Survivors of Slavery: Modern-Day Slave Narratives

by Laura Murphy

Slavery is not a crime confined to the far reaches of history. It is an injustice that continues to entrap twenty-seven million people across the globe. Laura Murphy offers close to forty survivor narratives from Cambodia, Ghana, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States, detailing the horrors of a system that forces people to work without pay and against their will, under the threat of violence, with little or no means of escape. Representing a variety of circumstances in diverse contexts, these survivors are the Frederick Douglasses, Sojourner Truths, and Olaudah Equianos of our time, testifying to the widespread existence of a human rights tragedy and the urgent need to address it.

Through storytelling and firsthand testimony, this anthology shapes a twenty-first-century narrative that many believe died with the end of slavery in the Americas. Organized around such issues as the need for work, the punishment of defiance, and the move toward activism, the collection isolates the causes, mechanisms, and responses to slavery that allow the phenomenon to endure. Enhancing scholarship in women’s studies, sociology, criminology, law, social work, and literary studies, the text establishes a common trajectory of vulnerability, enslavement, captivity, escape, and recovery, creating an invaluable resource for activists, scholars, legislators, and service providers.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2014

Reviews

[Danny Tyran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody should read this. An eye-opener.

I've just seen this : Human trafficking network dismantled
http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2016/07/28...

But even with all the organisations working to stop modern-day slavery, there is still a lot of job to do to stop it all.

On children forced to become soldiers:
http://www.cinemaforpeace-foundation....
Or
http://www.ungift.org/knowledgehub/me...

To stop human slavery:
https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2013/...

There are organisations in every country of the world that can give you information about it and how to help stop it.

[Tasmin]

Ein sehr interessantes und hilfreiches Buch, das die Stimmen der Opfer nicht verfälscht. Allerdings wiederholt es sich sehr oft und war deshalb teilweise extrem anstrengend zu lesen.

[Holly Scudero · Rating 4 out of 5]

You might be surprised to discover that slavery still exists today. Nearly 30 million people live in some kind of slavery, from debt bondage to forced labor, from chattel slavery (similar to the form of slavery that used to be legal in America, although not very common today) to forced sex work. Despite the fact that every country in the world has laws against slavery, officials often turn a blind eye, while everyday citizens have no idea what is going on. One of the best ways to aid the abolitionist movement is to publicize the stories of those who have lived or are still living within slavery. To that end, Laura T. Murphy, director of the Modern Slavery Research Project at Loyola University, presents "Survivors of Slavery," a collection of narratives. Some of these stories were written by the victims themselves, while others are interviews. All of them document an issue that just won’t go away, one that needs to be eradicated for good. Don’t come to this book looking for a voyeuristic description of the day-to-day life of a slave. Instead, what you will find here are stories thick with emotion: desperation that got the victim into a bad situation, despair at being forced to work, determination to live free, hope for a brighter future. This book is a message that everyone needs to hear.

Originally written for San Francisco Book Review.

[Kirsten Foot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers invaluable insights from survivors of modern slavery. It is painful to read, but essential reading for all who want to understand the multiple facets of the crime of human trafficking and counter it more effectively.

[Wendelle]

very tragic and frightening as one can imagine, some forms of modern slavery and human trafficking seem almost institutional phenomena as attested by their international reach and their under-the-table yet apparently permanent establishment in regular society, others are simply carried out singlehandedly by nefarious individuals

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interviews with numerous victims of modern day slavery, carefully and objectively reported in a way to accurately convey their experiences. Some things that struck me:
-- How common this is, that countless people are in this situation, and there is probably almost nothing that can prevent this from continuing.
-- The lack of hatred in the victim's stories. Each person told how it happened that they became caught in that situation, what it was like, and how they finally broke free.
-- The void from those who did not escape. What ever became of them? Did most end up dying? Tragically, that is probably the case, although this book does not make that claim.
-- Hopeless situations are the common denominator in virtually every interview in this book. The person may have been an orphan who was sold by an unscrupulous guardian. Or was someone living in poverty, and who saw no other way to survive other than taking the path that put them into slavery. Although they were typically deceived by someone who promised them hope, only to spring a trap once it was too late for the person to back out.


Overall, though, this book made me feel there is hope, at least to some extent. By letting the victims be heard, so others can form a reasonably accurate picture of what is going on, maybe it will become more difficult to enslave someone. Because slavery thrives behind closed doors, and the more people who know what clues to look for, the harder it will be for a captor to remain unexposed.

[Mills College Library]

306.36209 M9786 2014