THIS IMMORAL TRADE
Slavery in the 21st century
By Baroness Caroline Cox and others
Monarch Books. 216 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 0 857 214 447
This is not a book that could easily be recommended to others, due to its very subject matter.
Yet, as you struggle to take in the awful tragedy of the world situation written about here, you become very aware that it is a subject that needs to be shouted about – loudly – so that governments and individuals will take measures to stop slavery in our times.
As Christians, we rejoice over the determination of William Wilberforce and others who campaigned tirelessly to abolish the slave trade in the 19th Century. Before he died, Wilberforce saw the British Parliament pass the Abolition Bill affecting the whole Empire. So what has gone so badly wrong? Do we need to start all over again? This book highlights the desperate situations in countries like Uganda, Sudan, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines and India, where countless thousands of men, women and children are caught up in various forms of slavery. Many are trafficked for sex, used as child soldiers or forced into hard labour. The list of abuse is much longer and all forms are distressing to read about.
How are we affected? The personal accounts included in this book are harrowing to read and should cause us to pray for such people, but we should never imagine that we are separated from such abuse. Recent cases in our own country show that nowhere is free from these horrors and we can all have a part to play in seeking to continue the work of Wilberforce. The final section suggests ways in which we can be actively involved.
Although the subject of the book would be horrific to anyone with a moral conscience, there are some small glimmers of hope to be found amongst the testimonies of victims. Political situations in Uganda, parts of Sudan, South Sudan and Myanmar are all changing and showing signs of improvement, and some agencies have been successful in freeing captives. How can we turn a blind eye to those in such need?
