If we want to understand Africa, its past, present and predict its future, we have to begin with the truth of the historical setting. If we do not grasp this historical truth, there can be misunderstanding among African peoples, and even just fraternal relationship between Africa and the rest of the world can be difficult to understand and implement. In his article titled, “The Expatriate Worker in Africa,” published in the Africa Ecclesial Review, in April 1994 Laurent Magesa points out that “for some four odd centuries the African continent has, for all practical purposes, been an object--an object of human and material commerce, of colonial exploitation, of cultural derision, of study, of pity, of charity, of Western Christian activity, and of ideological conflict”.
The African continent has, for all practical purposes, been an object--an object of human and material commerce.
SLAVERY IN A NEW BASKET
In our world today, there is a growing trend of trading in human beings. This is a very sad and pathetic development which is taking us back to the sharp pointed jaws of slave trade. Indeed what is happening in human trafficking can in a way be rightly dubbed “slavery in a new basket.” The phenomenon of humans trafficking fellow humans’ raises a number of questions and that is what I want to attempt answering in this article: Why should people get involved in this ugly business at all? Why is the trafficking affecting mostly the Third World countries and Africa in particular?
It is common knowledge acquired from experience that every human being wants to live a comfortable life worthy of their dignity. It is also from the knowledge of experience that we learn that people have gone to incomprehensible heights and in the process have made terrible plans and decisions in the pursuit of a comfortable living. Certain plans and decisions have brought horrible repercussions and despicable miseries on the people; here Africa stands as a vivid example.
Africa is a continent endowed with immense treasure in terms of natural resources, but most of it has not benefited her sons and daughters. Slave trade and colonialism made sure that Africa was impoverished to the bone. The people, who raped, bruised, and left Africa poor, lent her colossal sums of money with many life threatening conditions, a thing that ensures Africa remains free yet in chains, i.e. debt burden. It is true that while Africa developed Europe, Europe underdeveloped Africa.
The many sons who have ruled Africa have often had very self-centred ambitions in their talk and action revolving around personal aggrandisement. To add insult to injury, Africa has been ravaged by tribal and civil wars spiced up by coup d’etat. All these experiences are detrimental to meaningful development.
This is the sad background that African people have. Today, Africa is a continent infested with diseases, conflicts and wars, dictatorial regimes, and immense poverty, all these factors compound to describe Africa as very poor continent. She is like a man battered and left bleeding for dead by the roadside, waiting for a Good Samaritan to bandage his wounds. No doubt, Zambia shares in the description of countries that are extremely poor. Today, Zambia’s 70% of the population live under dehumanised conditions.
The vulnerability of lacking education, medical security, housing, proper running water and food reduce the value of many lives.
The teeth of poverty facilitate a lot of evils, and the evil of human trafficking can, by and large, be attributed to this. The vulnerability of lacking education, medical security, housing, proper running water and food, reduce the value of many lives. This is the situation that other people have taken advantage of and hence exploiting women and girls by promising them a better life. Women and girls are sold to people who promise them heaven in western countries; to the contrary, it is hell they find. They are lured and sometimes forced to sell their bodies in exchange for a few dollars. They are taken to brothels where men who are willing to pay for sexual services abuse them. These women and girls would never think of doing such a thing to themselves had it not been for the impoverished conditions they live in. Conditions make them vulnerable to promises of luxury elsewhere.
DIGNITY OF A HUMAN BEING
The phenomenon of human trafficking reduces a human being to another commodity that can be bought and sold at will. This is a big shame that prompts us to think about the question of human dignity. Are some human beings more human than others just because they are rich? In spite of the sad descriptions of poor and rich, we are all human beings of equal worth.
These women and girls would never think of doing such a thing to themselves had it not been for the impoverished conditions they live in.
Central to the Social Teaching of the Church is the fact that all human beings--regardless of race, beauty, intelligence, status, colour, political and religious affiliation, and citizenship--are equal. Their equality is anchored and stems from the fact that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. (Cf. Genesis 1:27). “Christ…is the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, makes man manifest to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation. It is in Christ, the image of the invisible God, that man has been created in the image and likeness of the creator. The divine image is present in every person. [Cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1701 and 1702].
The sacred dignity of every human person is not a gift or merit through human declarations or institutions. God confers it on a person through his creative act. If the human person is the image and likeness of God, then he/she has rights that should and must ensure that this dignity is not violated. Dignity is due to a person owing to his or her nature. Because of this dignity, a person has first and foremost the right to life and the defence of this life. Secondly he/she has a right to develop fully as an autonomous human being.
