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=__Chocolate Slavery__ =

Shelina Radvan
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//Note: this is a current event. information may change.//

Most of this slavery happens in Cote d’Ivoire and other Western African countries and provinces. This country has been known for cocoa production and has always been heavily dependant on exports; whether that is coffee, rubber or cocoa. Originally in the early 1800's, only Europeans grew cocoa, but as demand started to rise, Africans began to grow cocoa as well. Now, many Africans are held as slaves to work for the cocoa industry.



//Background //
The issue of slavery in the cocoa industry has been going on since the 1970's. The ages of the slaves vary. some are young children as young as five, while others are as old as fifty-two. The slaves on the cocoa plantation are Africans. These people are beaten, insufficiently fed, forced to work long hours, and locked up in slave barracks for the night. If any of then sty to escape, they are either severely beaten or killed.

//Human Rights Violation Today //
 There are several Human Rights violations that are taking place in these cocoa plantations. These include...
 * All human beings are born free and equal…
 * No on shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
 * No one shall be subjected … to cruel… treatment…
 * Everyone has the right to movement…
 * Everyone has the right… to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work…
 * Everyone has the right to rest and leisure…

The fact that so many rights are being violated shows how harmful this can be to someone's quality of life. There is so much attention drawn to this because of all the rights being violated. (These rights were taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are as follows; Article 1, Article 4, Article 5, Article 13, Article 23 (1), Article 24 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">, <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Article 26 (1) from the ADLC website)



//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Who Is Responsible? //
​ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">There are several parties that are responsible for this chocolate slavery. Fist, parents of children who work there are partially responsible because they send their children there. The government is partially responsible because although they are not endorsing this act, they are not trying hard enough to stop it. Another party to blame for this is US! We are the consumers who buy the chocolate. We keep the market for slavery chocolate open. Mainly, the corporations are at fault because they are the ones who order the chocolate. They need a way to get cheap chocolate so they can sell it to the consumers cheap. So, they turn to cocoa harvested from plantations. All of these parties contribute to slavery chocolate.



//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What Is Being Done? //
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Right now cocoa and chocolate industries have launched pilot programs to stop these labor issues. These programs will go into plantations and ensure that there are no right violations. Most plantations will be shut down and forced to do their business in a fair manor. Also, international and domestic governments are looking to find a solution to this chocolate slavery. NGO's are also looking into these situations and they are close to top priority.



//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What Can We Do? //
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">To help end chocolate slavery, you can look for cocoa, chocolate bars and other chocolate products that have the fair trade label on it. This ensures that the chocolate you are buying was not made at a cocoa plantation that uses slavery, but in a place where the workers are fairly paid and work in a safe environment. You can also stop buying products that are not fair trade. This will help to slow down and stop the industry.



//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Resources //

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