently and will increase throughout the world if nothing is done to prevent and eliminate it. Sex slavery is a type of prostitution in which the traffickers make an increased profit through the solicitation of slaves.... [tags: legal issues, slavery, prostitution] :: 8 Works Cited 1384 words (4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Comparing Slavery of the South and North - ... In addition, the Africans had vast knowledge about farming having worked in farms in their native lands. By the 1700s, slavery was widely practiced in the Americas. Similarity of South and North towards Slavery Agricultural production in the United States depended on slaves. They were made to toil and moil in farms for long hours with overseers employed to watch over and direct the work of slaves. Slaves who were unable to execute their full share of work were whipped by the overseers. There were a few plantations owners who felt responsible for the welfare of their works and treated their slaves with respect.... [tags: slavery, african slaves] 1600 words (4.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Slavery: The Dividing of a Country - ... In Americas letter to the British the founding fathers mentioned inalienable rights, that all men were free; allowing slavery to continue in America made its citizens hypocrites. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation (as embodied in the two great political parties), is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria, and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and C... [tags: abolitionists, pro-slavery, society] :: 3 Works Cited 528 words (1.5 pages) Good Essays [preview] The Evolution of Slavery in Colonial America - ... They also corralled the Africans behavior and past from them every conceivable advantage of labor and creativity, often through unimaginable mental and physical cruelty. Slaveholding attracted the European colonists but target on realizing the dreams that brought them to America even when it subjected others to a fearful moment. Many indians remained free and resisted slavery but they escaped too easily into a countryside but they knew intimately in striking a difference to capture Africans, who found the countryside even more unfamiliar than the Europeans in America.... [tags: slavery, john butler, africans] 594 words (1.7 pages) Good Essays [preview] Slavery in American Society: Impact and Evolution - Slavery in American Society: Impact and evolution Slavery in American Society The controversies surrounding slavery have been established in many societies worldwide for centuries. In past generations, although slavery did exists and was tolerated, it was certainly very questionable, ethically. Today, the morality of such an act would not only be unimaginable, but would also be morally wrong. As things change over the course of history we seek to not only explain why things happen, but as well to understand why they do.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 8 Works Cited 1631 words (4.7 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Bible in Relation to Slavery - The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, and with good reason. For the stories written in it have changed the way many think and even believe when it comes to the power greater than this world. The Bible holds very specific opinions on things such as slavery, who humans should treat each other, and ultimately social justice. It has been one of the most important foundations for allowing social reform to occur in modern day history as well as the history of the whole world. However, it is forgotten in history class how prominent the ancient texts have changed the people.... [tags: Religion, History, Slavery] :: 3 Works Cited 1787 words (5.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] If Slavery were Considered Moral - Describe the differences of this time period if slavery was considered "right". ISSUES TO UNDERSTAND CH. 14 1) The Compromise of 1850 was a dispute on whether or not Mexico (gained by US) would become a slave or free state. The northerners didn't want the 36'30' line to be moved to the Pacific and the southerners didn't want "free soilism" which would make Mexico a free state. Northerners gained from the Compromise California as a free state, New Mexico and Utah as likely future slave states, a favorable settlement of the New Mexico-Texas boundary, and the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Colombia.... [tags: Slavery] 1110 words (3.2 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Real Heroes of Slavery in the United States - As a child in elementary and high school, I was taught that President Abraham Lincoln was the reason that African slaves were freed from slavery. My teachers did not provide much more information than that. For an African American student, I should have received further historical information than that about my ancestors. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity or desire to research slavery on my own until college. And with my eagerness and thirst for more answers concerning my African American history, I set out to console my spirit, knowledge, and self-awareness of my ancestors history.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 1983 words (5.7 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The U.S. Constitution and Slavery - The US constitution was written with great vision to create strong nation. The bill of right were written, it provide all humans with rights. The writers of the constitution we hypocrites, they didnt abide by what they preached. Thomas Jefferson wrote himself all men are created equal but he owned slaves. The founding father didnt look or even think about slavery when they wrote the constitution. They were pre-occupied in getting the southern state to join the union and sign the new constitution.... [tags: USA, constitution, slavery, history, ] 408 words (1.2 pages) Strong Essays [preview] From Slavery to Presidential Power - When people look at a persons appearance, no two people will ever look alike. When people look at a persons character, no two people will ever look alike. Color, being the only thing that was similar, caused people of white race to see themselves as superior to those of African-American race. Slavery, which first arrived in Virginia in 1619, was followed by a number of events; many laws and amendments were passed, like the Fugitive Slave Law. Slavery resulted in Civil War, later gaining rights for African-Americans.... [tags: Slavery / Civil Rights] :: 6 Works Cited 1274 words (3.6 pages) Strong Essays [preview] History of Slavery in America - Slavery in the United States Slavery in general term consist in the state of a person being a property of another person. It has appeared for thousands of years. From the old Roman emperor to nineteenth century. Regardless, it increased by the development of societies to make profit by cheap human labor. Slavery appeared in the United States in late of seventeen centuries as a result of the trade market. These slaves came from Africa to work in large plantations for free labor in America. Historians believe that the first ship of slaves to arrive in America was Dutch to the Virginia colony of Jamestown in 1619 with around 20 slaves.... [tags: American History, Africans, Slavery] :: 8 Works Cited 909 words (2.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] George Washington's Feelings About Slavery - An abundance of scholars and general public regard George Washington as a prime example of leadership, citizenship, and overall individual achievement, and with good reason. When first learning of about George Washington in grade school, I was only told of his great accomplishments. The following composition will challenge the readers perception of our Nations first President as well enlighten the reader to debatable evidence of a more selfish racist. Thus forth, the following will show several of his accomplishments and how they not only overshadow his more deplorable actions but place his character and honesty into question.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 5 Works Cited 1319 words (3.8 pages) Strong Essays [preview] American Slavery Vs. Russian Serfdom - ... Slaveholders would exercise full dominance over their slaves. The British, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies all used the raw materials they exported to monopolize the trading that occurred in their empires. All colonies used supply and demand principles to determine where they would make the most money from their materials and products. Between 1450 and 1750 two developments and shifts in thought in Europe were the Renaissance and the Reformation. The Renaissance and the Reformation were partially caused by the questioning of the church after the Black Plague.... [tags: Serfs, Slavery] 1876 words (5.4 pages) Better Essays [preview] Colonial American Slavery - The study of slavery in the development of early America is an extremely complex, yet vitally important part of American History. There are hundreds of thousands of documents, debates, and historical studies available today. According to Ms. Goetz, the assistant professor of history at Rice University, who states, in The Southern Journal of History, that in addition to geographic and chronological diversity in the Americas, assessment of experiences of colonial slaves is extremely complex, especially in the context of three European colonial powers, vigorous Indian groups, and free and enslaved blacks(Goetz, 599).... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 13 Works Cited 1467 words (4.2 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Slavery is in the Past - Imagine being out in the fields hunting with your father. It has been a long day and a spitted warthog hangs between you. All of a sudden you are ambushed. An enemy tribe attacks you and your father. You fight using your makeshift spear but are overwhelmed by the number of tribesmen. You are hit in the head with a rock and fall unconscious. When you wake you are being loaded into a great wooden monster. You cringe in fear as you and your fellow captives are herded into this great wooden beast. You scream in protest at the white men who have chained you but they just beat you on the head with their rifles.... [tags: Slavery Argumentative] 1953 words (5.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Historical Contridictions in Slavery - ... Also Zinn states that the growth of American capitalism, before and after the Civil War, whites as well as blacks were in some sense becoming slaves thus, Zinn believes that capitalism makes people slaves, whether citizens are entitled to a bill of rights or not (Zinn 193). Under a capitalistic system, with a bill of rights, this is a far leap to take, even for Howard Zinn to say that U.S citizens were living like slaves. Although the U.S government would eventually get rid of slavery Zinn is not satisfied with how this was achieved, apparently a national government would never accept an end to slavery by rebellion.... [tags: History of American Slavery, african americans] :: 3 Works Cited 1506 words (4.3 pages) Research Papers [preview] The Abolishment of Slavery - The Abolishment of Slavery Slavery was a disgraceful and disturbing phenomenon. It was abolished, as people gradually became aware of the conditions of the lives of the slaves. There were many courageous men and women who helped put an end to slavery, both black and white, and the large number of people in Britain in Britain and all over the world that opposed slavery were very important abolishment of slavery. Middle class whites had an important role in the abolishment of slavery.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 366 words (1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Slavery in the South - Slavery in the South A large majority of whites in the South supported slavery even though fewer of a quarter of them owned slaves because they felt that it was a necessary evil and that it was an important Southern institution. In 1800 the population of the United States included 893,602 slaves, of which only 36,505 were in the northern states. Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey provided for the emancipation of their slaves before 1804, most of them by gradual measures.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 683 words (2 pages) Good Essays [preview] The Cases Against Slavery - The two addresses by Abraham Lincoln Address at the Dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery and Second Inaugural address reflect the issues with slavery. The story, as framed by Abraham Lincoln, tells how colored soldiers and non colored soldiers have come together to fight the civil war to abolish slavery and preserve their rights their fore fathers have set up for them and how slavery goes against being a Christian. While the story line follows that of Harriet Beecher Stowe in her book Uncle Toms Cabin, where through a series of sketches she tells the stories of the human cruelty of slavery and enlightens the reader on how being a Christian and being for slavery is wrong.... [tags: Abraham Lincoln, slavery, Civil War] 1110 words (3.2 pages) Better Essays [preview] What is Wrong with Slavery?: Utilitarian Thought - In Philosophical Ethics, Utilitarianism is the doctrine that our actions are right if the outcome of our actions generate the greatest happiness amongst the majority. However, in What is Wrong with Slavery? some objectors of utilitarianism have tried to dismiss this moral reasoning as to having any importance by blaming the awful actions of slave traders and slave owners on utilitarianism. They attack this doctrine by saying that utilitarianism is a belief system that can either praise or condemn slavery, and utilitarianism easily commend slavery if a majority of the people visualize a slave-owning society as the most beneficial and generate greatest happiness.... [tags: utilitarianism, slavery, slave trade] 733 words (2.1 pages) Better Essays [preview] The Effect of the Industrial Revolution on Slavery - Slavery has always been a part of human history. Therefore on cannot talk about when slavery began in North America. Soon after the American colonies were established in North America, slaves were brought in to meet the growing labor need on plantations. Although the importation of slaves continued to grow as new plantations were developed, it was the industrial revolution that would have the most profound impact on the slave industry. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the effect of slavery in the 13 colonies due to the industrial revolution.... [tags: Slavery, North America, Industrial Revolution, his] 1161 words (3.3 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Slavery in the South - Slavery in the South Slavery of the Black man in America was the cruelest ever known to man. Europeans transported slaves from Africa as early as 1505. The African Slaves were first exploited on an island named Hispaniola, in the Caribbean by the Europeans to do labor work, before they were sent to the Americas. The women usually worked the interior cooking and cleaning while the men were sent out into the plantation fields to farm. These Africans were stripped of their homes, cultures, and languages.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 865 words (2.5 pages) Good Essays [preview] Slavery in the Caribbean - Slavery in the Caribbean Caribbean Slavery gave planters and elite in the Caribbean the right to abuse a human by requiring ridiculously long hours of work on the fields and not providing enough nutrition. The article by Kiple and Kiple reviews the state of malnutrition among the slaves and the findings are atrocious. Slaves were lacking basic nutrients such as calcium, fats, and various vitamins. Kiple and Kiple, regardless of these facts, state that according to 18 and 19th century standards, these diets were not poor.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 870 words (2.5 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Slavery in the United States - A historian once wrote that the rise of liberty and equality in America was accompanied by slavery. There is truth in that statement to great effect. The rise of America in general was accompanied by slavery and the settlers learned early on that slavery would be an effective way to build a country and create free labor. There was a definite accompaniment of slavery with the rising of liberty and equality in America. In 1787, in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention, the structure of government wasnt the only thing being discussed.... [tags: Slavery, racial issues, equal rights, civil rights] :: 3 Works Cited 1042 words (3 pages) Better Essays [preview] The South and Slavery - The South and Slavery The Societies of the North and South were very different. They were two regions of the country that depended very heavily on each other but yet seemed so far apart. Disagreeing on almost every aspect of how to reside and especially on very specific issues like slavery and emancipation. The North was an industrious, moneymaking, region. They respected blacks and gave them more rights than in the South where they had none. They still were not given the same rights as whites.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 527 words (1.5 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Longstanding Institution of Slavery in the United States - Slavery, as an institution, has existed since the dawn of civilization. However, by the fifteenth century, slavery in Northern Europe was almost nonexistent. Nevertheless, with the discovery of the New World, the English experienced a shortage of laborers to work the lands they claimed. The English tried to enslave the natives, but they resisted and were usually successful in escaping. Furthermore, with the decline of indentured servants, the Europeans looked elsewhere for laborers. It is then, within the British colonies, do the colonists turn to the enslavement of Africans.... [tags: USA, slavery, history] 658 words (1.9 pages) Better Essays [preview] Slavery and the Caribbean - Slavery and the Caribbean Europeans came into contact with the Caribbean after Columbus's momentous journeys in 1492, 1496 and 1498. The desire for expansion and trade led to the settlement of the colonies. The indigenous peoples, according to our sources mostly peaceful Tainos and warlike Caribs, proved to be unsuitable for slave labour in the newly formed plantations, and they were quickly and brutally decimated. The descendants of this once thriving community can now only be found in Guiana and Trinidad.... [tags: Slavery Essays] 767 words (2.2 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Chapter 19 Outline: Perceptions on Slavery - ... Yet again the citizens would vote to make Kansas either pro or free slave state. The Lecompton Constitution is made to control free-soilers and appeal to the pro-slavery southerners. The constitution caused problems because obviously northerners didnt agree with it. In the end the constitution was thrown off by free-soil voters. Kansas never becomes a state until southern states seceded from the Union. IV. Bully Brooks and His Bludgeon: a. Charles Sumner Senator of Massachusetts gives a speech and is afterward beaten by Preston Brook.... [tags: kansas, slavery, debate, union] 1219 words (3.5 pages) Strong Essays [preview] African American Issues: Slavery and Continuing Racism - There are many issues that African Americans face in todays society, many of which I had not realized until after taking Africana Studies. Some issues dwell on the horrific past of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which not only is history, but also is part of African American heritage (Karenga, 2010). African Americans frequently experience many perilous problems, such as dire economic situations and feelings of hostility from the cultural mainstream in America (Kaufman, 1971). The cultural collision between African Americans and whites continues to create several problems in society.... [tags: Race, Slavery] :: 9 Works Cited 894 words (2.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] The Hypocrisy of American Slavery, Through the Eyes of Frederick Douglass - The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself is a powerful book in many respects. Douglass invites you to vicariously witness the monstrous atrocities he experienced during the antebellum period; a time when said atrocities were not only encouraged, but looked highly upon. Throughout his narrative, Douglass expresses his exponentially growing anger and fortitude. When the reader arrives at The Appendix, it soon becomes that much more apparent that the vice of slavery that is most troublesome to him, is the curtain of pseudo-Christianity surrounding it.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 3 Works Cited 1599 words (4.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] slavery and the plantation - slavery and the plantation During the era of slavery in the United States, not all blacks were slaves. There were a many number of free blacks, consisting of those had been freed or those in fact that were never slave. Nor did all slave work on plantations. There were nearly five hundred thousand that worked in the cities as domestic, skilled artisans and factory hands (Green, 13). But they were exceptions to the general rule. Most blacks in America were slaves on plantation-sized units in the seven states of the South.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 6 Works Cited 2101 words (6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Slavery in the Bible - Slavery in the Bible The first mention of slavery in the Bible is found in Noah's declaration, "Cursed be Canaan. The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (Gen. 9:25). 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The paper also contains a well-opinionated reaction about slavery, how it is different from today. The Civil War Period has always been the primary hub of teaching in any American History classes. The era between the American Revolution and the Civil War was of a great importance since it has been the best and worst part of the western civilization during those times.... [tags: Slavery Essays] :: 4 Works Cited 1565 words (4.5 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Slavery in Literature - Slavery in Literature Frederick Douglass was born into the lifelong, evil, bondage of slavery. His autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, depicts his accomplishments. The narrative, however, is not only the story of his success. It is not simply a tale of his miraculous escape from slavery. Frederick Douglass' narrative is, in fact, an account of his tremendous strides through literacy. 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In the documents, Ads for Runaway Servants and Slaves (1733-72), Lydia Maria Child's Propositions Defining Slavery and Emancipation (1833) and Lydia Maria Child's Prejudices against people of color (1836), describes the life of slaves alon... [tags: slavery, african-american, servants] :: 9 Works Cited 1425 words (4.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Slavery in Jamaica - Jamaica has been a land exploited and oppressed by white nations for much of its history. First colonized by the Spanish and then the British, it seems hard to imagine a time when it was just the native people living in peace and harmony with the land. Many years after the white man first jammed himself onto the beaches of Jamaica, reggae music was born. A continuing tradition, this easy-to-groove-to music style originated as a voice against this oppression; it was the peaceful islanders way of finally communicating their plighted history to all who would listen, or all who could appreciate a good beat.... 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Undocumented, domestic helps mired in low wages, exploitation – The Kathmandu Post

