The slave trade today

Sophie Haydock looks at the persistence of slavery, 200 years after its abolition.

A slave woman bearing the scars of the slave trade. Martin Luther King delivering his famous I Have a Dream speech. As consumers the choices we make can have a difference on the quality of people's lives.

25 March 2007 is a date to celebrate. Why? Because it marks the 200 year anniversary of the end of slavery. There is no better time than now to consider the progress we’ve made since the days when owning and exploiting another human being was widely acceptable.

Since the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Abolition bill in 1807 the world has changed beyond recognition. For better or worse we have McDonald’s, the mobile phone, and man (and woman) has set foot on the moon. Despite these giant leaps for mankind, are we actually any closer today to living in a world free from the injustice, discrimination and prejudice of slavery than we were two centuries ago?

I believe the abolition bill of 1807 doesn’t mark the end of slavery, but rather the beginning of a long and difficult struggle. In the 21st century, the repercussions of slavery are still being felt all around the world. Racism, poverty and inequality are problems that have not disappeared.

The Civil Rights Movement in America during the 1960s made a great deal of progress in the fight for racial equality. It is almost half a century ago that, on August 28 1963, Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and delivered I Have a Dream - one of the greatest speeches in history. King expressed his belief that all men were created equal, with the right to freedom and dignity. He spoke of his dream that people be judged by the content of their character rather than the colour of their skin.

Despite people like King fighting passionately for human rights, various forms of slavery still continue in the world today. Human trafficking, debt bondage and child soldiers are all modern forms of slavery.

Organisations like Oxfam, UNICEF and Amnesty International work hard to raise awareness and tackle these ongoing problems. As individuals we can support these groups. As consumers, the choices we make can have an impact on the quality of the lives of others - from buying Fairtrade chocolate to avoiding unethical companies.

Without a doubt, 200 years is a significant landmark. Even so, we must remember that slavery was common and legal for over 400 years. We are barely halfway to making amends. We must not forget that over 12 million Africans were loaded onto slave ships and 3 million died. How can that ever be forgiven, especially when injustice still persists? Maybe in another 200 years, by 2207, we’ll have made a better kind of progress.