*True stories; names changed



After having been in the mission world for nearly four decades, I have seen many incredible joys, as well as the most horrific tragedy.  I have met people in nations all around the world who have seen God’s hand working in magnificent, triumphant ways, but I have also seen the victims of the vilest evil.



In all my life, however, I have never seen anything worse, anything more dehumanizing, anything more distressing than the evil of caste-based oppression.  It is to the abolition of this modern-day slavery that I have committed my life.  It is to the abolition of this modern-day slavery that I believe God is calling the Global Church to awareness and to action.  Join me as we see the impact of this evil on a nation and on the world.



Manjula* is a modern slave.  



From the age of four, Manjula accompanied her mother at 5:00am every day to the matchstick production factory in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, India.  Forsaking sleep, forsaking safety, she and her mother worked in hazardous, disgusting conditions, for just a few rupees a day.  They watched every month as dozens of their ‘colleagues’ received chemical burns and terrible injuries from explosions.  They lived in fear of the work environment and of physical abuse if they did not meet their production quota for the day.



Today, Manjula is 12 years old and the scars on her frail, undernourished body tell the tale of a life denied childhood; denied freedom.  



Premila* is also a modern slave.  



It was her eighteenth birthday in her small village in rural Bihar, North India.  Her parents, desperate to escape their impoverished plight, signed their daughter over to a nightmare.  For the paltry sum of 800 rupees (US $18), she was sold to a man living in faraway Punjab state.  He claimed there were no ‘good women’ in his village and therefore he was forced to buy a wife.  ‘Wife’ is a loose term.  ‘Sexual slave’ would be more accurate.



For one or two years Premila was used as a modern-day concubine.  Her body was used and abused at the will of this man, her ‘husband’, and of any of his male relatives who came to call.



Eventually, a new investment opportunity presented itself and Premila was turned out of her new ‘family’ in Punjab and sold to a well-known prostitution ring in the nation’s capital, New Delhi.  



The sex trafficking trade runs rampant and Premila brought a relatively good price: 5,000 rupees (US $109).  She joined thousands of other women who exist in impoverished, disease-ridden, dangerous conditions.  



Premila was a ‘good’ employee and was traded yet again to the streets of Mumbai for 35,000 rupees (US $762).  It was here that she was finally rescued.  Returned to her hometown in Bihar, she was a broken woman. She will likely die young; used, abused and forgotten.



An Unbelievable Reality



Manjula and Premila are just two of millions of oppressed children and women living as virtual slaves in India.  Slaves to the upper caste; slaves to men; slaves to all society.  They have no hope of rescue or of ever being truly free.



Global awareness over the issues of child labor and trafficking of persons is on the rise.  The International Labor Organization (ILO) seeks to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2016.  The United States State Department has put India on its Tier 2 Watch List of human trafficking stating their desire to secure freedom for the exploited.  The United Nations (UN) global human trafficking report acknowledges that India has failed to show evidence of efforts to address this atrocity.



Despite growing awareness, child labor in India is still on the rise.  1995 statistics from the Indian government-appointed Commission on Labor Standards and International Trade show that child labor in India is increasing by at least four percent annually.



There are an estimated 40-115 million child laborers in India today, 15 million of whom are in debt bondage or modern slavery.  These children work under conditions of servitude to repay the debts of their parents, grandparents, relatives or guardians.  Industries employing bonded child laborers include silk production, carpet weaving, beedi (cigarette) rolling, silver fabrication, gemstone polishing, leather production, brick making, rice milling, restaurant/tea shop service, truck stop cleaning, domestic work and prostitution. Working conditions are inhumane and promote disease.



Millions of girls and women are trafficked for prostitution and slave labor – both interstate within India, and in neighboring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.  The atrocity reaches hundreds of thousands of minor/teenage Tribal girls who work in affluent urbanized areas, with about 50,000 in New Delhi, India’s capital.  There is no enforceable legal consequence to protect such young girls and women. Sexually transmitted diseases abound but they have no money for treatment.  



The vast majority of these bonded child laborers and girls/women trafficked in India are ‘Dalits’.



The Caste System



One cannot understand India without comprehending the discriminating and oppressing ideology of the caste system.  Caste dominates people’s lives from birth to death, divides and grades society into impenetrable levels of human worth based on birth and heritage. The caste system is an ideologically sanctioned racism that has maimed, dehumanized and destroyed hundreds of millions of people through the ages, and continues today in the 21st century.



The ‘Dalits’ (meaning ‘broken’ or ‘crushed’) reside at the bottom of the caste system and number about 250 million. Known as the ‘Untouchables’, they are deemed literally untouchable by the upper castes.  The Dalits are the ones who face the greatest discrimination and are most often sold into debt-bondage slavery or trafficked into prostitution.  For them, there is no way out.



In addition to the social segregation they face, Dalits are also denied access to God.  They may not worship, they may not become priests.  They are told from the very beginning of life that God does not love them.  They need a worldview that instills in them the unconditional love of the Father God who sacrificed His Son so they might live and have a personal relationship with Him.  It is this spiritual discrimination that runs the deepest.  



