Modern Day

Slavery
By: Laura Carter, Kaylee
Sterling, and Matthew
Lundy
 According to an interview conducted with
Cathy Henderson, the founder of A Slave Free

What is
Earth, modern day slavery Human trafficking
can generally be broken into three main

Modern Day
categories; Labor trafficking, Sex trafficking
and Organ trafficking. Labor trafficking takes
many forms, everything from child soldiers, to

Slavery?
farm labourers and domestic servants. Sex
trafficking takes the form of women and
children (sometimes men) being used for sex
in brothels and massage parlours and also in
pornography. And organ trafficking (which is
a growing form of trafficking) is when people
are brutally kidnapped and their organs
harvested against their will.
 1. What solution would you
recommend to help solve this

Group issue in today's society? How

would it work?

Questions
2. What solution would you
recommend to help solve this
issue in the novel?
3. How would the novel have
been different if your solution
was presented?
 1. What solution would you recommend to help solve this issue in today's
society? How would it work?
One of the first steps to solving human It could only work to make people less ignorant
trafficking is to inform people that it is still and naive to the problems happening today.
happening today. Human trafficking happens in
every state, and it is extremely evident in the city
we live in. By sharing findings and statistics, we
can help to make a difference.
Documentary
Interview With Cathy Henderson
Cathy Henderson founds an organization called
Slave Free Earth. She does work in Thailand that
helps pull women out of human trafficking, and
give them better opportunities.
Interview With Cathy Henderson
1) What does your organization do to help end
modern day slavery?
My organization works mostly in Thailand. I work to help
train women who have been rescued from prostitution.
We offer english classes and soon hope to have a
bakery where women can be trained to have the skills
necessary to make a living outside of the sex trade. We
also work to raise awareness in the states. We speak at
various meetings and help spread the word about this
modern day atrocity. Modern day slavery thrives in the
darkness. We must be educated ourselves and work to
educate others. I have lost count of the times people
have said to me, I didnt even know this was happening
today. Slavery is illegal in every country around the
globe and yet it happens in EVERY country. The first
step in fighting against it is to make people aware that
this is happening and we must work to stop it together.
Interview With Cathy Henderson
2) How do you raise awareness about the work
you are doing in Thailand?
We use social media to try and connect people
in the states with the work we are doing in
Thailand. Myself and my board of directors
speak in churches and community meetings, on
college campuseswherever we can to try and
educate people and encourage them to take a
stand against trafficking.
Interview with Cathy Henderson
From your experience, who do you think is the
most effected in slavery today and what are the
main problems they face?
For my experience, I would have to say that
women and children are disproportionately
effected by trafficking. Children, are easy target
for traffickers and are forced into all sorts of
situations. Many are forced into being soldiers,
others are forced into different types of labor
and still other are forced into sexual slavery.
Poor women are often targets by traffickers and
forced into prostitution. Because in many
countries women and children have fewer rights
than men or are viewed as having less value,
they are often treated as disposable. The
society remains unconcerned by their plight as
slaves.
Interview with Cathy Henderson
Do you think there is more of an effort to end
current slavery than there was when slavery
was an issue in the U.S. in the 1800's?
Im not sure if you can say there is more of an
effort to end current slavery than in the 1800.
We certainly have more resources that those
abolitionists had back then. With social media
we can get a lot of information out to a lot of
people in a short amount of time.
Interview with Cathy Henderson
Overall, how do you think slavery is different
from the slavery the world has previously seen.
How do you think it is the same?
I would have to say that in essence slavery is still
the same evil it has always been, but perhaps
the biggest difference is that slavery is more
hidden at this time. Slavery is illegal in every
country in the world, but there are slaves in
every country in the world! Traffickers are also
using modern technology to exploit people and
avoid being caught. Women and children are
sold over the internet in large numbers and it is
very difficult to stop. I would say that one thing
that has stayed the same is that slavery is
fuelled by greed and selfishness. Modern day
slavery is big business. The exploitation of
human beings is one of the largest illegal
industries in the world.
2. What solution would you recommend to help solve this issue in the novel?

The slavery presented in the novel is based

entirely around the Old American form of
slavery, which was primarily forced labour. This
institution came to an end after Emancipation; a
Civil War was fought to see it disestablished. In
order to end the system of slavery in the novel,
there would need to be an organized effort
among Abolitionists acting against slavery and
slave owners.
Forced Labour

Forced labour is a form of slavery in which the victim is forced to perform any
work against their will. They are usually intimidated by threat of violence, death,
or disclosure to immigration officials, into performing these tasks. This form of
slavery is global; 85% of slaves in South-East Asia are victims of forced labour.

