Opinion // Female consumerism and modern day slavery

image via Google Images

The day of my university graduation ball, I was persuaded by my housemate to get a manicure at a nail bar on the local high street. I'm far too much of a cheapskate to have ever paid for a manicure before, so the experience was a first. As we stepped in, I was overwhelmed by the haze of fumes; my eyes instantly watered and my asthmatic friend began to cough.
The fumes were so strong that during our time in the shop I couldn't stop thinking about how the flimsy dust masks worn by the Vietnamese workers didn't seem like adequate protection from constant exposure to solvents. This, combined with a total lack of ventilation, left me feeling like a serious health risk was being posed to the young girls who diligently and quickly painted our nails.

I left the nail bar with glossy nails and a purse only five pounds lighter - but vowed to never return. I was recently reminded of my experience when reading two articles in The Guardian and The Sunday Times, both of which discussed how many Vietnamese workers were victims of illegal trafficking.

The Guardian claims that human exploitation is fuelled by female consumerism, justifying that those who can't afford luxuries such as designer goods treat themselves in more economical ways, such as spending ten pounds on a manicure. This is similar to claiming that female demand for fast fashion fuels the prevalence of sweat shops and child labour, and to focus the discussion on the gender of consumers would be to miss the point entirely. After all, if the media are going to make claims based on gender assumptions, then the electronics industry - often portrayed as a male domain, the masculine counterpart to fashion - is by no means free from the issue of modern day slavery. One only has to look at reports on conflict minerals in order to recognise that the industry is rife with similar claims of violations of human rights.

To me, it appears that the main issue is not that certain demographics fuel such injustices, but that they are able to exist in the first place. How is it that human trafficking is the second largest organised crime on the planet, behind drug smuggling? The Guardian article states that 'industry insiders estimate that there are 100,000 Vietnamese manicurists working in the UK, despite only 29,000 Vietnamese-born migrants officially being registered in census data.' That so many victims are able to pass through national borders undetected is indicative of severe problems within the asylum and immigration processes in the UK. Indeed, The Sunday Times explains how one worker was able to enter the country by claiming that he was a victim of human rights violations in Vietnam, and was thus treated as 'a genuine asylum case'. This also highlights the fact that the validity of asylum cases is incredibly difficult to qualify.

Today, the Draft Modern Slavery Bill is being discussed in Parliament, with many people waiting with bated breath for an effective outcome to aid the thousands of victims of modern slavery currently living in the UK.

Trafficking statistics can be found here.