By Sangeeta Kumar

"Rigorously investigated and fearlessly reported, A Crime So Monstrous is a passionate and thorough examination of the appalling reality of human bondage in today's world. In his devastating narrative, Ben Skinner boldly casts light on the unthinkable, yet thriving, modern-day practice of slavery, exposing a global trade in human lives. The abuses detailed in these pages are repugnant, but there is hope to be found: by giving voice to the victims, Skinner helps restore their dignity and makes crucial strides toward closing this shameful chapter in history."
--Bill Clinton

EGO Congratulations on the book being published. You have some hefty advance praise by those in the corridors of power including Bill Clinton, John McCain. How does it feel to receive accolades from them for your first book?

Ben I’m honored. This shows two things
i. Slavery is a universal issue and no matter what your stripes are it is accepted as a crime against humanity
ii.Everyone is going to say they are opposed to slavery; what matters is what they do when they are in power. It is the laws they choose to enforce or not to enforce that will make the difference.
Of late, slavery has been tangential to American Foreign Policy in the Bush administration. And while George Bush has done more towards the eradication of slavery than any other modern day US President, he has not done enough. The next President needs to make abolition a centerpiece of their foreign policy agenda. To give context, the budget to fight drug trafficking is 100 times that to fight human trafficking. Human trafficking has become a euphemism, which is easier to relegate to a lower priority. It is more effective to use the term slave-trading.

EGO In the current day context how would you define slavery? Would perhaps a little girl child, Ameena, from South India sold in marriage to an Arab Sheikh be covered under the definition?

Ben The term slavery has today lost its currency. From the artist formerly known as Prince to football players like Warren Sapp complaining about binding contracts, everyone uses the term ‘slavery’ to mean “undue toil” or “hardship.” People might work in deplorable conditions but can walk away at the end of the day. And we diminish the horrors of slavery when we misuse the term. There are three essential elements to slavery: `being forced to work, under threat of violence, for no pay beyond subsistence’. Ameena probably did have her rights violated but without knowing the specific case, I couldn’t say whether it’s slavery or not.

EGO Have you had to circumvent criticism of your work as being "Sensationalistic"? What would you say were such a situation to arise?

Ben It is interesting. I haven’t received this criticism as yet, probably because of the way I went about the book. I spent a lot of time on the ground. This wasn’t me being the white saint saving the black child. I studied the roots of the problem in each of these instances. Sure, it is sensational when we talk about monstrous crimes against humanity. I didn’t make an attempt to clean it up or dress it up. I did get an angry e-mail after the NPR interview last week about why I walked away from trading a used car in exchange for the release of a young girl with Down syndrome from a brothel in Bucharest. The reason was that NPR edited the 13 minute interview down to 8 minutes and it omitted the part where I spoke about going to the police to press them to do their duty and free her. But of course I didn’t buy her.

EGO Women in Darfur have been abducted and kept as Sex Slaves by the Janjaweed Militants. What can the international community do better to improve their plight? It's a "double whammy" if you may, because if these women accept they've have been raped they are shunned by society and can even be sentenced to death for adultery.

Ben What’s going on in Darfur is one crime against humanity rolled into another. Here women are raped as a means seizing their reproductive capacity. The solution would be the same as to that for genocide. Principally, negotiations backed up with decisive action. The international community hasn’t shown any willingness to balance out the force of the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed.

EGO In recent times there has been a growing movement to legalize prostitution here in the United States. What is your stand? Age 14 is the average age that a woman/girl enters prostitution - would it prevent younger women from joining the "Sex Trade"?

Ben I’m not for the legalization of prostitution. There’s a small but powerful faction pushing to legalize the selling of sex but not the buying of sex in the Swedish mold—and I find that approach intriguing. Prostitution is always degrading and exploitative, often it is brutal, but I respectfully disagree with those that argue it is always slavery. I try to draw attention to real slaves and really enslaved prostitutes who’re held in the shadows.

EGO I recently read a comment by you that your "research also reinforced a belief: the pillars of America—faith, the free market, and the inherent nature of human liberty—are also universal ideals, and they are the keys to ending slavery worldwide". It does seem a little out of the Republican
play-book. Can you educate our readers a little more about this assertion?

Ben In this instance I’m not talking about one faith, even though Christian faith has driven abolitionists since the Quakers decried the “traffick in men-body” in 1688. I am talking about faith in a broader sense not just in the sense of scripture. It is about treating fellow human beings as equals, about the faith that there is that of the divine in everyone, and everybody is endowed with liberty. I have no qualms about saying that free markets, if they are also fair markets, are the most efficient means known to bring people out of desperate poverty. It’s the idea of creating consumers by creating wealth, and particularly defending private property rights. If people are given the title to the land they have squatted on for generations they will have an asset and can do with it what they want. In India, the state is the primary landholder—this is unrealized wealth for hundreds of millions living on less than two dollars per day. This combined with an equitable reform package will result in people having property rights and property where once they had nothing. Fewer will then have to rely on traffickers for credit. For countries like India this is the way forward, towards development.

EGO In spite of intense experiences on the ground, you say that you often came across "a quiet dignity that leads some slaves to resist and aspire to freedom". Are there any particular stories that linger with you?

Ben I have hundreds of complex slave narratives that didn’t make it into the book. However, in the first chapter of the book I mention a man in Haiti, Bill Nelson. His mother died when he was six. He was made a child slave at that age, beaten and forced to work. An American nun intervened, freed him after years in bondage, and put him into an orphanage. His situation is striking because not only was he able to recover but was able to have this sense about him that is super humane… he has a way of treating others as if compensating for the inhumanity he had suffered. He’s truly remarkable. He would claim it is God’s will. But to my eye, this takes more than faith. Faith is a great driving point but at a certain point one has to get into action, real action.

EGO 25% of U.S. royalties go to ‘Free The Slaves’ and 25% of U.K. royalties go to the group's British sister, ‘Anti-Slavery International’, that shows a commitment beyond what one gets to see ordinarily. Tell our readers a bit about these organizations.

Ben I do it because it’s the right thing to the do. Simply put, Free the Slaves and Anti-Slavery International have the best partners worldwide not only working to free slaves, but to eradicate bondage. Also, as I was writing the book, ‘Free The Slaves’ provided me guidance and resources. Now I viewed my approach as that of an objective journalist. Objectively, I evaluated the programs they were funding e.g. Sankalp in India. They’ve made some mistakes but they hold their partners accountable and if the partnerships are not working out they look for new partners. What’s in the book is a work of journalism. I’m not compromising journalism. But I would be critical of myself if I didn’t do this, if I just wrote a book for the sake of writing a book, instead of affecting real change.

EGO Finally, can you give a peek into any future books in the pipeline to our readers?

Ben There is one but its too early to talk about it but it will be on something other than slavery. That said I will stay involved with this. There’s a lot to be done particularly in the legislative sphere.

For more information on the book, and ways to get involved with the new abolitionist struggle, please visit www.acrimesomonstrous.com

Photos Courtesy Dylan Fareed