Caste discrimination and the resulting atrocities faced by the Dalits must be brought to an end.



Tackling an Unsolvable Problem



To solve the problem of caste discrimination and the resulting child labor and human trafficking, some suggest implementing stricter legislation. Protective legislation does exist in several forms (i.e., the Child Labor [Prohibition and Regulation] Act, 1986; and Articles 14, 21, 23 and 24 of the Indian Constitution).  However, enforcement of this legislation is lacking. Fewer than 2% of cases that are registered as crimes against Dalits ever reach conviction.



Some believe intervention may be an alternative to stricter legislation. The Asian Age newspaper in May 2006 told the story of over 30 young boys who had been kidnapped from Bihar and taken to Karnataka, to work in conditions denying them food, clothing and sunlight.  The state government rescued these young victims, promising to rehabilitate the boys.



Some groups pay the debts of children in bondage, allowing them to attend school; others establish homes for girls caught in the sex trade.  However, intervention does not address India’s modern slavery at the root – the community-based conditions which create the exploitation.



International sanctions or banning child labor-produced exports fall short. Boycotts do not reach the heart of these desperate problems.  The efforts of multinational companies toward equal/adequate remuneration also are not effective enough



It is time for champions of the Dalit Freedom Network Movement to emerge around the world at this critical time in history to lead this all-important campaign. There are already significant Dalit leaders in India who want to change their world.



There is truly only one answer to the modern slavery experienced by women, children and the oppressed Dalits in India – we must make Dalit freedom a global campaign that includes Community Transformation as well as the Cross of Jesus Christ.  



Community Transformation begins with Education



We must find a way to get Dalit children – especially girls – into school.  They must gain knowledge and skills that will help them vocationally in the future.  This movement begins with fostering an acceptance of the value of education in every city, town, village and small community around the nation. Parents must be willing to sacrifice economically and socially today to see the long-term benefits of education in the generation to come.



India’s young must be in school in an atmosphere that promotes the values of education, learning skills, personal worth and human dignity. The schools must operate with basic structures (building, classrooms, uniforms, compassionate teachers, books), providing an excellence-based education in a loving, productive environment in which students of all religions, castes and genders can flourish equally.



Further, this education must be a ‘globalized’ education with English included from day one. The new global economy and emerging technology are driven by an English education, not presently accessible to the oppressed minority.



The Dalit Freedom Network Movement is fully committed to providing this type of education to free children from future slavery.



Practical Help for Today



Beyond education for Dalit children, the Dalit Freedom Network Movement is committed to furthering economic development among today’s generation of Dalit adults. We believe the end to slavery and poverty begins at a local level with skills training and local generation of funds.  Economic Development helps today’s Dalit adults focus on a better tomorrow.



We want to see the Dalits learn financial management skills through ‘Self-Help Groups’ teaching fiscal security through savings, local accountability, community generation of funding, and positive repayment of loans.  We are committed to training men and women in marketable skills like tailoring, driving, computer skills, bicycle repair and ironing. We want to produce future macro-enterprise opportunities for Dalits with newly-gained skills.



Community Transformation Includes the Cross of Christ



Christ loves the Dalit people unconditionally.  The theology of the Cross makes it clear that His sacrifice was for all people in all times.  The Cross is the hope for Dalit emancipation and will help bring the end of caste-based atrocities like child labor and human trafficking.



•    The Cross proclaims the invaluable worth of all human beings.

•    The Cross proclaims the eternal embrace of grace.

•    The Cross proclaims the fundamental equality of all humankind.

•    The Cross proclaims the rights of children.

•    The Cross stands against evil structures.

•    The Cross proclaims the present power of God.

•    The Cross addresses the theme of human suffering.

•    The Cross proclaims victory over sin pollution.



Community Transformation has its roots in Kingdom mission whose primary components are justice, mercy and reconciliation.  These components of a Kingdom perspective address and draw on a spiritual dimension lacking in secular perspectives on human rights.  Kingdom mission among the Dalits and the oppressed minority in India today will challenge unjust systems, structures and philosophies that affect the eternal destinies of people. It will give Dalits, child laborers and trafficked women the hope for a positive future they need.



Community Transformation, the Cross of Christ, and Kingdom Mission are the true solutions to the problem of the caste-based modern slavery existing in the 21st century.



Global Challenge



The Dalit Freedom Network Movement believes in the truths of human equality, freedom of conscience and equal opportunity for all. We reject all forms of racism, caste discrimination, color prejudice and gender discrimination.  We invite all concerned people everywhere to adopt this same attitude.  This is a movement requiring a multitude of people from around the world.  None of us can make a lasting impact alone.



This is your chance to become aware.  This is your chance to act.  Please join us and become part of this struggle for the emancipation of Dalits and the freedom of women and bonded child laborers everywhere.