Human Capital

The Power of Words: ‘Human Capital’

I saw this terminology used quite a few years ago, and it has never sat right with me since. The term 'Human Capital' is often used in marketing material by employment agencies, and, it’s becoming a popular term in the corporate sector these days too.

To reclassify, or more treacherously, to declassify a human being into a ‘sub-human’ category such as ‘Human Capital’ is a very dangerous label to give anyone in society. It allows for dubious individuals and enterprises to tread far too firmly on the fringes of human rights violations.

To not regard a person as a Human Being, or People, or even an Individual makes it more palatable to treat them as a commodity, as an item to be bartered or traded, and as unfit or unworthy of basic respect and consideration; which ultimately puts people at a higher risk of abuse & neglect.

Once we remove the human element from humanity, it makes it very easy to be inhumane. And, by declassifying a human being into a commodity (human) for the purpose of profit (capital), we open up the doors to making ‘Human Trafficking’ acceptable in our society.

What is Human Trafficking?

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html#What_is_Human_Trafficking

*As described by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Human trafficking is;

Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as:

The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

*To clarify, in regards to employment agencies:

“Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment of persons, by means of use of force, or other forms of coercion, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability, to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, forced labour or services, or practices similar to slavery, or servitude”.

We do need to abolish the term 'Human Capital' from the employment sector; but more so, we must eliminate the predatory practices of employment agencies that prey upon the vulnerable citizens in our communities.