Posted: at 11:06 am

Jun 18, 2017-

Domestic workers, the most vulnerable unregistered workers of the labour community, who often work without clear terms of employment, are facing identity crisis and inferiority complex, stakeholders have said.

Domestic workers say their work is not considered decent and since they are undocumented, they face hassles on everyday basis.

We are often frownedupon and there is no way to address our woes, said Rama Pandey, 36, who has been working for several families in the metropolis for the last 15 years.

The Civil Code Amendment Bill and Labour Act Amendment Bill have incorporated some provisions to ensure the rights of domestic workers, but both are yet to be passed by Parliament.

The Labour Act-1992 does not define informal workers as labourers.

The Labour Act Amendment Bill, however, has a provision of one employer and one worker policy and seeks to bring domestic workers under formal working group.

But Clause 88 (3) allows the employer to deduct money from the total wage if the employer provides food and accommodation, forcing domestic helps into some sort of slavery.

On top of that, wages for domestic help are determined on the basis of mutual understanding between the employer and the employee, and in most of the cases, the former has the upper hand.

Keshav Duwadi, secretary at the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), said the organisation imparts special training to domestic workers on their wages and rights.

For eight hours of work, the minimum wage for domestic workers should be Rs9,700 per month.

There are approximately67 million domestic workers worldwide and 41 million of them are employed in Asian countries.

Nepal has around 200,000 domestic workers, according to GEFONT.

Nepal has ratified Domestic Workers Convention 189 of the International Labour Organization concerning decent work for the labourers.

A report published by the ILO in January 2016 about its programme entitled Decent Work Country Programme (2013-2017) says that in April 2015, the government had endorsed and implemented new guidelines on recruitment process of domestic workers in foreign employment.

Some employers even make us work for extended hours, but would not pay us accordingly, said Ganga Subedi, 24.

We have nowhere to go.

Unless a new law is introduced to protect the rightsof domestic workers, theywill be forced to wallow in self-pity, she said.

Published: 18-06-2017 07:59

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Modern slavery risks in Australian agribusiness – Lexology (registration)

Posted: June 15, 2017 at 9:07 pm

Globally, 45.8 million people are estimated to be in some form of modern slavery. Two thirds of the 45.8 million are in the Asia Pacific. The prevalence of modern slavery and its predominant location explain why:

Supply chain monitoring and reporting requirements are gaining traction as a preferred method of top-down anti-slavery regulation. Top-of-the-chain businesses, perceived to have the ability and the resources to investigate and oversee supply chains, are the prime contenders to be the target of modern slavery regulation. These businesses also have an interest in avoiding the reputational damage that comes with being implicated in slavery-like practices.

As Australia looks abroad to guide its fight against slavery, the agribusiness sector would be wise to take a moment to consider labour practices both at home and in overseas supply chains.

What does modern slavery look like?

Modern slavery has various forms. It encompasses human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices such as servitude, forced labour and debt bondage. In the agribusiness sector, indicators of modern slavery may include underpayment or withholding of wages, excessive overtime, unfair recruitment fees, confiscation of passports or identity documents, restriction on freedom of movement and association, unsafe working environments, unsuitable living conditions and limited access to food and healthcare.

Unskilled and migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. These vulnerabilities are compounded by the difficulty of overseeing work in isolated areas of rural and regional Australia. Workers on farms, food-pickers and those working in processing and manufacturing are vulnerable to exploitation and forced labour. Businesses facing increased price competition, e.g. in the consumables sector, may feel compelled to tolerate modern slavery practices in their operations to remain competitive in the market.

The position in Australia a snapshot

Human trafficking, forced labour and slavery are comprehensively criminalised in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). These offences have extended geographical jurisdiction and include conduct occurring outside Australia provided the offender is Australian. Corporations can be held liable for committing any of the slavery offences but may be able to rely on a narrow defence if they can prove that they exercised adequate due diligence to prevent the conduct.

While the vast majority of prosecutions in Australia to date have concerned sexual exploitation, instances of forced labour and wage exploitation are sure to face increased scrutiny. The Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia, launched in February 2017, is already drawing the spotlight onto these issues. The Inquiry will consider, among other things, the prevalence of modern slavery in supply chains of Australian businesses and whether legislation similar to the UKs Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA) should be introduced in Australia.

The Federal Opposition recently indicated it would propose a Modern Slavery Act for Australia requiring major Australian companies to report on measures they are taking to reduce slavery in overseas as supply chains or risk being fined or named and shamed in Parliament. The Business Council of Australia welcomed this step. If modern slavery legislation can secure bipartisan support, as was the case in the UK, we can expect a flurry of activity in this space as businesses work to ensure they are compliant.

Lessons from the UK

The private sector is seen as a key player in the fight against modern slavery. In the United Kingdom, businesses with a turnover of 36 million or more are required to produce an annual slavery and human trafficking statement describing the steps the organisation has taken, if any, to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in its business or any of its supply chains. The UK legislation is predicated upon a model that encourages businesses to actively and voluntarily seek out and eliminate modern slavery in their operations, rather than turning a blind-eye. On this view, the fight against modern slavery should not be seen as a corporate box-ticking exercise.

The UKs Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner recently visited Australia to speak to the taskforce overseeing the Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia (Taskforce). The Commissioner reiterated his view that the MSA has been successful by pushing modern slavery up the business agenda and into the boardroom but that more can be done.

The Taskforce will be sure to closely scrutinise the UKs experience. There is a very real possibility that the Inquiry will recommend adopting similar legislation requiring transparency in supply-chains and possibly imposing comparatively more rigorous reporting requirements on Australian companies.

Find out more in UK Modern Slavery Act - seven things businesses in Asia need to know.

Transparency in supply chains

Top-down supply chain regulation like the MSA is designed to encourage large, consumer-facing businesses to exert downward pressure on their supply chains.

This presents particular difficulties in the agribusiness industry. Agricultural supply chains can be complex, fluid and transnational. The practices of tier-two suppliers who supply the tier-one suppliers are often opaque. Modern slavery in such multi-layered and extended supply chains can be near-impossible to detect. Australian businesses with regional supply chains need to be particularly vigilant as two thirds of the estimated 45.8 million people in modern slavery have been identified as being located in the Asia Pacific. It will be essential for businesses to implement robust ethical sourcing policies and due diligence procedures. As greater regulation and transparency requirements in the modern slavery space loom on the horizon, Australian agribusinesses need to consider whether their practices, and those in their supply chains, can withstand scrutiny.

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How victim of child slavery leads way in fight against exploitation of labour migrants – Malta Independent Online

Posted: at 7:12 am

Rani Hong, a 46-year-old American citizen who was born in India, has gone from victim of child slavery to a United Nations special advisor on combatting modern day slavery. Above and beyond her work with the UN, Hong was also instrumental in creating a platform for victims to speak out.

She has launched an initiative known as the Freedom Seal, something companies can earn should they meet the criteria required to ensure that abusive migrant labour practices are a thing of the past, and was also successful in convincing the UN to launch a World Victims Day, celebrated on 30 June.

Hong was speaking at a conference on sharing models and best practices to end modern day slavery and restore dignity to victims. President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and a number of experts in the field addressed the event, which was organised by the Amersi Foundation and the Presidents Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society

How did this all start?

I am based in Seattle-Washington. My offices are there but I work all over the world and have visited 25 countries in the course of my work. It is amazing now to be here in Malta for the first time and Iam grateful for the opportunity that the foundation, the global sustainability network and the presidency foundation have created.

So I was a seven year old child living in South India. I was very happily living with my mum and dad, and one day I was suddenly kidnapped and stolen from my mother. I was taken into slavery into a separate state. Nobody knew me, I couldnt speak the language and I was very disorientated.

I do not have much memory of this, traffickers prey on vulnerability and innocence. During the process, they abuse and torture as a way to control, its called seasoning for submission.

This is what happens to a child who is going through the trafficking process. In my case thats what happened and it led me to completely shut down and became dysfunctional.

And how did you end up living in America?

So the traffickers said this child cannot work anymore. My owner was using children to work, and was selling children left and right. He was an employee of a cement company, and was using children for services. In my case I looked destitute and dying so they wanted to get rid of me. While they wanted to get rid of me they also wanted to make one last profit, so they sold me into international adoption through illegal channels.

They sold me into Canada and then into the USA. Today, I speak for those without a voice. Millions of children cannot stand up and speak out, not just because of their age alone but also because they had no platform to do this.

Today, under the Global Sustainability Network, the GSN platform brings together the media, faith leaders, governments and survivors to bring us together in a network so we can collaborate and work as one big network to fight human trafficking. According to the international labour organisation human trafficking is a 50 billion dollar industry.

Modern day slavery around the world

When we look into Malta, we know that migration is a huge problem because a lot of times, especially in the past year, we hear how refugees are being brought over and traffickers exploit that vulnerability. They leverage their illegal activity of human trafficking, they offer help and thats the trap, but its modern day slavery.

In the trafficking situation, especially in labour trafficking, often people are promised the world.

In 2011 I was appointed as the UN special advisor in the global initiative to fight human trafficking. In my travels for this, I spoke about the issues to raise awareness and education. Throughout this I realised there is a huge problem with the use of unethical recruitment practices.

