International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition 2018

Submitted by jwr on Wed, 15.08.2018 - 09:22

23 August 2018 is International Day for Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition. Its an annually recurring commemoration every 23 August.

On this day in 1791 the enslaved men and women in the western part of the island of Santo Domingo revolted, and proclaimed an independent country, giving it the original Amerindian name Haiti.

The day is significant because the successful uprising set forth events which were a major factor in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

The commemoration day recalls and illustrates the plight and suffering forced on enslaved people, and sheds light on the fight against all forms of oppression and racism today.

While slavery is internationally recognized as a crime against humanity, and has been legally abolished worldwide, slavery and slave like practices still occur in our modern day. It can take the form of bonded labor, labor exploitation, forced migrant labor, early or forced marriage, forced prostitution, child labor, and domestic servitude.

Modern day slavery is often linked to poverty. It is linked to people trafficking by criminals, and to exploitation within corporate supply chains. Some of the industries where modern day slavery or slave like conditions occur are electronics manufacturing, agricultural processing, large scale fishing, textiles and fashion, construction. A number of organizations campaign and act against modern day slavery and serfdom.

So, we encourage you to assess that the services you avail of, and the products you buy are subject to socially (and environmentally) responsible practices.