Thank you for supporting me in my 10,000 Push-ups to Crush Slavery campaign to raise awareness about slavery and human trafficking.

There are 27 million slaves in the world, including children worked to death by age 14 picking some of the cocoa that goes into the chocolate we eat, and girls as young as 6 sold into forced prostitution and internet porn businesses.  The average price of a slave has fallen to US $90, and in some countries you can buy a slave for only $5.  Enslaved children in Ghana are thrown overboard to untie fishing nets, with rocks tied to their ankles.  Who cares if they don’t make it back up?  It seems that people have become as expendable as paper cups.

The world’s experts in slavery agree that the root cause of slavery is poverty.  “A man came into town offering jobs. I knew he looked shady, but my children were starving and there were no other choices.”

Australia was one of 191 countries to sign the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, where we pledged to “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty.”  We also committed to giving our agreed share of 0.7% of our Gross National Income in foreign aid by 2015, yet we currently only give 0.32% [3], with a plan to reach 0.5% by 2015.

Dr Kevin Bales of Free The Slaves estimates the average cost to free a slave is $400.  That’s not just rescue, but full rehabilitation and life-skills training.  So the cost to free 27 million slaves at $400 each is US $10.8 billion. At a global level, that’s pocket change.  It’s how much Australians spend on online purchases each year.  It’s how much we earn from pokies each year.  It’s what Americans spend on potato chips and pretzels, and ironically, how much they spend on self-help products.  It’s Queensland’s budget for health, and the size of the alleged miscounting in the Opposition’s budget.  It’s also what we’re likely to make from the Carbon Tax. Thank you for supporting my campaign to crush slavery.  Please take the time to share this with all your friends.

Paul Harvey
http://www.crushslavery.com