Unfortunately Slavery is not History

“Unfortunately
Slavery Is Not
History”
Available in English and Portuguese
port
ENG
A Campaign By Dignity International And Grey Brazil
In April 2014, it began to circulate in the Brazilian media a campaign
created by GREY BRAZIL signed by DIGNITY INTERNATIONAL
entitled "UNFORTUNATELY SLAVERY IS HISTORY." The campaign
comes in a special moment when countless scandals of forced labor or
slave-like conditions appears in the Brazilian news showing that, like in
other places, in Brazil, slavery is not only present in History textbooks –
in a sad period of history – but, unacceptably, it is still a recurrent
practice in some productive sectors of the society.
In the following pages you will find brief information about MODERN
thematic campaigns
ESCR
ALL HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL
Unfortunately slavery is not history © 2014
SLAVERY, the CAMPAIGN and the establishment of DIGNITY
INTERNATIONAL AMERICAS in Brazil.
Get informed, report, boycott. Help eliminating of forms of slavery in the
society. Help making all human rights for all a reality.
On Modern Slavery
On May 13, 1888 - when Brazil finally abolished slavery - being the last western country
to do so - the number of enslaved people in the world was around 800 thousand.
Currently, it is between 20 to 30 million people slaved according to the International
Labour Organisation1,2. In Brazil, the estimates point to a number of around 50
thousand people.
In the Brazilian case, since the official abolition of slavery almost nothing has been
done to lift the Afro-Brazilians to the condition of equality within society3. Besides
outlaw, what differs the slavery practiced during the first 450 years of Brazilian history
from the slavery practiced nowadays, is that now it is not powered by an institutionally
recognised market, but by the inhuman exploitation of the economic and social
vulnerability of the work force, in other words, endemic and systematic violation of
economic, social rights of men and women, Brazilian nationals or not3,.
The modern slavery affects predominantly (but not exclusively) boys and men aged
over 15 years. In Brazil, it occurs more often in cattle ranching and agriculture (when
rural) - and recently, in the garment industry (when urban) - but is not restricted only to
these activities. Slavery binds with several other problems such as human trafficking,
sexual exploitation, certain adoption industry, child labor, child soldiers, etc..
In most cases, modern slavery is perpetuated through practices such as debt bondage,
illegal contracts, domestic servitude, etc. In all cases, victims of forced labour work long
hours, with little or no pay, are forbidden to leave the job or refuse to it, subject to
physical, psychological, and some times, sexual violence.
To protect the right of workers in slave-like conditions - another name of modern slavery
- is an obligation of the Brazilian State4 that unfortunately insists on not recognising that
cases of modern slavery are not sporadic and random events but rather a practice that
still persists in the Brazilian society5.
In this specific case, the obligation of the Brazilian government is to protect the rights of
workers against exploitation of their workforce. Due to strong commitment of civil
society actors in recent years, a great victory was the creation of the Dirty List6 of
employers caught using slave-like workforce issued by the Ministry of Labour.
Unfortunately slavery is not history © 2014
More recently, on June 5, 2014, the Brazilian Congress passed the Constitutional
Amendment known as the Amendment of Combat Against Slave-like Labour”. With it,
the Brazilian Constitution was amended becoming one of the few in the world to
determine the expropriation of properties in which occurs slave-like labour. This is a
major victory in a struggle that has been going on for 15 years. Although, in practice,
the amendment only becomes effective when the Senate approve the Draft Law 432
that regulates the issue.
To protect all human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights is an
obligation of the state. Charge the state officials is an obligation of conscience of all
men and women who desire a more just and humane society.
Get informed, report, boycott companies convicted by the use of slave-like labour. Help
building a society in which slavery is only in History books.
Get informed, report, boycott.