As a result of this I launched the Freedom Seal. This is an actual label that companies can earn if they meet our criteria. One of those is that a company cannot go and charge for recruitment fees. We are seeing a lot of recruitment fees paid to brokers that are unethical.

If you are going to recruit, let us do it ethically, lets pay a decent salary and a living wage. Many are not given this despite signed contracts promising certain conditions.

I worked with a case of migrant labourwhere someone from my own state was shipped over to the Gulf. Once they got there none of the conditions promised were true, their living conditions were horrible and all the recruitment fees were gone because they were used for transportation.

This shows a business system that is absolutely exploiting migrants.

No country is exempt from modern day slavery, every country has it. When I worked with the UN office on drugs and crime, we launched a report and looked at the different countries, the migration route and the trafficking routes.

Based on geographical locations certain type of trafficking was more prevalent in certain areas. South East Asia is a place where all trafficking occurs; sex trafficking, organ trafficking, migrant labour, international adoption are all exploited.

Did you ever see your biological mother again?

I lived a good life in America. My adoptive mother helped me to bring healing and restoration. She was one single woman that took the chance and took me in. She was very surprised by my condition - I couldnt walk. My difficulty in walking came because I was held in a cage. I was in very bad shape but I learned to overcome the obstacles in my life. It took time but eventually I became stronger through my adoptive mothers love and attention.

Thats all we are asking for, we are not asking for the stars and the moon, but basic rights. We are asking for the right to be loved and cared for like a normal child. 21 years later I travelled back to India for the first time on vacation. We were in southern India, and in a three week time frame certain memories started to come back to me and I remembered some names. Long story short, after a miraculous series of events, 21 years after being sold into child slavery, I found my birth mother in a tourist hotel.

She recognised me straight away, as a mother you always remember your child. It was very emotional. As a child that grew up in India, I forgot, I became an American living an American life.

When I found her I was shocked, I was not prepared. I was simply on vacation in India. It felt liberating and I had so many questions. I asked the questions, what happened? Why am I in the USA? I soon realised she had no answers, she did not know what happened to me or that I had been living in America.

The drive to speak out

At that time is when I became a voice for victims worldwide. In 1999 I knew I could not stay silent on this issue. I learned my own case of being a child trafficking victim, I did quite a bit of research and that is what lead to all this, to me being an expert on the issue.

Many people do not have a happy ending to a story like mine, so I never take this for granted.

Having a network that provides that platform, the presidency society also wants victims voice to be heard, which is my lifes work.

When I spoke at the UN in 2010, I was one of the first victims to ever speak at the UN. Getting the voice of victims heard has been a struggle. But now I am happy to see the overcoming of that struggle and that challenge. Today we are seeing platforms at conferences highlighting this area.

I went before the UN General Assembly back in 2013 and asked them to launch a World Day where the voice of victims is heard. To my happiness, the UN 193 member state bloc agreed to this day, and will be celebrated on July 30.

This was a huge success because it is not easy getting things passed at the UN. I also asked for the issue of human trafficking to be a priority in the Sustainable Development Goals. They did, it is called Goal 8, and 8.7 is the goal that I had started to talk about in 2013. The Global Society Network now prioritises this which is a huge success.

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How victim of child slavery leads way in fight against exploitation of labour migrants - Malta Independent Online

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Child Soldiers in Africa: ICC Trial of Congolese Warlord Puts Recruitment of Girl Fighters in Spotlight – Newsweek

Posted: June 14, 2017 at 4:08 am

Almost two years after the trial opened, Congolese military commander Bosco Ntaganda will take the stand on Wednesday at the International Criminal Court (ICC), charged with 13 war crimes and five crimes against humanity.

Ntagandas charges including the murder and rape of civilians and the recruitment, use, rape and sexual slavery of childrendate back to 2002 and 2003, while he was deputy chief of the general staff for Force Patriotiques pour la Libration du Congo (FPLC), a rebel group in eastern Congo.

Described by ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda as a notorious and powerful military leader, the 43-year-old was a central figure in the FPLC, one of Congos many armed groups, and is accused of recruiting hundreds of children under the age of 15 into combat in the countrys mineral-rich east.

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They recruited and used hundreds of childrento wage their bloody war, Bensouda said at The Hague. They forced these children to kill and treated them cruellyalso raped and sexually enslaved the girls.

The ICCs pursuit of Ntaganda, who evaded authorities for nearly seven years before he surrendered in 2013, is a welcome move for an institution criticized over the years for inaction. In 2014, Ntagandas ally Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the recruitment and use of children under 15 by the ICC. It was the courts first ever conviction.

Prior to that, in 2007, the international community had already sent a clear message that those who use children in war would have to face justice. The Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Alex Tamba Brima, Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara, Santigie Borbor Kanu and Allieu Kondewa of the recruitment and use of children among other crimes under international law during the West African countrys 11-year armed conflict that ended in 2002.

A Congolese boy and former rebel soldier is pictured at a center for demobilized child soldier in Rutshuru, in the North Kivu province in Democratic Republic of Congo, on January 26, 2006. Four in 10 child soldiers in Congo are estimated to be girls. JOSE CENDON/AFP/Getty

And later in 2012, the former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, was found guilty of a range of crimes, including recruiting children under the age of 15 and using them to participate actively in hostilities in the same conflict in Sierra Leone.

Pinpointing an exact number of child soldiers globally is impossible given the disparate nature of many armed groups. But Child Soldiers International estimates the numbers remains in the tensif not hundredsof thousands.

Read more: Why the U.S. and Uganda are dropping the hunt for warlord Joseph Kony

Congo has been a major breeding ground for underage combatants over the years. What is unique about the Ntaganda trial is its focus on the exploitation and serial abuse of girls in armed conflict, an area largely overlooked by international media. Strikingly, it is estimated that up to 40 percent of all child soldiers in the country are girls.

Bensoudas remarks at the trial opening reveal the horrific extent of abuse suffered by many at the hands of the FPLC. She argues that girls in the group were reduced to objects which soldiers and commanders could pass around and use for sex whenever they pleased.

Her comments strike an alarmingly similar tone to those of many girls we interviewed in the country in 2016. I was often drugged,17-year-old Jeanette*, who was formerly part of a Congolese armed group, told us. I would wake up and find myself naked. They gave us drugs so that we would not get tired of all of them using us.

Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda sits in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) during the first day of his trial in The Hague, on September 2, 2015. Ntaganda is charged with 13 counts of war crimes, including the recruitment, rape and sexual slavery of children. MICHAEL KOOREN/AFP/Getty

The account forms part of Child Soldiers Internationals extensive new research detailing the experiences of 150 former girl soldiers in eastern Congo to be released on June 19, the International Day for Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. A majority of girls we interviewedsome who had joined armed groups and self-defense militias voluntarily, others who were forcibly recruitedsaid they had suffered sexual abuse in captivity. Many had been forced to be wives for soldiers. We were treated like toys, 15-year-old Sara explained. Lucky were those who only had one man.

Girls roles in armed groups take on multiple forms. Some will indeed be involved in direct fighting but many are exploited as cooks, porters, spies and forced to carry out hard labor. For Anourite, who was only eight years old when she was abducted from her school by Joseph Konys Lords Resistance Army a Ugandan militant group active in Congo and Central African Republiclife in the group meant caring for babies (many born to other female soldiers) and carrying the armed groups belongings, because she was too small to serve men.

Held captive for four years by the infamous group, she told us that physical and psychological suffering was common: We were beaten, even though we were only children. At first I said: I want to see my family, and they beat me even more. So I stopped crying. I had my first period in the bush. I managed using leaves.

The sexual abuse suffered by many of the girls we interviewed also makes them the focus of ridicule and rejection when they return home. Stigmatization of returning girl soldiers, heightened because of their sexual relations with soldiers, is a major problem in the region and stifles their reintegration back into communities. Every girl from the bush, the community points to her and says: Watch out: HIV, one 16-year-old girl explained.

Reintegrating these girls brings many challenges. This is why Child Soldiers International works with our national partners and communities to help them better understand the suffering these girls have gone through and support them accordingly when they go home.

The trial of Bosco Ntaganda is clearly a positive step in bringing to justice those individuals and armed groups who continue to recruit children for war. Butthe international community needs to ensure that the girl soldiers in Congo and elsewhere in the world are not forgotten on their return home. And sadly, there are still countless other perpetrators recruiting and using children that remain free and operate outside of the law.

We hope that the events at The Hague will send another strong message that these war crimes will no longer be tolerated and provide a small shred of justice to Ntagandas many victims, offering some hope to the thousands of other children who suffer, and have suffered at the hands of armed groups and forces.

Sandra Olsson is program manager at Child Soldiers International , an international human rights organization that seeks to end the military recruitment of all children.

*Names of individuals in this article have been changed to protect their identities.

