While slavery ended for Americans in 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, a panel of speakers gathered at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government last night said approximately 27 million humans are currently enslaved around the world, being forced to work for no pay under the threat of violence.
One of the panelists, 21-year-old Frances Bok, could attest to that statistic first hand. Frances was 7 years old when his mother sent him to the market in his southern Sudan village to get milk and grains. While running the errand, a northern Sudanese militia group ambushed the village and attacked its inhabitants.
“They were shooting people, they were beating people. … One little girl saw her parents killed and could not stop crying. To silence her, they shoved her in a basket and shot her in the head,” he said.
Those that were not killed, including Frances, were sold into slavery to Muslims in the north, who are currently engaged in a civil war with the Christian southern Sudan.
“For 10 years, I was beaten every morning. They made me sleep out with the animals. They told me I was an animal,” Bok said.
Frances managed to escape at the age of 17 and now lives in the United States, traveling as a spokesman. He works for the American Anti-Slavery Group, whose mission is to raise slavery awareness and abolish slavery worldwide.
“I am a lucky man because I escaped … but my people are dying,” he said.
According to Jesse Sage, associate director of the American Anti-Slavery Group, Bok’s story is not uncommon. In many parts of the world, particularly Sudan, slavery is practiced more now than ever before.
“Today, with the population boom … slaves are inexpensive and dispensable. The average price for a slave today is about $12,” he said, compared to a price tag of about $60,000 per slave in the antebellum southern United States.
Sage said the cheap labor market makes slavery a global phenomenon and cited cases of Brazilian men being coaxed out of their homes with the promise of good work, only to be enslaved in the rainforest, and of millions of Indian children who are currently being held in debt bondage.
Sage urged the audience to learn more about these cases and take action.
“We’re here to talk about us. About what we are going to do with our freedom. … We have to exercise our freedom to help set others free,” he said. “Ultimately, I want all of you to become abolitionists.”
Wendy Patton, a representative of the National Security Council, said the United States is working hard to ensure that world governments recognize and fight slavery and slave trafficking. She mentioned several strides made by the United States, including training law enforcement officers worldwide, educating the public in Poland and the Ukraine about the human slave trade, and increasing economic development programs for women, who make up the vast majority of slaves.
The other panelists, however, expressed doubt that such minor actions could have much of an effect on a lucrative and widespread practice. Sage, Bok and Jay Williams, a Harvard University sophomore who recently returned from a visit to Sudan, encouraged the audience to let the National Security Council know that the issue is important and should be addressed by President Bill Clinton and by whoever takes his place in January.
“Why is President Clinton allowing slavery in Sudan?” Bok asked the crowd in broken English. “Why is the world silent?”
He scanned the young faces in the crowd and asked them to fight for the freedom of others.
“As students you are strong. You have big voices … and you can end slavery,” Bok said.