1
On slavery in the world / UN
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/Pages/SlaveryMainPage.aspx
2
More on slavery in the world /ILO
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/Pages/SlaveryMainPage.aspx
More on the slavery in Brazil: Leonardo Sakamoto, “Porque a Lei Aurea não representou a
abolição definitiva?”, Reporter Brasil, May 2008, (in Portuguese)
3
www.reporterbrasil.com.br/exibe.php?id=1346
4
On the Brazilian report of the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Modern Slavery
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/Pages/SlaveryMainPage.aspx
5
To learn more about modern slavery in Brazil. (only available in Portuguese)
http://reporterbrasil.org.br
6
To access the Brazilian Employers dirty list. (available also in English, French and German)
http://reporterbrasil.org.br/lista-suja/
On The Campaign
The pieces were inspired by classic illustrations done in pen-and-ink, very common in
the history books. The arts that portraits slavery across the centuries gain subtle air of
modernity with the addition of smartphones, tablets and notebooks used by
characters of the illustrations,. It emphasises the relevance and urgency of the
problem in various classes and situations. With the signature "Unfortunately Slavery Is
Not History. Help us to end it," the ads are an invitation for people to get in
www.dignityinternational.org site and learn more about the cause of the NGO.
"Inserting gadgets of our days to historic images is something that draws people's
attention to the fact that although slavery is present in the current context we do not
realise the gravity of the problem very often", says Mariangela Silvani, creative
director of Grey Brazil.
The creation is by Felipe Leite and Leandro Leal with creative direction of Mariangela
Silvani and Sergio Fonseca.
Grey Brazil
TECHNICAL INFO:
Title: Slavery is not only in the history books
Agency: Grey Brazil
Client: Dignity International
Creative Directors: Mariangela Silvani and Sergio Fonseca
Art Direction: Felipe Leite
Copywriters: Leandro Leal
Media Director: David Miller
Illustration: Estudiorama
Art Buyer: Cristiane Medeiros
Customer Approval: Fabio Gama
Unfortunately slavery is not history © 2014
On Dignity International
Dignity International (DI) was founded in 1999 at the Global Forum on Poverty
Eradication organised by the Council of Europe. The founding spirit of DI is that poverty
should be seen and tackled as a human rights violation and that those living in poverty
and exclusion must be supported to take the lead in the global fight against poverty.
CAPACITY BUILDING. Training programmes on ESCR using Popular Education
principles and technics.
Since January 2003, DI has been operating as an independent organisation registered
as a foundation in The Netherlands (Kamer van Koophandel, Dossier # 341 635 785)
supporting the people in the front line of the human rights struggle, working with
partners and friends worldwide to bring about lasting social transformation for justice in
all its forms. During these years DI has been accredited consultative status with the
ECOSOC and CEPAL.
ALLIANCE BUILDING. Strengthen partnerships promoting exchange of underprivileged
struggling communities and human rights defenders.
VISION - DI’s vision is of a world in which everyone enjoys human rights and lives in
dignity, free from fear, poverty and discrimination.
• advancing people’s rights over land and natural resources;
• promoting and supporting participatory democracy determining democracy space;
• protecting and advancing labour and housing rights;
• social protection and the right to the city.
MISSION - DI advocates with, connects and supports the empowerment of deprived and
struggling communities in claiming their human rights, and creating social justice around
the world.
VALUES - DI is founded on values of respect for the dignity of the human being (respect,
honesty, humanity, solidarity and justice).
DI’s CONSTITUENCY is divided into primary and secondary constituencies. The
primary constituency consists of organised deprived communities struggling for human
rights and dignity in different parts of the world. The secondary constituency consists of
civil society organisations and community based organisations.
DI is a dynamic organisation that experimented through a number of activities to
advance economic, social and cultural rights, with a focus on 4 strategies of
intervention:
Unfortunately slavery is not history © 2014
ADVOCACY. Campaigns, lobbying, short documentaries, public speech, etc. to turn
local struggles into global demands.
COMMUNICATION & OUTREACH. Raising public awareness on economic, social and
cultural rights issues and spreading struggling initiatives.
DI has 4 thematic areas:
Following the new guidelines established by its Board in Tallin, Estonia, 2013, DI is
undergoing structural change in order to adapt the organisation into the new
international scenario and to maximise its activities at the regional level. We are working
on the registration process of Dignity International Americas in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that
will be responsible for DI activities in the American continent.
We would like to congratulate the entire team at Grey Brazil in especial Felipe Leite
and Leandro Leal for the inspiring campaign, and, above all, to thank Grey Brazil,
represented by David Monteiro, for the newly signed partnership that will greatly help
us with the challenges that lies ahead to contribute to the construction of a more just
and humane society in which all human rights for all is a reality.
americas@dignityinternational.org
facebook/dignityinternational
www.dignityinternational.org
facebook/dignityinternationalamericas