Slavery, though officially abolished, has not truly disappeared. Instead, it has been modified and redefined into forms that appear more acceptable in today’s society. In reality, it still exists around us, only under different names. In Nigeria, especially, modern-day slavery shows up in several ways. One of the most common is human trafficking, where young men and women are deceived with promises of jobs or a better life, only to end up in prostitution, drug running, or exploitative labor.
So many of my gender(female) fall in this category of deception. I have a cousin who left Nigeria with the hope of getting a better life (according to her) in Libya, and on getting there, she was introduced to sexual labour whereby she has to sleep with different men a day, and guess who gets paid? Her boss would collect the pay on their behalf. She said, they can sleep with 15-20 men a day, that's to say NO REST Thank God, she is revived now, but her life is not normal anymore. Recently, a popular celebrity disclosed how her only daughter is found in this mess, she is into exploitative labour. In contrast, the woman refused to pay them and also gave them no access to mobile phones, and anyone who misbehaves is killed immediately. This is sad!
Child labor is another form of slavery, where children are forced to hawk on the streets, work in markets, or engage in hard labor instead of going to school. Some of these children are housemaids and workers, often young girls, who are subjected to long hours, little or no pay, and even physical or sexual abuse. Recently, I saw a little girl of about 8 years employed as a maid close to me. Before I realized, no wonder she was being maltreated as a maid, she is, what can an 8-year-old girl do as a maid? People and problem. I felt for her and felt bad for her parents who released her to do this at her age. This is pathetic!
Even, some parents are enslaving their children because of their laziness and selfishness. In a school system, so many cases of parents not wanting to take responsibility for their children, thereby sending them on the street to go beg for money, go into hard labour, or to the parties to pick leftovers, is annoying to the core. Some even sell out their girls into early marriage and they dare not open up to what they are facing in the marriage because money will stop coming into their accounts. So shameful! One mother sent her only daughter to sleep with men for money, but I wasn't told. The girl confided in me
All of these practices may not be called “slavery” outright, but the reality is that they trap people in cycles of exploitation, robbing them of their freedom and dignity. They thrive because of poverty, greed, and weak enforcement of laws. Modern-day slavery is a crime that survives in different forms, and it should be stopped. Many young people are lured with false promises of jobs, children are forced to hawk or work instead of going to school, and domestic workers often suffer abuse with little or no pay. Creating awareness for the vulnerable or the weak and also implementing a prohibiting law can work in fighting against any attempt at slavery, whether it is modern or ancient. Only then can we truly say slavery has ended.
Response to prompt 179, edition 3 in the #hiveleaners community.
The Image is sourced.
