Some British do-gooders spiced Easter celebrations. They mixed chocolate with slavery. Apparently, many Britons munch plenty of chocolate during Easter and need a clear conscience.
Stop the Traffic, an anti-slavery coalition, didn't mention the Transatlantic slave trade, perpetual pre-occupation of African-Americans. The coalition wanted chocolate manufacturers to declare their product "traffic-free" so that consumers would know they aren't supporting child slave labour, the BBC reported.
ILO report
Cause of concern arose from an International Labour Organisation report. It said 12,000 children have been trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire to harvest cocoa.
The West African nation produces the world's largest cocoa crop, chocolate's main ingredient.
Concerned about cash registers jamming, the Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Association said human trafficking is unacceptable. The association, therefore, plans eight-million Pound Sterling a year certification and monitoring scheme to guarantee "traffic free" chocolates.
The background to the saga was the marking of 200 years since British Parliament, by law, abolished slavery throughout the then mighty empire. Many nations followed. Today no nation permits slavery as known to abolitionist William Wilberforce. However, slavery is far from gone. That's what Stop the Traffik reminded sweet-toothed Britons.
Mr Kevin Bales, author of a book titled Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, writes approximately 27 million slaves are toiling in the world today. Some anti-slavery activists argue that's a conservative figure. The number is close to 200 million. Anyway, according to Mr. Bale there are more slaves alive today than all the people stolen from Africa during the Transatlantic slave trade.
Linguistically, ILO reports are ponderous. However, figures are noticeable. In a report last May, the UN body said 12.3 million slaves toil today worldwide. The industrialised world host 350,000 of the lot. Of all the forced workers, 2.4 million are victims of trafficking. They generate profits of over $30 billion annually.
These slaves have a few things in common: they are poor, least educated, a majority are women and children, other people own their labour; they cannot change jobs or leave at will and are abused and humiliated.