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Interview: Roger Waters reflects on ‘Us & Them’ and tearing down … – AZCentral.com

Posted: at 4:08 am

Music legend Roger Waters is launching a 51-city North American tour in 2017. Called 'Us & Them,' the tour lands in Phoenix on June 14. Wochit

Roger Waters performs.(Photo: Kate Izor)

It's been 45 years since Roger Waters wrote the lyrics to "Us and Them." His latest tour shares itsname with thathaunting meditation on the senselessness of war, andit also shares amessage that there is no us and them, no matter what the politicians tell you.

Waters checked in from a San Francisco hotel room and spoke for nearly 50 minutes, precious few of which he spent promoting his upcoming concert in Glendale or the album he'd released just six days earlier.

He's more about using the platform his art has afforded him to weigh in on the issues of the day,from Donald Trump to those who think musicians shouldn't be allowed to share their views on things like presidents and peace.

At one point, Waters seemed to feel he'd gone a bit too far off-topic while sharing his thoughts on the state of the world and America's place in that equation

"Anyway," he said, "were getting into deep, uncharted water."

Then, he reconsidered.

"Im sorry," he said. "Hang on. This is the water that we should be sailing through. This is the important stuff. This is what defines what kind of lives our children are going to lead."

This cover image provided by Columbia Records shows, "Is This The Life We Really Want," a new release by Roger Waters. (Columbia Records via AP)(Photo: AP)

And with that, we returned to discussing the themes andissues that have driven Waters' most compelling music from the early days of Pink Floyd through his latest concept album, whose title asks "Is This the Life We Really Want?"

It's a question Rogers answers midway through the album with a sneer.

"It surely must be so," he sings, "for this is a democracy and what we all say goes."

READ MORE:Should Bruce Springsteen and Ted Nugent shut up and play? Or are politics and music meant to be together?

There are no punches pulled here, no messages lost in translation, no reason to wonder who Waters could possibly mean when he snipes, "And every time a nincompoop becomes the president."

Waters eases us into the darkness, setting the tone withan openingtrack called "Deja Vu" that purposefully echoes Pink Floyd's "Mother" while playfully noting,"If I had been God / I would have rearranged the veins in the face to make them more resistant to alcohol and less prone to aging."

There are other darkly comic accents to be found. But the prevailing mood is far more serious than that, producer Nigel Godrich underscoring Waters' gravitas as he weighs in on drone strikes, bankers grown fat on the meat of the poor, the refugee crisis, terrorism and the heavy toll humanity has taken on this planet we all share.

Question: I saw your set at Desert Trip and I was truly blown away by the production. Was that any indication of what people can expect on the Us & Them Tour?

A: Yeah, it is, though clearly were indoors now, so its modified. Were still using the power station chimney gag, but indoors, we build it in the middle of the arena, over the heads of the crowd, so its kind of weirdly spectacular, I have to say (laughs).

So far, theres been a lot of wow going on where weve done it. But really, the wow is in its emotional factor. Its very committed emotionally, the show.

MORE MUSIC:Concerts of the week for Phoenix: Roger Waters, Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull

Q: And what is that emotion?

A: Well, the show is titled Us & Them, and its based on my contention that the divisiveness that we see in the contemporary political arrangements on this small planet are counter-productive to the sum of happiness that is available to human beings. Thats why I call the show Us & Them, because I believe there is no them. Theres only "us."

We need to figure out a way to organize ourselves more efficiently and make life better for our kids and even save life for our kids and their kids on this planet because at the moment were hellbent on destruction, driven as we are by commercial interests and this insatiable appetite that some of us have for profits and war.

Roger Waters at Desert Trip in 2016.(Photo: Kate Izor)

Its very political, the show. Its very rooted in the idea that we have a responsibility as human beings to care for one another and to give each other refuge in times of trouble.

So rather than railing against refugees and foreigners and telling each other how dangerous they are and how we must build walls to keep them out and spend even more money on armaments so we can fight imperial wars thousands of miles from home, we might, in my view, want to concentrate more of our resources on trying to figure out how to protect the "Crystal Clear Brooks" for future generations.

I know its a bit of a political speech but its how I feel and how a lot of people in this country feel. And a lot of people all over the world. These are the people who demonstrated on February the 14th, 2003, against the policy to invade Iraq. Twenty million people took to the streets.

And we have learned that they were right, and [Dick]Cheney and [Donald]Rumsfeld, [Paul]Wolfowitz, [George W. ] Bush and [Tony] Blair and all the other a--holes were wrong. In a big way. And their policies have proved to be dangerous beyond all reckoning. They are responsible for the situation that we find ourselves in now.

And pursuing the same ludicrous policy that is espoused in this thing they call the War on Terror is only going to exacerbate the problem. This is so plainly obvious.

But because a lot of people are hurting economically and being shafted by the very wealthy, its been possible here in the United States of America to organize them and persuade them that to elect a nincompoop like Donald Trump is actually in their best interest. When clearly it isnt.

We live in very volatile times. And it is super necessary that all of us resist this move toward the militarization and establishment of a more and more authoritarian regime, not just in the United States but in Europe and elsewhere.

Weve done seven shows so far and at all of them, not just in Denver or San Jose, but Kansas City (Mo.), Louisville (Ky.) and Tulsa (Okla.), which you would think were predominantly red markets, weve found a solid core of people who are ready to resist this movement towards living in a state of perpetual war.

They dont want it. So that has been very encouraging. And thats what this show is about.

Roger Waters performs "In the Flesh" at Cricket Pavilion in Phoenix October 3, 2006.(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)

Q: Do you find that that divisiveness, the dividing of people into warring teams of us and them, has been a through line in your work?

A: The fact that I dont believe in it, yeah. The title of the tour is from a song I wrote in 1972. And sadly, what I was writing about then, the problems are still with us. Which is not surprising. Its a nanosecond in cosmic timelines. A tiny amount of time has passed and evolution is a fascinating process but it does take a while.

And it takes us all time to figure out how to throw off the shackles of wage slavery that weve been living under since we came out of the caves and developed agrarian societies. But theres lots of great philosophy to read and the evidence that the ways societies organize themselves dont always work is all in front of us.

Like I say in one of the songs on the new album, It dont matter much wherever youre born / Little babies mean us no harm. Its my view that when were conceived, were largely innocent and we have to be taught extreme beliefs.

It doesnt matter if youre born somewhere in the extreme religious Bible Belt in the United States or some extreme Muslim environment. You can be taught to be an extremist by your parents or by the circumstances of your life. And its very dangerous.

But its very important that we dont think that there are not fanatical religious extremists here in the United States. There are. They call themselves Christians. But none of what they do has anything really to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ. It has to do with exceptionalism, the belief that they are somehow special.

Its the same with people who have extreme attachments to what they believe are the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. They are not the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. But things get twisted.

Hence the rapture in the Bible Belt in America that some Born Agains believe in. People will say, "hes talking out of his a--, he doesnt know what hes talking about," and theyre probably right(laughs). This is not an area of expertise.

Musician Roger Waters performs during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on October 16, 2016 in Indio, California.(Photo: Kevin Winter, Getty Images)

But I have read enoughto know that they believe in the second coming and they believe that on that day they will all go to heaven and all the Jews will be killed and everyone else will die.

I read somewhere, and it may be a joke, that there are websites where people arrange to have their pets looked after for the six months after they go to heaven to be with Jesus and before the whole world disappears in a conflagration.

I can lie here laughing and giggling but its not really funny (laughs). Its f--king dangerous. Its insane to believe that there is such a thing as a God that has chosen you, these very few people that are important, and no one else matters. Its ridiculous. But anybody who is an exceptionalist doesnt believe its ridiculous.

They believe that theyre exceptional, whether its because theyve been chosen by God or because of their white skin or because theyre Nordic or German. It doesnt matter who you are. If you believe youre more important than everyone else, youre dangerous. Were all from North Africa. All of us.

Weve only been here for a very short period of time. Somewhere between 70 and 80,000 years is how long human beings have existed. And weve spread out over the planet.

Were all different shapes and sizes and colors because of the vagaries of weather in different parts of the world, because of Darwinism,because we inherit the physical attributes of our mother and father. Thats why we look slightly different. But were not.

Were all from the same tree and we owe an allegiance to one another. So we need to stand up and say No to the John McCains of this world,the Hillary Clintons and the Donald Trumps, to say No, you will not persuade us that the Russian people are our enemy.

And the reason they say that is to concentrate power and wealth in their hands. Particularly in the United States of America. The United States has such an opportunity to be a leader in the world and that opportunity has been frittered away.

It disgusts me, because this country has such potential to help us on our path toward embracing the good in ourselves and in others and to save the planet, which is being destroyed by industry and greed and idiots like the Donald saying global warming doesnt exist.

How is it possible that somebody who believes that could be elected president of the most powerful country on Earth? Its beyond belief.

