Breaking the shackles of modern-day slavery | Cameron Harris | TEDxUGA

[Music] I have 45 slaves working for me let me say that again I have 45 slaves working for me how many work for you so now you're saying Cameron you're crazy there's no way I have slaves working for me today and to that I would say you're wrong through the products that you consume on a daily basis you may unknowingly be employing slave labor so how does this still exist in 2017 well the truth is that modern day slavery can be found in every corner of the earth whether it's sex trafficking hubs like Atlanta factories in China or even farms in South America this is a global issue but there's hope luckily we are more equipped than ever before as individuals to fight this Injustice but before we can do that we must first understand the complexities of this issue it doesn't look how it used to but rather it has disguised itself behind curtains of industrialism in hotel walls though it may not be the slavery of plantations and slave ships One Thing Remains vulnerable individuals are taken advantage of and held against their will currently slavery is the world's largest growing illegal industry with over50 billion doll in Revenue each year there are also 45 million men women and children enslaved today to put that in perspective there are more enslaved individuals in the world than there are Canadian citizens one common form of modern slavery that's talked about a lot is sex trafficking sex trafficking refers to the movement of people for the purpose of selling them for sex now we think that this is a foreign issue and something that happens in other countries but it happens in large bustling cities like Atlanta Los Angeles and New York while this still may seem like a distant issue for most slavery can and does happen any where including Athens Georgia last year around this time seven men were arrested for trafficking two underage girls out of a local Athens Motel now we know where the de man comes from any marketing major like myself could tell you that sex sells but where does the supply come from while there are some people who willingly enter into this field the vast majority do not kesa head an outspoken Advocate as well as a survivor of sex traffing shares her story finding herself homeless she soon found a man that told her that she was beautiful and that he knew of a way that she could make money Kesha goes on to say that when you have suffered from starvation and someone hands you bread you instantly bond with that person now this is Kesha's story but it's an example of how vulnerable individuals enter into seemingly normal relationships only to find themselves in sex trafficking now this is one side of modern day slavery but sadly there is another side Force labor forc labor refers to the or any work or service that an individual does against their will under the threat of punishment for little to no pay so we see this in the coffee Industries in West Africa we see this in Fisheries in Thailand and we also see this in rice Mills in India just a name a few sadly this also is an issue that happens domestically through a study done by the Polaris project they found that there are legal immigrants who come to this country on temporary work visas for agricultural work who are targeted by their employers their employers take away their documentation and transport them to unfamiliar locations and often times these immigrants do not speak English and cannot Advocate on behalf of themselves leaving them vulnerable to violations of Fair Labor practices these immigrants are also house in terrible conditions and paid little to nothing even Brands we know and love can unintentionally engage in force labor take for for instance Patagonia through an internal audit Patagonia found that they are employing manufacturers that use slave labor now Patagonia is a company that is known for their Fair Labor practices and being a leader for that and even them they found that in their supply chain because this issue can hide itself in multiple levels of the supply chain it makes it very difficult to detect this means that products that we buy on an everyday basis has slavery embedded in them so at this point you may be asking what can I do to help some of you may be telling yourself wow this is a huge issue I'm not sure where to start I'll leave it to the authorities but let me tell you as individuals we can be Catalyst for change when I heard heard about this my junior year year of high school I started breaking the shackles a 51 C3 nonprofit and student organization that raises awareness and support for the Frontline organizations that are fighting against this issue now that's what I did but you can make a difference too but first you have to fully understand where slavery hides in your life an easy way to do this is by taking the slavery footprint quiz so through this quiz it asks you questions about your consumption habits and things that you buy to estimate how many slaves you have working for you that's how I found out I had 45 working for me as someone who is aware of this issue and fights it on an everyday basis I was unaware of how I contributed to the problem now awareness is key but action is greater one easy way to take action is by downloading the traffic cam app this app allows you to take pictures of hotel rooms that are then forwarded on to authorities now these authorities match the pictures that you take of your hotel room with pictures that are used on on online sex ads this enables authorities to locate and prosecute sex traffickers just like the seven men who arrested here in Athens finally you can volunteer with local nonprofits so you can do this and you can distribute hotlines to areas of known trafficking you can collect Necessities for survivors of sex trafficking or you can even volunteer to help paint the walls of a safe house now these are just a few opportunities that you can do to impact this issue but you can find even more in your local communities or surrounding communities if we truly gather around this issue and declare it the Injustice that it is we can all be a part of breaking the shackles of modern day slavery thank [Applause] you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 12,058

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, United States, Global Issues, Activism

Id: 0iI9dwkHqnc

Length: 8min 22sec (502 seconds)

Published: Wed May 03 2017