Making modern-day slavery a thing of the past

Church, college students will host documentary screening
by Erin Wisdom

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Two centuries ago, British abolitionists showed what slavery looked like with a sketch of a ship carrying Africans crammed inside shoulder-to-shoulder.

This image sparked the abolition movement, and in most of the world today, such inhumane treatment of humans is deemed undeniably wrong — which may be why it comes as a shock to so many that it’s still happening, and in more than a few isolated incidents.

“Two hundred years have passed since we sat down with Britain and said, ‘How do we end the slave trade?’” says Beau Walker, the teaching pastor at Make12 Church in St. Joseph. “Now we’re having this conversation again. You’d think it would be over, but it’s not.”

It’s not over because more than 30 million children, women and men around the world still live in slavery, despite laws against it. It looks different than it used to, playing out in brothels in the Philippines and brick kilns in India rather than on U.S. plantations, but it’s still slavery — and people in the St. Joseph area will have a chance to see it for what it is next week, when Make12 and Missouri Western State University host a screening of “At the End of Slavery,” a documentary created by International Justice Mission (IJM) that is narrated by Danny Glover and includes music by Moby, Johnny Cash and Trentemøller. The screening is free and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 in rooms 218 and 219 of Missouri Western’s Blum Union.

The reason Make12 partnered with Missouri Western, Mr. Walker says, is that college students have a lot to bring to a movement against modern-day slavery.

“When you want to get something done, you go to people who are full of energy, because they’ll make things happen,” he adds. “These are the young people who have the potential to end slavery in their lifetime.”

Holding the event on campus meant finding a student organization to sponsor it, which Make12 found in Campus Crusade for Christ. But although the screening is backed by Christian groups, its appeal is broader, says Kayla Hedrick, a Missouri Western student who has been instrumental in bringing the documentary to the university.

“It’s not something that’s just religious,” she adds. “This is humanity. This (slavery) is something everybody should be against.”

But that’s not to say there isn’t a Christian mission behind IJM; Mr. Walker notes that the organization connects people it rescues to local churches. There’s also a strong biblical tie to the work IJM does, he adds.

“God is about justice; Exodus tells about how he delivered the Israelites out of slavery,” he says. “They were making bricks, and there are still people making bricks against their will today.”

Many people trapped in this kind of work are in bonded slavery, meaning that they took out a loan — perhaps when faced with an emergency — that has an interest rate so high they’ll never be able to pay it back or work it off, says Andrea Comfort Martinez, an attorney who spent time right out of law school working for IJM by prosecuting child sex offenders in Guatemala. She will speak at the screening about her experiences during this time and also will answer audience questions.

Also at the screening, those in attendance will have a chance to sign petition cards that will go before the U.S. government, urging it to encourage other countries to enforce the laws they’ve put in place against sex trafficking and other forms of slavery. This “encouragement” can come in the form of refusing to trade with them or offer other assistance unless they do so — and when countries actually enforce the laws they already have on the books, it really is effective, Ms. Martinez says.

“In some cities, you can’t find sex trafficking in the area anymore,” she adds. “ ... I know it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the numbers and just give up, but I say, ‘Remember the one.’ If one person is set free because of your involvement, it was worth it. And people are being freed from slavery every day.”

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.

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