But Ill tell you, Im still doing Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) and I still recruit children everywhere we go to sing the chorus. They appear in the show in orange prison jumpsuits,they rip them off and underneath, theyre wearing T-shirts with the word Resist written across the front.

Roger Waters at Desert Trip in 2016.(Photo: Kate Izor)

Last night in San Jose, the little kid standing next to me, he was about four feet tall, he grabbed hold of the word resist and was holding it out and shaking it at the crowd. I looked at him and I thought, "This is what we need, whole generations to resist what Eisenhower warned us about, the rise of the military industrial complex.

Eisenhower was so right. It has happened. And now Congress is going to endorse increasing military spending by the United States. Increasing! You already spend more in this country on killing brown people in foreign countries than the next eight most powerful military powers in the world put together, including China, Russia and the U.K.

What is wrong with that picture? Really? You want to be the Roman Empire and have legionnaires in every country in the world? Is that who Americans want to be? I dont think so.

You in this country have been fed a diet of American exceptionalism. Trump was a boil waiting to burst on the surface, but its deeply rooted, the whole U.S.A! U.S.A! bulls--t that has made you so unpopular all over the world. (laughs). Its soooo unattractive.

Q: At Desert Trip, you said you feel your art has given you a platform that you would not have otherwise have had and you intend to use it. Have you always felt that way or is that a philosophy you developed as your platform grew?

A: When I was 15 years old, I was the chairman of the Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Cambridge. I would always have been somebody who would have had opinions political, moral, philosophical, maybe even musical. And I would always have expressed them.

But because of pop groups Ive been in and because Ive been successful writing songs and playing a banjo, my voice is more easily heard than if Id become an architect.

There are people who say Why doesnt he just play his music and shut up? I love Pink Floyd but I hate Rogers politics. Well screw you. I dont care what you think about my politics. And the idea that I shouldnt speak because Im a musician is absurd.

Its just as absurd as the idea that I shouldnt criticize Donald Trump or George Bush because Im not an American citizen. What, youre not allowed to criticize Adolf Hitler unless youre German? Its ridiculous. Everybody should be allowed to speak. Thats what the first amendment of your constitution is about.

Q: I was surprised at the number of people expressing outrage over the more overtly anti-Trump components of your Desert Trip performance. Have they listened to your records?

A: Everybody with an ounce of intelligence has to speak out. Donald Trump is the perfect example of exceptionalism gone crazy, laboring under the misconception that hes great. He believes himself to be sort of a pinnacle of human development.

Maybe he is. Maybe this is the peak to which humans can aspire, to be that shallow, vulgar, stupid, ignorant, racist, sexist pig. If that is what were aspiring to be, then somethinghas gone terribly wrong with the values that human beings might have developed over the last 78,000 years.

What about thoughtful, educated, loving, kind, compassionate, philosophical? What about some of those attributes? Not acquisitive, aggressive, money-grabbing and dumb beyond all imagination. This is what we admire? No. Hes an ignorant pig. A dreadful, dreadful person.

And its a huge tragedy for the United States that he managed to persuade an ill-educated electorate that he was going to do something for them. Hes only been president since January but already he has absolutely shown by everything that he has done that he doesnt give a s--t about them and he never did.

He has no interest in improving the lot of the American middle class. He is interested in feathering his own nest. Thats all he was ever interested in and its obvious. What, hes reducing corporate tax to 15 percent? Hes taking healthcare away from millions and millions of people. He doesnt care about any of those working people.

And it will be interesting to see what happens when the majority of them finally get it and go Whoa, weve been hoodwinked. And he did it all by getting us to turn on our fellow man, by telling us that the people responsible for our plight where our standard of living has been dropping while his has been soaring are theChinese and the Mexicans, the Muslims, the them.

Q: How do you think he was able to get those people to believe in him?

A: The middle class in the United States has been reduced to dire straits. There is no safety net, mainly because the regulations on Wall Street and big business have all been removed, mainly by Bill Clinton in the first instance.

So theyre absolutely at the mercy of the very rich. And the very rich have managed to get away with fleecing everybody. Since the Second World War, really.

The easiest way to get a population to follow you is by identifying somebody else as being the cause of all their problems. And thats what he did. First, it was the Mexicans and saying theyre all rapists. Then its the Muslims. The War on Terror has been a huge factor in all of this.

The war in Iraq was obviously a huge disaster and by far the most important fillip to the spread of extremism in the Middle East. Theres nothing like dropping bombs on people to turn them into radicals. First, go invade Iraq, kill everybody. Then start bombing them using American armaments all over the Middle East. You will create radicals.

One thing you will not do is reduce the numbers of people who want to retaliate against the United States of America. You cannot wipe them out. Youd have to kill every man, woman and child to stop the spread of the resentment. People who have studied this stuff understand that.

We armed Osama Bin Laden. We armed and created the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight against the left-wing government. The United States created an armed resistance to a legal government. And that created the environment for all of this. Its very hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

The interference in domestic policy of other countries has come back to biteus. Its standard practice for imperial powers to interfere in the affairs of other countries. You always try and help the rich guy to suppress the people who want what you espouse here, which is a democratic state where the needs of the many are taken care of.

Now the John McCains and the Hillary Clintons and Donald Trumps, they want to exacerbate that situation by more military in more places, more belligerence, more sword-waving, more accusing Russia of being the great enemy, more war, more walls, more no-fly zones, more exercise of power, more aircraft carriers, more troops.

Q: This new album shares a title with a poem you wrote in 2008, reflecting on the hope you saw in Obama. Did you think wed turned a corner when he won?

A: Yeah, like the rest of us. Or maybe not the rest of us. But most of us hoped that this would be a new awakening. And in some ways it was.

Youd elected somebody who was apparently humane, who wasnt one of the elite, who was black, which was fresh and unique, who was eloquent and thoughtful and who, I have to say, throughout his presidency behaved in a presidential manner.

But he also, in my view, was too careful. Im not gonna knock Obama because he did a lot of good. Obamacare, for instance, which he did manage to get through Congress, was a huge advance. But unfortunately, he believed in the militaristic foreign-policy bulls--t. He was a big supporter of drone attacks and targeted assassinations.

So he made a huge mistake, in my view, in believing that he could use drones to subjugate whole populations.

What hes done is hes created a land where the buzz of a drone in the sky has become central to the lives of millions of people who feel threatened, not just that theyre under surveillance but that at any minute they could be blown to bits.

If you read any of the literature coming out of environments like that, it is full of what that does to the children. They are traumatized every moment of their lives. They live in absolute fear.

There are 70,000 (Afghans) with no legs, walking around on prosthetic limbs whove been blown to bits by you. For what? So Lockheed can make more money to distribute to its shareholders? It certainly isnt to bring peace to anybody. And it certainly isnt to make Americans safer.

Being in Afghanistan at war for 15 or itll be 20, then 25, then 30 years, you think thats making you safer? Its demonstrable that it is not. There need to be sane voices in this story.

Noam Chomsky is a perfect example of a very, very wise man who is largely sidelined and dismissed as a crank because he is sane and wise and humane. And we should be listening to him, but we dont. Why?

Q: What do you think it is that keeps humanity embroiled in this tribal mentality, where its not only us AND them, its us at constant war with them?

Its convenient to the very wealthy and powerful people who make the decisions. It doesnt matter whether youre the king of Saudi Arabia or the people behind this presidency. You have discovered that the economic power that you have can be translated into military power and also the power to influence your people.

You control people by keeping them poor and attached to outdated religions and so on and so forth. Its all an exercise in control because you want power and money. So the world is being controlled by the greedy, inhumane impulses of a very few, very, very rich men and women.

Q: You end this album on a hopeful note. How do you stay hopeful?

A: I believe in the transcendental power of love. How John Lennon and 60s hippie bulls--t can you get? Well, he was right. Lennon was right. And Im right. There is a huge power in love. We all feel it.

If, for instance, you come to my show and while Im singing The Last Refugee, you feel a lump in your throat, or you turn and you look at your wife and shes got tears rolling down her cheeks,you are experiencing your ability to love.

And your ability to love eventually may trump, to use the stupid pun, your attachment to the idea of your own exceptionalism.

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The scout system at Oxford must be scrapped – Cherwell Online

Posted: June 12, 2017 at 8:03 pm

The Fay School is an independent, coeducational boarding school located near Boston, Massachusetts. It enrols students between grades seven to nine in a boarding program, that is, the British equivalent of years eight to ten. Among other things, Fay students are expected at that age (eleven through 14 years old) to take care of their own laundry, clean their own rooms, and dispose of their own trash, as they board year long as the school.

Who knew, that expecting a 12 year old to be able to manage a cordless handheld vacuum cleaner to suck up spilt ramen powder could be such an easy request? Apparently, Oxfords colleges thinks much less of us, and that its students, the supposed best and brightest in all of Britain, if not the world, are less competent at cleaning up their crisp crumbs and bread dust than prepubescent children.

