barely enough to keep them working, are not free to leave, and can be killed without legal consequence.
In the United States the old slave trade consisted primarily of bringing people against their will from Africa. It was a significant financial investment. Before the Civil War, the cost to purchase the average slave amounted to the equivalent of € 40,000 in modern terms. The current price is usually about € 70 to € 120. The result is that they tend to be treated as even more disposable. Slaves today are so cheap that they’ re not even seen as a capital investment anymore. The slave owners don’ t take care of their slaves; they just use them up and then throw them away. In Côte d’ Ivoire, the slave trade is booming like never before.
1.7 Pressure for change
As publicity about the use of child slaves in the chocolate industry mounts higher and higher, so does pressure on the chocolate manufacturers. There is nothing sweet or innocent about slavery.
On June 28, 2001, the U. S. House of Representatives voted 291 to 115 to look into setting up a labelling system so people could be sure that no slave labor was used in their chocolate. Unhappy with this, the chocolate industry mounted an intense effort to fight off“ slave free” labels for their products.
The International Labor Rights Fund actually sued the U. S. government for failing to enforce the laws prohibiting the import of products made with child labor.
Since then, several plans have been made to abolish slavery, but always nothing or almost nothing has changed. The Harkin-Engel Protocol( explained below) is, sadly, only one example of empty promises from the slave-using portion of the chocolate industry.
Unfortunately, no producer using Côte d’ Ivoire cocoa can truthfully state that none of its chocolate was produced by child slavery, as the 90 % of slave picked beans are mixed together with the 10 % harvested by free field hands.
Worldwide, people are rallying for the slaves. You are needed as well.
11