Securing a Voice in This World

By: India Ochs

I was sent to Geneva to testify on behalf of slavery and farm workers before the annual session of the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. It was a three-day session, and while I had no idea when I would be testifying, all I did know is I had five minutes to say everything … and I needed it to make a difference. I had no idea what to expect when I walked into the meeting that first day, but I think that I was so worried about not getting through security on time that I was just happy to step through the door with five minutes to spare. There were around 100 participants that week, from all over the world. I was also thrilled to get to give my testimony at the end of that first day, since I knew after that I could just sit back and relax and interact with no more looming responsibilities.

There were two very surprising results that came out of my testimony that I want to share with you today. The first is something that I found very funny, and something that even helped me four years later when preparing this lecture, and that deals with never taking anything for granted, including translation. In a similar way that ISAAC wanted a copy of this lecture [for simultaneous translation], the organizer at the United Nations had asked for a copy of my testimony, so that she could give it to all of the translators to be able to read and follow along as they translated to those listening on the different language headsets. The only problem was, a copy of my testimony was given to every translator that day, except for the English translator. Now, that would make sense given that I was speaking in English but the irony was, it turned out they needed the translation just as much as the others. After the session that day, many people came up to me to talk about my testimony, but it was only the English-speaking people, especially the few Americans in the room, that came up to ask for a copy of my testimony because they could not fully understand all of my speech and there was no one on the English audio channel translating it for them. So needless to say, that was a lesson learned that you should never take anything for granted, including the fact that your own people will understand everything you say, whether you are using a speech-generated device or your own voice.

The other surprising item that came up, which also related to never taking something for granted, was how the other participants reacted to my testimony. As someone who had only been exposed to the issue of slavery for a few weeks, I had thought that I would be totally new to all the things that were discussed.

What actually happened was the reverse of that initial thought. While I was at the session, I heard stories about the young boys used as camel jockeys in the Middle East, about the child labour in India, and the gangmaster system in the United Kingdom. Some of the stories I had been aware of, others had more detail than I could have imagined but none were actually that surprising to me. And yet, in this room full of international experts dealing with slavery in every possible region of the world, it turned out that virtually none of them knew about the slavery going on with the farm workers in the United States. Instead of me being shocked at the various stories I heard, I had many people come up to me after my testimony expressing how shocked they were that such abuses were going on in the United States. I walked away that first day baffled at the fact that these experts, some who were even from the United States, had never heard such stories, but I also walked away feeling happy that I had come to Geneva, knowing that at the very least, I had laid the foundation for all these different people to be aware of what was going on in North America. That opportunity to testify before the Working Group, and the satisfaction that it gave me to know I had been able to share the stories of the farm workers leads me to one final component of human rights that I wanted to focus upon, and that deals with the right to expression.

Truth be told, without the right to expression none of the other rights we believe in would exist. Before any international treaty was passed by the United Nations, they passed a resolution in 1946 which stated that, “Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and ... the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.” Having access to information and being able to share information is the only way society can fully function and grow, and how we can ensure that our own rights, and the rights of others, are being protected.

There is no question that I would not be where I am today, doing what I do to advocate for others, if it was not for that right to expression. Talking to the farm workers, testifying at the United Nations, writing letters to the editor, or meeting with government officials, all of those things are based on my right to express my views, whatever those views may be. Not to mention, the right to expression is probably the strongest weapon I have against anyone who may try to stop me from expressing my views simply because I cannot speak.

Take a moment and think about the situations some of us in this room face because of our speech disabilities, and then think about situations where someone is trapped in slavery with no way to ask for help. I have heard many times over recent years how those with speech disabilities have a greater likelihood to stay silent in society, and although I do not believe that is true for all with a speech disability, I understand how some might be placed in an unknown situation with no known outlet much like those who are placed in slavery.

Individuals who face human right abuses are the most vulnerable to staying silent, whether those human right abuses are through slavery, being put in jail with no trial, denied the right to vote or discrimination because of a disability.