As we know, each college has their own system of housekeepers, known colloquially as scouts. Scouts perform a variety of housekeeping duties for each individual students room typically during morning hours. Scouts also clean and maintain a number of communal living areas, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and showers. The system has existed nearly as long as Oxford has, and well into the 60s and 70s, scouts were still openly referred to as servants, bringing bottles of milk to the doors of students.

To be fair, while Fay might not get parents rolling in to complain of the dreadful living conditions that their students might have to live in, its not entirely unimaginable to picture Oxford mothers railing one out at a college principal for daring to ask their child, god forbid, unclogs their own sink, is it? That being said, this comparison is wholly unnecessary. If we have reduced ourselves to asking each other to perform basic duties such as taking care of ourselves, the same way children half our size and age do, which apparently we have, we should actively recognise that there is something seriously wrong with the way the university is shaping our behaviour and expectations.

The claim, furthermore, that scouts fill a necessary role, is ludicrous. Imagine any other world-renowned institution telling its students that they need to hire cohorts upon cohorts of cleaners to vacuum their floors them and scrub their windows to a shine. They would be laughed at, as Oxford is. A concept straight out of Downtown Abbey, it is, and should be, considered an ancient practice. The practice continues, regrettably so, at Cambridge University, and Durham University, where they are otherwise known as bedders. Outside of these three universities, there is no equivalent at any other major educational institution in the entire world.

Why that is not concerning to the main body of administrators and students at Oxford, I will never understand. The former equivalent system at Trinity College Dublin, where scouts were known as skips, was abandoned in the 70s, when British civilisation also typically abandoned other archaic practices such as restricting university admission to men only. Apparently this idea of progress has been lost on Oxford. The idea that adults, or anyone over a reasonable age, cannot be expected to clean after themselves, and instead, require other grown adults to clean after them, in spaces as small as college rooms, is utterly absurd.

The entire system, thus, reeks of the same problems of potential for human trafficking and wage slavery that the entire housekeeper labour supply industry stinks of. In fact, some members of the administration at Oxford have clearly had the time to think it through and realise the very real grey area that exists. The Oxford University Council Secretariat has its own dedicated page towards compliance issues regarding Modern Slavery in its supply chains, for both labour and material goods. Now thats a term that you wont find, or need to find, in every other universitys websites, no matter how much you Google. It is a well known fact that at many colleges in Cambridge, nearly half of the bedders are Polish.

The system of scouts also removes any sense of privacy, and automatically places students and scouts on a hostile ground over this effect. As if the smattering of CCTV cameras that spy on every nook and cranny of your college were not enough, the scout system is the icing on the cake that reminds you that the college you live in will never truly be your home. We are forced to give daily access to our rooms. The positive spin is typically presented as the requirement for scouts and students to develop a trusting relationship. I suppose that is the best way of phrasing the concept of being forced to agree to a system in which the posessions of students, both valuable and not valuable, are constantly accessible. This, along with the fact that many days of the week, scouts often have nothing to do, combine to create a naturally toxic relationship between scouts and students.

This occurs especially potently when scouts have to deal with the vibrant community of the spoiltthey face mockery and judgment from students who are faced with the existential conundrum of wanting everything done for them, but at the same time, naturally desiring privacy over their baubles, and so the cooking pot of rage boils. Reports of students unleashing verbal tirades on scouts, who do not speak English as a first language and thus dont even understand what is being said, are not unheard of. Fortunately, we can see colleges such as Jesus addressing the issue at hand properly, which have been reported in the past to force scouts to adopt Anglicised names, and colleges such as Christ Church who have been reported to force their scouts to learn English. In this manner, these two wonderful colleges have ensured that the scouts can receive a good scolding from entitled students and understand it too!

If all of the above were not concerning enough, what we should be most shocked at is that many scouts are not even paid a living wage. The Oxford Living Wage, separated from the national living wage costs because of the ridiculously high costs of living in Oxford, is 8.93 per hour, below the London living wage of 9.75 per hour. Despite this having been made clear by the Oxford City Council numerous times over the past and visibly declared on their online platforms, Oxford continues to pay its scouts below the Oxford Living Wage. More than 2,000 employers in Oxfordshire have signed up to the living wage scheme, and yet, according to vacancies advertised online, most colleges continue to pay their scouts below said wage. Hertford, which I regret to mention, because I suspect that they pay their scouts above the par in comparison to most other colleges, pay their scouts 8.45 an hour. It is reported that numerous other colleges continue to pay their scouts 7.85 an hour.

Harvard students famously campaigned for living wages for their own staff between 1998 and 2002. This past autumn, 750 workers went on strike, with the support of numerous student groups, to protest minimum wages that were not considered enough to afford a decent living, i.e. below the living wage. As a result, numerous dining halls closed all over Harvard, with the majority of the students on campus standing in solidarity with the workers, until the protest ended all dining halls return to normal operation. Unfortunately, I have the disappointment in believing that the same protest could never happen at Oxford, understandably so, as students study in one of the shortest year long undergraduate programmes ever, with tiny eight week terms.

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The existence of terrible treatment outside of already terrible wages is no conspiracy. In a Cherwell investigation two years ago, incidents reported from scouts all over Oxford including instances of being forced to work from nine to 11 overtime with no compensation or apology, contracts that prevent scouts from having a lunch break, scouts forced to wear makeup and skirts, and persistent harassment from managers. Scouts themselves also lack the capacity to bargain or even remotely protest. The scouts at Oxford certainly have not unionised, and I suspect that they fully lack the ability to do so.

Reports at Jesus College of the harassment of scouts and the complete denial and gaslighting of scout concerns goes towards this belief. It is also well understood that scouts often refrain from discussing their wages or their working conditions in fear of losing their job, a state that no labourer should have to experience. Furthermore, while some scouts might be somewhat satisfied with their jobs and colleges, we should remember that is no prerequisite for the acceptance of the conditions and treatment of others, or for the existence of the system in general.

Finally, it is listed as a final resort, often by college principals themselves who relish in receiving housekeeping in their own college accommodations to free up time for their exhausting duties as revered heads of colleges of Oxford, that the colleges need tending to over the holidays. It is heavily ironic that college principals deliver platitudinous sermon after sermon about how learning takes precedence above all at that their colleges are first and foremost institutions of learning. If I were a wanderer with no prior knowledge of the colleges, I would not be able to tell the difference between most colleges at Oxford, and vaguely colonial hotels.

Then again, when colleges become displayed on TripAdvisor and get five star ratings for services, I begin to question myself if I am in a college that I am supposed to call my home, or a Hilton stuffed with tutors and an only somewhat meaningful history. How different really, are term stays from eight-week bookings at the Marriot?

The system of scouts makes a laughingstock out of the University of Oxford and each of its individual colleges. I would say that it contributes to the outsider picture of Oxford students as posh spoilt twats that puts so many off even bothering to apply, but how far would that picture really be from reality? How the system remains to the present day confuses me because I thought that the university had moved past inflting the egos of the talcum-powdered brats that genuinely believe that less time spent scrubbing the mirror clean of last nights spilt Dom Perignon means more time reading Isaiah Berlin and Sartre. Apparently, this is not the case. Get a grip, Oxford.

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Exeter car wash owner in court accused of posing modern slavery risk – Devon Live

Posted: at 8:03 pm

The manager of two car washes in Exeter has appeared in court accused of posing an exploitation risk to his Romanian workforce.

Luan Sinanaj, 44, of Harrington Road, Pinhoe, has been made the subject of an interim slavery and trafficking risk order.

It follows concerns about the poor pay and living conditions of Romanian workers at car washes, run by Mr Sinanaj and his cousin, in Honiton Road and Main Road in Pinhoe.

Mr Sinanaj appeared before magistrates in Exeter on Monday. The case is one of only a handful of its type ever prosecuted in the country.

Prosecutor Emmi Wilson said Devon and Cornwall Police were bringing the application for a risk order under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Mr Sinanaj's cousin, Vladimir Veliaj, has already been made the subject of a full order preventing him from being involved in the transport of workers from within and outside the UK.

Mr Wilson said Mr Sinanaj was responsible for 'arranging for workers to come over to Exeter from Romania', to work at the two car washes which he ran with Mr Veliaj.

They were promised a good wage but were living in poor conditions and not paid much at all," she said.

Mr Sinanaj said he needed more time to get his lawyers involved and the case was adjourned.

Ms Wilson asked magistrates to impose an interim order until a full hearing could take place.

The test today is whether it would be just to make an order," said Mr Wilson.

The police say it is necessary to protect the public from these sorts of activities continuing in the interim."

READ MORE: 'Incompetent burglar' jailed after raiding bride-to-be's Exeter...

Magistrates agreed the interim order was needed.

An application for a full five-year risk order will be made on July 20. Mr Sinanaj is expected to oppose the application by police when he reappears.