Forced labour is not always sexual; usually, sexual exploitation is labeled differently. Forced labour can
include tasks such as constructing buildings, packaging or creating narcotics,
2012-2014 Data: Human Trafficking Categorization
3. How would the novel have been different if your solution was presented?

If our solution was presented in the novel, it

would help bring people's attention to the
wrong going on during their time and how it
needs to change. Changing their outlook on
the situation by showing how bad it really is,
would most likely help peoples morals
change. This way people in the novel such as
the Hunters, or even any slave owner, would
be able to see what's wrong and that they
could make a huge difference just by
choosing to help end slavery
Types of Modern Day Slavery
Someone is in slavery if they are: Forms of slavery:

Forced to work through coercion, or Forced Labour

mental or physical threat; Debt Bondage or Bondage Labour
Owned or controlled by an employer, Human trafficking
through mental or physical abuse or the Descent Based Slavery
threat of abuse; Child Slavery
Dehumanised, treated as a commodity or Forced and Early marriage
bought and sold as property
Physically constrained or have restrictions
placed on their freedom of movement
Recent News
Two men are facing more than 200 years in prison after
being found guilty of running a gay sex trafficking
operation that operated in both New York and Florida.
Gabor Acs and Viktor Berki, who are both of Hungarian
descent, were convicted Wednesday of human
trafficking, conspiracy and racketeering, The Miami
Herald is reporting. Acs and Berki lured two young gay
men from Hungary through Gay Romeo, a dating and
social networking site for men, and a third through
Facebook
This beginning of a recent article from The
Huffington Post, posted february 3rd, 2017,
helps show how anyone can be easily brought
into the human trafficking industry. It also helps
show us the punishments of people caught
being a part of any human trafficking. These
men are now facing over 200 years for a
trafficking business that had going on for just a
little while. Clearly we can see that there are
harsh punishments for this crime. However, it's
just a matter of if they get caught

Novel
Connections
Slavery today compared to
slavery in The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn
Slavery in the novel is more of an
institution rather than an
underground network. It is
completely legal (at least among the
Southern States) and a fact of life.
The characters of the novel see it as
commonplace; they refuse to
analyze the morality of it, with the
exception of Huck.
Slavery Then Vs. Now
Slavery in the Novel Slavery Today
Legal in the Southern States; Nation divided Illegal in all countries; underground network.
ideologically. Universally criticized, but still practiced.
Mixed opinions. Usually ignored or unseen. Not seen as common for
Slaves in the novel see it as a fact of life, alongside most people in the West.
slave owners. Forced Labour, Sexual Slavery, Organ Theft, Child
Primarily forced labour Soldiers, Forced Begging, etc.
Race-Based Indiscriminate
Ended after Abolition Ongoing (arguably growing.)
Slavery Perspectives Novel Vs. Modern Day
It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go "These minors are being abducted, lured, and yanked away
and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't ever from their families. Don't just listen to me. You need to learn
sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn't do him no more mean about what happened to me and take the blindfold off your
tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would eyes." - Jacinto, Karla
make him feel that way. - Huck (Twain, 2013).
Human trafficking has become a trade so lucrative and
I tried to make out to myself that I warn't to blame, because I prevalent, that it knows no borders and links towns in central
didn't run Jim off from his rightful owner; but it warn't no use, Mexico with cities like Atlanta and New York." - CNN
conscience up and says, every time, "But you knowed he was
running for his freedom, and you could a paddled ashore and
told somebody." - Huck (Twain, 2013).

Novel Modern World

Sources
1. Anti-Slavery international. (n.d.). What is modern day slavery? Retrieved March 27, 2017, from antislavery.org website:
https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/
2. Slave Free Earth. (2017, March 25). [Personal interview by L. F. Carter]. Contacted through organization Website
3. Wong, C. M. (2017, February 3). Men face up to 200 years in prison for gay sex trafficking. Huffington Post . Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hungary-gay-sex-trafficking-ring_us_5894bdf9e4b040613136aa35
4. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2016. UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME. Retrieved from
https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/glotip/2016_Global_Report_on_Trafficking_in_Persons.pdf
5. Twain, M. (2013). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Clayton, DE: Prestwick House.
6. Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Character Quotes. Retrieved April 07,
2017, from http://www.shmoop.com/huckleberry-finn/characters-quotes.html
7. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from www.cnn.com website:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/10/americas/freedom-project-mexico-trafficking-survivor/
8. FairTrade Films. (Producer). (2017). Children of the Sex Trade [Motion picture]. USA: Real Stories.
https://youtu.be/qxQm6xyDGdo