Modern Day Slavery' - Implications of a Label (original) (raw)

Over the last decades much progress has been made in the fight against human trafficking. As with any social movement, divisions exists among activists and scholars on the most effective direction to execute social change. Often, these focus on language. One such critical discussion is whether it is appropriate to label human trafficking “Modern Day Slavery.” Although the term has existed for several years, the analogy gained a more full acceptance with its use by President Obama in September 2012 when he described “the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking which must be called by its true name -- modern slavery.” Questions remain, however, if it indeed must be called that, as the implications are significant.This article argues in support of the position that modern day slavery is an apt label to use as analogy to human trafficking. Acknowledging its costs and imperfections, of which there are several, the label fulfills the goals of analogy because it is an accurate descrip...