Her name has been replaced with a number, 146. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen to her. Not one of these little girls with her does. All the other little girls around her are staring blankly at the television sets in front of them. They are like zombies; lifeless, helpless, hopeless. But not her. She was looking straight through the glass that separated her from the men watching her. They watched the girls and eventually they will buy them and make them their slaves. There was nothing she could do. But she was not going to give in. She stared into the eyes of a man staring at her. He didn’t seem like the rest of the men- he seemed concerned. She stared at him; trying to get the message through, “This is wrong.” she must’ve been trying to say. This is the story of what that man, who was the one staring into 146’s eyes, said. He started the organization Love146, which helps stop child slavery because too many stories like this are true and happening right now. ("Love146 History")
Child slavery…What do you think of when you hear this? Pain? Unfairness? Hard labor? Or have you never really thought of child slavery? A year ago, I thought that I would never have to face the unfair facts of slavery itself. That was until last year- when I was informed of a terrible issue that is happening everywhere around the world.

Last year, I was informed that all around the world, slavery still exists and some of those slaves are children. These children, boys and girls, become slaves which means working hard labor and being abused; physically, emotionally, and sexually. Would you want a child you know to go through all that? These are innocent children, like ones you and I know, who are in situations that they can not get out of. They feel like there is no hope for them. There should be a stop to child slavery because it is wrong.

An average person blinks twenty-five times each minute. Every twenty-five times you blink, it is estimated that two children are sold to slavery. ("Love146 History") If you keep doing the math, you will find out that every day, 2,880 children are sold to slavery. Picture 2,880 children, ready to face the worst time of their lives. They may be crying, they may be scared, they may wish to die. Children are supposed to be full of life and happiness, not working under someone else’s watch. There is wrong in little kids working hard for little or no pay and being sexually abused. To think…this is happening everyday around our beloved world.

In Brazil, there are 1.2 million child laborers between the ages of 5-13. This is happening even though the Brazilian law forbids those to work who are under the age of 14. These children work hard by raising cattle or producing timber or sugar cane. These children do hard labor for little or no salary. If they’re lucky, they won’t get sexually abused. (Scharf) Can you imagine a life like that? Picture this. Picture a little five year old boy, working so hard to get enough timber before sundown. His face is dirty and his cheeks are stained from crying. I can picture tgus and it is a completely horrifying image. Its hard to believe that this is happening right now worldwide.

Also in Brazil, there are many different truck stops. However, 1,800 truck stops in Brazil have minors offering sexual services. (Scharf) These kids can do nothing about this because their master tells them to. They are his slaves and he is their master. He out ranks them in power. The kids are forced to obey his command. This disgusts me because it is not fair at all to the kids. No child should be ever sexually abused.
A big case that has to do with sexual abuse is trafficking. Trafficking is when men buy children to physically abuse them, make them work, and sexually abuse them. (“Love146 History”) Trafficking is happening everywhere and it is against children’s rights. One hundred sixty-one countries have been identified for trafficking. ("United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime") It is estimated that those countries, plus maybe some more that have not been identified, have spent roughly $32 billion dollars for trafficking. (“International Labour Organization”) That is a ton of money that is going towards a really bad thing, human trafficking.
It is estimated that one million children are exploited, sold, by human trafficking. (“Global Affairs”) That’s about thirty football fields filled with children that are being trafficked. These children are bought like they are toys or possessions. These kids aren’t either of those things; they are living, breathing, human beings that should be treated like such. Just like you and I should be treated like humans, children slaves all around the world should be treated like humans too.
There is a country called Cote d’Ivorie in Africa. In this country, young boys the ages of 12-16 are being forced to work on cocoa farms under the hot sun. They are slaves because they do not have enough money to live. (Chanthavong) These are young boys that you and I see daily as we go through life. Except these boys aren’t treated like young boys- they are treated like they’re worthless trash. They should not be treated like that. There is also a sporting company called Nike that you are probably familiar with. Nike was accused of using child slavery to make soccer balls in Pakistan, Africa. (“TED Case Studies”) Can you believe that even a big corporation like Nike uses child slavery to make their merchandise? Many other companies out there in the world use child slavery to produce their goods that we don’t even know about. These companies might not think child slavery is wrong, but honestly, it’s a criminal act.
Some people may think that child slavery isn’t wrong. Some might say that we need child slavery to work for things we need in other countries. As much as I respect those peoples’ thought, I would have to disagree. If that is the case, why do we need children to work under the hot sun of misery? There are many grown-ups around the world that are in desperate need of jobs who can take the place of the kids. Why do we need to have kids cry and be miserable just so we can have more stuff? Every child in the world can make a difference. “We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”-Stacia Tausher. If we hold these children back with the chains of slavery, we can basically say goodbye to good change in the world that that child could’ve brought upon us. Child slavery holds back opportunities that those children could’ve took.
Child slavery is wrong because it is unfair to the kids. Child slavery is wrong because in child slavery, children are being treated like objects. Child slavery is wrong because these children are being sexually abused with no one to hear them out. If I could write down all the reasons why child slavery is wrong, I could write a very long book. There are so many reasons why slavery is wrong.
This paper is filled with information that is too horrible to be true. But all of it is true and some people do not want to know the truth. But by knowing the truth of child slavery, perhaps we can do something to stop child slavery. If we stop this, child slavery and trafficking can be nothing but an old story that we can, in the future, prevent from happening. You have two choices to do after reading this paper. You can walk away, pretending you never read this paper. Or you can believe that child slavery is a criminal act and you can do something to help stop it. Now, which person will you be?