It is extremely sad that the people (governments) entrusted with the mandate to protect and uphold the dignity of their people, indirectly invite others to violate it. The sinful and inhumane structures that Africa and other Third World countries have are indicative of how unwilling these governments are to protect the dignity of their people. These sinful structures breed immeasurable levels of poverty which subsequently facilitate the trafficking of their women and girls. The right to life and the right to full development are violated when the governments fail to provide acceptable living conditions and atmospheres that are conducive for integral development. The right to life that is fundamental and basic to all other rights has to be protected in order to ensure that a person becomes fully human.
Dignity is due to a person owing to his or her nature.
In John 10:10, Jesus says "I came that they may have life and have it to the fullest." Can we say that we have life to the fullest, when we allow African women and girls to be trafficked away? Can we say we have life to the fullest when people do not have access to basic needs? Would we say we have life to the fullest when education has become a privilege rather than a right? Can we say we have life to the fullest when we as Zambians like other African countries cannot define our developmental plan and direction through a people-driven constitution? These are questions that should bother the conscience of every Christian and indeed all well meaning and well intended Africans.
In the era where the HIV/AIDS pandemic is taking the lives of many people, the majority among whom are the poor (meaning that there is a close relation between poverty and HIV/AIDS--poverty breeds HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS breeds poverty) human trafficking is expected. In this situation of extreme poverty, it is easy for people to allow themselves to be trafficked out of the country for prostitution in a quest for a better livelihood. Western countries only give them more suffering in terms of living conditions and sometimes death as a result of HIV/AIDS. Every person has a right to life and the defence of this life is cardinal to any government, but this seems to be different in the world of human trafficking, where it is translated as: every poor woman and girl has a right to die through prostitution, resulting from their untold misery and suffering.
The sinful and inhumane structures that Africa and other Third World countries have are indicative of how unwilling these governments are to protect the dignity of their people.
African governments have the task to prevent their women and girls from being trafficked out of Africa. And one of the ways to do this is through women’s empowerment, an empowerment with quality education and life skills.
WOMEN’S EMPOWEREMENT
Development is concerned with enabling people take charge of their lives, and escape from the jaws of poverty.
There is often a gross lack of attention to women's needs within the development process. However, every sane citizen of the Third World countries should realise that development is about meeting the needs of those who are most in need, and about increased participation and equality. The African situation in general and Zambia in particular in terms of women’s participation in major developmental issues is pathetic. There are very few women in Zambia who are in influential and decision-making positions. This situation disadvantages women as many policies tend to be male prejudiced. This is an acute retardation to development. Development is concerned with enabling people take charge of their lives, and escape from the jaws of poverty, especially the kind that arises from oppression and exploitation at the hands of the powers that be.
Women can only take charge of and define the direction of their lives when they are empowered with quality education that puts them on an equal footing with men. When they are empowered, women will have better things to do with their lives than selling their bodies and buying death in the process.
There are numerous voices from the men folk that have always considered the crusade for women’s empowerment as women bias, or an empowerment at the expense of men. This is a big misunderstanding, for women’s empowerment has its pivot in ensuring that women take an equal place, their rightful place, and participate fully and equally in the process of development with a view to achieving control over the factors of production on an equal footing with men.
The Zambian situation of a few women in decision-making positions echoes the wider community of Africa and other Third World countries. But time has come for all dignity-loving persons to voice out for the empowerment of women with a sharp and clear view to uprooting the evil of human trafficking.
If women were empowered, Zambia and Africa would certainly develop because both men and women would then equally and effectively participate in the decision-making processes and implementation. The empowerment of women is indispensable in any sphere in the light of qualitative development. Truly and honestly speaking, women’s empowerment gives us a balanced base for the production of goods and services.
CONCLUSION
For any bird to fly at all and even more to greater heights, it needs two wings. Like a real bird, the bird of every economy can only take off and fly if the two wings, that is, man and woman, are equal partners in development, partners who are equally empowered. As long as Africa does not liberate women and girls through empowerment, Africa will continue to lose her beautiful daughters to the modern slave trade of human trafficking.
Africa, for how long are you going to continue allowing yourself to be raped and exploited in broad day light while you watch helplessly and hopelessly? No! God forbid! The trend of human trafficking of Africans must be halted and halted now! But words alone cannot do the job, they cannot halt this evil. For this evil to be buried we need to develop and development in this case focus on the empowerment of women.
Mwelwa Abel Ringford
St. Dominic’s Major Seminary,
Lusaka.
