Archive for September 2013
Cape Coast Castle and Modern Day Slavery
0Thursday, 12 September 2013 by Renee
Another flashback post, although loosely related to some more current work...
Slaves that didn't die from these conditions were kept here for months until they were processed and put on ships via the door of no return. At Cape Coast, this was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic.
And yet, even where the relics of the Transatlantic slave trade stand watch along the shoreline, the above promise remains unfulfilled. In Ghana, child trafficking is a significant issue, where most frequently children are trafficked to work in the fishing villages along the large Lake Volta . On fishing boats, children are put to work as their small hands and bodies are considered to be useful for diving to de-tangling nets caught on the plentiful submerged trees. The work is brutal and dangerous, and children also experience sexual abuse and corporal punishment from their slave masters.
Recently, I've been helping to research and develop a new project for my organisation, to use our methodology with survivors and children at-risk of child trafficking. The project aims to provide sexual and reproductive health education to the children, and to help them use drama as an advocacy tool to raise awareness amongst the broader community, in partnership with a child rights organisation.
During our orientation week (which now feels like a lifetime ago), we made a trip to Cape Coast, a few hours west to visit Cape Coast Castle. Ghana was one of the key exchange points in the Transatlantic Slave trade which operated from the 1600s to 1800s. Ghana's coastline is littered with forts and castles built by various colonial powers to store and process their slaves and ship them off to sea.
It's a haunting and stunning building; beautiful and serene, but it was almost like you could feel the hundreds of years of suffering held within it.
Cape Coast Castle was built and originally operated by the Swedes (not so neutral now huh?), seized by the Danes and then the Brits, who ran their slave trade from the castle until 1844, when it became the centre of the colonial government of the British Gold Coast until independence in 1957.
Our guide gave us an impassioned tour of the castle, including the dungeons where 200 slaves were kept at any one time in the space of about 7x4 metres. The dirt covering the cobblestone floor is actually about 30cm of blood, sweat, urine and feces accumulated over the 200 years of operation - you can only imagine the smell. The three tiny peep holes provided the light and oxygen for the slaves.
Slaves that didn't die from these conditions were kept here for months until they were processed and put on ships via the door of no return. At Cape Coast, this was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic.
Over half of the people captured died en route due to ill treatment and the diseases that ran rife through the crowded ships. Women and girls were raped by the ships crew, and their babies provided "sustainability" to the trade - the next generation of slaves in the new world.
And yet, even where the relics of the Transatlantic slave trade stand watch along the shoreline, the above promise remains unfulfilled. In Ghana, child trafficking is a significant issue, where most frequently children are trafficked to work in the fishing villages along the large Lake Volta . On fishing boats, children are put to work as their small hands and bodies are considered to be useful for diving to de-tangling nets caught on the plentiful submerged trees. The work is brutal and dangerous, and children also experience sexual abuse and corporal punishment from their slave masters.
Recently, I've been helping to research and develop a new project for my organisation, to use our methodology with survivors and children at-risk of child trafficking. The project aims to provide sexual and reproductive health education to the children, and to help them use drama as an advocacy tool to raise awareness amongst the broader community, in partnership with a child rights organisation.
In poor communities, it's common for parents, many of whom may not have planned their children, to negotiate a fee in return for their child to work in another village, or the parents may be deceived into believing that trafficker will provide schooling and perhaps a small amount of work outside of school. Often the trafficker is a family member
such as an uncle, so it's not viewed by families as trafficking. Alternatively,
traffickers or agents sometimes approach parents directly, promising their
children a better life. The issue is extremely sensitive and taboo, and the underlying issues - poverty, unplanned pregnancies, and lack of education - aren't easy issues to address.
Slavery may not technically be state-sanctioned these days, but global estimates of the number of women, men and children in slavery today range from 20.9 million (ILO) to 27 million (Free the Slaves). By comparison, best estimates of the Transatlantic Slave trade suggest approximately 12 million people were shipped as slaves (although including the numbers of deaths would include a much higher number).
Like it or not, we're all actors in a global economy, and the decisions we make about the products we buy or the services we use can help to either sustain such abhorrent practices, or demonstrate an alternative, more humane way of doing things.
If you'd like to learn more about modern day slavery, there is no shortage of coverage on the internet, but the BBC has a great overview here, and Free Slaves have a great informative website too.Slavery may not technically be state-sanctioned these days, but global estimates of the number of women, men and children in slavery today range from 20.9 million (ILO) to 27 million (Free the Slaves). By comparison, best estimates of the Transatlantic Slave trade suggest approximately 12 million people were shipped as slaves (although including the numbers of deaths would include a much higher number).
Like it or not, we're all actors in a global economy, and the decisions we make about the products we buy or the services we use can help to either sustain such abhorrent practices, or demonstrate an alternative, more humane way of doing things.
