"I don’t own a slave, but my dollar does."

A month or so ago, when I was leaving the cinema after watching 12 Years a Slave – still absorbed by the film and thinking about that world, our world – I overheard the conversation of a young couple behind me.

And it made me really, really upset.

“God, I can’t believe humans used to be capable of that,” a woman said to her partner. “I can’t believe slavery was a thing.”

I wasn’t upset at the young woman, or her partner.

I was upset because slavery still exists – and many people don’t even know that.

Upset because even if you do know that, it sometimes feels like there’s nothing you can do.

12 Years a Slave – the first film directed and produced by a black man, Steve McQueen, to win the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture; not to mention the first film to introduce us to the remarkable and ravishing Lupita Nyong’o – is a harrowing look at one of the most horrific parts of American history: slavery.

But to leave a film like that and feel relieved that slavery no longer exists, does a disservice to the message of 12 Years a Slave. A film about freedom and the human spirit. A film about how easy it is to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others.

It does a disservice to the millions of people in the world who are modern slaves.

And there are millions. The International Labour Organisation estimates that 20.9 million men, women and children are still slaves in the 21^st century. An estimated 5.5 million of those slaves are children. Slaves are no longer purchased through the Trans-Atlantic Slavery Trade, but they are bought and sold as if they are property, forced to work for little or no pay, and essentially owned by their employers.

People are considered to be a slave if they are forced to work through mental or physical threats; bought, sold or controlled by their ‘employer’; or have restrictions placed upon their freedom of movement.

Although prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights – and actually illegal in every country where is exists – slavery continues.

Anti-slavery outlines the types of slavery that exist today:

Bonded labour affects millions of people around the world, with biggest numbers in South East Asia. People become bonded labourers by taking, or being tricked into taking, a loan for which they are unable to ever pay off. Some bonded labourers receive basic food and shelter as ‘payment’ for their work, but due to penalties and exorbitant interest rates, no matter how hard they work they are never able to pay off the loan, which can even be passed down on to their children.

Child Slavery affects an estimated 5.5 million children around the world. Child slavery includes the worst form of child labour and child trafficking. [For more on Mamamia: These kids deserve a childhood.]

Early and forced marriage predominately affects women and girls who are married without choice, forced into lives of servitude often accompanied by physical violence and have no realistic choice of leaving the marriage. [For more on Mamamia: 8-year-old child bride dies on her wedding night.]

Forced labour affects people who are illegally recruited by individuals, businesses or governments and forced to work – usually under the threat of violence or other penalties.

Descent-based slavery involves people who are either born into a ‘slave’ class or are from a ‘group’ that society views can be used for slave labour.

Trafficking involves the transport of any person from one area to another for the purpose of forcing them into slavery conditions. [For more on Mamamia: Sold into sexual slavery at age 12.]

Examples of slavery can even be seen in Australia, with trafficked people forced into positions of domestic servitude, hospitality positions that are largely hidden from public view and agricultural jobs across the country.

Equally troubling is the fact that modern slavery contributes to the production of about 120 goods, from 50 countries around the world. Nearly $15.5 billion of those goods are made in wealthy industrial countries. That is, developed countries.

It is estimated that slavery generates $32 billion every year – although that money is never seen by the slaves – and with such a huge industry surrounding slavery, it might not surprise you to hear that slaves have been involved in the production of many things we spend our money on in Australia.

Our coffee. Our smartphones. Our clothes. Our cars.

To put that in perspective: my dollar has undoubtedly financed modern slavery, at some point.

And when I think about a fact like that, I can’t reassure myself with the fact that it’s not me holding a whip. It’s not me holding people captive. It’s not me threatening another human being.

I don’t own a slave, but my dollar does.

That’s something I want to try and remember – and act upon when making purchases. Slavery still exists, and it’s something that still needs to be stopped.

Click here to learn more about how what we buy contributes to slavery. Click here for a guide to ethical shopping.

Click here to learn more about slavery in Australia. Click here for Australian organisations you can support that are working to end modern slavery.

Click here to learn how to identify people who might be working in slave labour conditions. Or click here to help support UNICEF’s child protection appeal, which is working to protect children in slavery (as well as other vulnerable positions). 

Follow @melissawellham. 

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