Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade— And How We Can Fight It
By David Batstone, HarperSanFrancisco, 2007, Softcover, 301 pages, $14.95

Twenty-seven million slaves exist in our world today.

With this startling statistic, journalist David Batstone introduces his book Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade—And How We Can Fight It. He goes on to outline the depth and breadth of the problem in his introduction, citing such sources as the UN, the U.S. Department of Justice and the International Labor Office. But this book is no mere litany of facts and figures, statistics concerning other people far away. Batstone quickly brings readers face to face with the human beings languishing in captivity — and the modern abolitionists working to free them — today.

Batstone offers the intensely personal stories of individual slaves — people from all over the world, including the United States — with both pathos and dignity, providing enough detail to show the full measure of their suffering, but without sensationalism. He then deftly weaves the stories of these victims with those of people and organizations that have arisen to fight the modern slave trade. In each of his six chapters focused on a region or country, Batstone introduces us to a real person (or sometimes persons) kidnapped, sold or tricked into a life of slavery. We learn of their lives before slavery, their hopes and dreams, their struggles, and how they became slaves (sadly, often as a result of a combination of these same struggles and dreams). We meet Srey Neang, sold as a house servant at 7-years-old by her desperate, starving family in Cambodia, and eventually sold again, this time into prostitution. And Maya, whose entire family found themselves in debt bondage after trusting the word of their new employer. We meet Charles, a 10-year-old boy kidnapped on his way to school in Uganda and forced to fight in that country’s brutal civil war.

Not for Sale does not give way to handwringing, however. The author offers hope in the form of anti-slavery organizations and individuals, telling their stories with no less personal engagement than that given to slavery’s victims. Abhorring the exploitation of young women on the streets of Bangkok, Pierre Tami offers shelter and living wage employment to these women through his Hagar project. Florence Lacor, whose own child was abducted by the rebels, serves as a counselor at a children-of-war center in Gulu, Uganda, caring for former child soldiers and assisting in their psychological recovery. With the skill of a gifted storyteller, Batstone engages readers with these stories of the personal and dramatic, then intercuts with short sections of history and background that provide a fuller understanding of the situations specific to the culture or region in question.

Not for Sale concludes with a chapter entitled “Ending the Slave Trade in Our Time,” in which Batstone entreats readers to believe that they can make a difference. He cites actions, large and small, that can be taken by ordinary individuals— from pressuring one’s employer to ensure its products or services are not created or carried out through any form of slavery to volunteerism and political action. This is followed by an alphabetical listing of anti-slavery organizations, each with a detailed description and web address.

Overall, Not for Sale is eminently readable, as well as highly informative and actionable. I would recommend it to anyone concerned with promoting social justice in our world today.