Slavery and trafficking risk orders were introduced in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The risk order restricts the activity of people who have not been convicted of a modern slavery offence but who pose a risk of committing any such offence.

The recent prosecution of Mr Veliaj was the first of its type in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset.

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Modern slavery in Asia – The Manila Times

Posted: at 8:03 pm

IF the 2016 Global Slavery Index is accurate, two-thirds of worlds modern-day slaves are found in Asian countries, mostly victims of human trafficking. The illicit market in exploited people is so lucrative that it is said to generate over $150 billion in profits worldwidebigger than the GDP of countries like Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Hungary and Oman. This explains why human trafficking has become an endemic crime globally.

In the Asean region alone, thousands of people are trafficked from, through, or to Asean countries each year.

With a majority of Asean member states being source countries for human trafficking, it is indeed timely that the Philippines recently hosted the Asean Regional Workshop on Effective Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking-in-Persons for Labor Exploitation, for Asean member countries to discuss the labor dimensions of trafficking in persons and how investigation and prosecution can be enhanced within the realm of criminal, labor, and civil law regimes in order to protect migrant workers from exploitation.

Trafficking in persons takes many forms. The more common modus operandi Ive encountered at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is the deployment of underage females as domestic workers using a genuine passport bearing the photograph, name and details belonging to another person. Once in the destination country, they are transferred or sold by their employer to new employers, sometimes in another country, where they are stripped of all identification to dissuade them from complaining or running away.

Due to the fear of being deported or physically abused, Filipino migrant workers are often left with no option but to endure the abuse. The violations would only be brought into light when the abuses become excessive and the worker is able to escape and complain.

Of course, when we talk about trafficking, the first thing that comes to mind is the Middle East. That, however, is not entirely accurate. While it is true that workers in the Asean member countries migrate to countries throughout the world, a large chunk of our regions work force migrate to other Asean member states, particularly Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia.

Thailands economic development and location among neighboring countries with limited development and political instability has made it a magnet for several types of migrants: asylum seekers, regular labor migrants and irregular migrants. Brunei has long relied on migrant labor as a result of its small population providing a limited labor force, coupled with the fact that most workers in the oil-rich nation are employed in the public sector.

Singapores status as a regional economic powerhouse and its limited population has made it an ideal destination for migrant workers, many from Southeast Asia. In fact, foreign labor comprise around one-fourth of the city states 2.3 million-strong workforce. Despite its first-world image, Singapores labor laws are viewed by human rights advocates as quite archaic.

Domestic workers, construction workers, restaurant workers and other low- wage migrants (carrying work permits) do not enjoy the same freedoms and protection as professional and technical workers immigrating on work passes. Work permit holders reportedly cannot bring family members with them, and are barred from marrying Singaporeans. Meanwhile, domestic workers are supposedly prohibited from becoming pregnant or breaking up families.

Malaysia, on the other hand, relies on migrant workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries (primarily Asean) to meet labor demands, particularly in areas of manufacturing, construction, agriculture and the domestic sector.

Of the approximately 400,000 domestic workers in Malaysia, more than 90 percent are Indonesian. This is a particular concern shared by many Asean member countries because of the growing number of trafficked and exploited women and girls as domestic workers.

Domestic workers are frequently excluded from formal labor protections in many Asean countries. They are often misinformed about their conditions of employment and the work required of them. They usually work very long hours, are denied rest days and freedom of movement, not provided with suitable accommodation or sleeping areas, and paid late, or less than the agreed amount, or sometimes, not at all.

Compounding the problem is that in most Asean countries, victims of trafficking are seen more as undocumented workers and illegal migrants who should be punished rather than helped. Employers who take on illegal migrants are rarely punished for keeping their workers in debt bondage or involuntary servitude.

Joining the global initiative to end this modern-day slavery, the Asean member countries have signed the Asean Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP). The good news is that ACTIP has entered into force after the Philippines became the sixth Asean member state to ratify the convention last February.

ACTIP is the first regionally binding instrument on trafficking in persons, and is aimed at preventing and combating trafficking in persons, especially women and children; ensuring just and effective punishment of traffickers; protecting and assisting victims of trafficking in persons with full respect for their human rights; and promoting cooperation in the fight against trafficking in persons among the Asean member-states.

Since the fight against trafficking in persons requires inter-country and multi-sectoral collaboration, capacity-building activities like the recent regional workshop allow Asean member-states to share good practices, and more importantly, identify areas where there can be effective domestic and regional cooperation and coordination, especially since human-trafficking is mostly a transnational crime.

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Slave wages in Zimbabwe farms – The Standard – The Zimbabwe Standard

Posted: June 11, 2017 at 5:06 pm

You are here: Home Local News Slave wages in Zimbabwe farms

FARM workers in Zimbabwe are victims of modern-day slavery. They earn $75 a month, despite the fact that agriculture is the backbone of the countrys economy.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Wonder Chabikwa

Farm workers told The Standard in separate interviews last week that farmers and government were neglecting and subjecting them to modern-day slavery.

Its more of modern-day slavery. Workers earn peanuts and this is very sad.

We fought against white supremacy but now there is black supremacy.

Farm workers, especially in the tobacco sector, are operating under poor working conditions and earning paltry salaries.

Employers dont offer them any protective clothing, said Raymond Sixpence, Progressive Agriculture and Allied Industries Workers Union of Zimbabwe general secretary.

As such, workers are vulnerable to respiratory and other diseases. Chinese employers go further to beat and harass employees. They dont want to pay them.

Some workers said employers were paying them with farm produce, citing harsh economic conditions in the country.

Recently, farm workers and employers agreed a salary increment of 4,2% or $3 for 2017 which saw the lowest earner being paid $75 per month and the highest paid worker now earning $150.

The agreement was signed on June 2 between the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (Gapwuz) and farmer organisations.

The farmer organisations that agreed to the new wages are the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Farmers Union, Commercial Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Tobacco Association and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Employers Organisation.

Its a mockery for suffering employees who are working 365 days a year. Its very unfair, Sixpence said.

He said agriculture was one of the biggest contributors to the countrys economy but employees were not being recognised.

As a union, he said, they were fighting for a $100 minimum wage per month.

In South Africa, the lowest paid farm workers earn about $230 per month.

Gapwuz general secretary, Golden Magwaza said the wages for workers were still low but due to economic challenges, they had compromised for $75.

We still need more to be done because its still little but half a loaf is better than nothing, he said.

We are going to have another meeting with employers in the next 12 months to discuss the issue.

Our aim is to reach the poverty datum line but to reach that is a challenge due to economic challenges.

According to a 2016 report, Working and Living Conditions of Workers in the Agricultural sector in Zimbabwe compiled by Naome Chakanya, from 2011 to 2016, wages for farm workers failed to keep pace with both the food poverty line and the poverty datum line (PDL), thus reducing the workers to the working poor.

In 2011 and 2012, the lowest paid worker in the general agriculture sector earned $59. The figure was reviewed slightly up in 2013 by $6 to $65. In 2014 and 2015 workers earned $72.

Currently, the PDL is estimated at almost $600.

The report noted another major challenge facing agriculture sector workers was the non-payment of wages.

It said some workers had gone for periods ranging from three months upwards without salaries.

Employers cite reasons such as the challenging economic environment, while others with the capacity to pay are taking advantage of the excuse, reads the report.

For some workers, they are given their salaries piecemeal as the employers cite the liquidity crisis.

Also cases of compulsory overtime work and overburdening of workers are rampant in all the subsectors, the report noted.

A worker can only go home after completing the task given by the employer regardless of time required per day to complete the task.

For some, they do not have clear contracts of employment and end up being unsure of their hours of work and exposing themselves to overtime work, it said.

Furthermore, due to rampant casualisation of labour in the sector, workers are subjected to irregular hours of work, and their working time is unpredictable and can be changed by the employer at any time.

In some cases, the key informants noted that such overworking often leads to fatigue, which increases their vulnerabilities to workplace injuries and accidents.

Commercial Farmers Union president, Ben Purcell Gilpin said the farming industry was affected by viability challenges.

Yes, we had a good season, but it has not improved. Its not only workers who are feeling the pinch, also the employers. We have challenges of cash also, he said.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Wonder Chabikwa said the agreed wage increase was what farmers could afford.

For the past three years, there was no salary increment because farmers had not been making profit, he said. This year it increased from $72 to $75 for the lowest paid worker and this is the amount farmers could afford to pay.

He urged farmers to prioritise workers health by providing them safe working conditions.

The agriculture sector is the backbone of Zimbabwes economy as more than 70% of its population derives its livelihood from it, according to Chakanya. It contributes the highest figure in terms of the countrys wealth and employment.

In terms of employment, according to the Labour Force and Child Labour Survey released in 2014, the agricultures sector (including forestry and fishing) contributes about 67% of total employment.

The sector contributes about 15% to the countrys Gross Domestic Product.

Despite all this, workers in the sector are classified as working poor.

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