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Are You Wearing Death? A Research Proposal For The Abolishment

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Are You Wearing Death? A Research Proposal for the Abolishment of the Blood Diamond Trade
Imagine, after five years of dating, your boyfriend finally proposes to you. You feel so ecstatic as he kneels down on one knee and pulls out a beautiful diamond ring. You look down on it happily and think of all the African children that have died to make this day possible. Blood diamonds are diamonds that are illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas, typically in central and western Africa. The UN defines these diamonds as "...diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments..." .
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Corrupt President Mobutu Sese-Sekou took control after this, until a violent coup by the current President Kabila took him out of power. Similarly to other African countries, there are large revolts every couple of years, and there is never a time of total peace. Global Witness continues that continuous unrest and civil wars in Central Africa have caused a great dearth of funds for fighting these wars. In order to combat this, African Warlords, and sometimes the governments themselves, mine diamonds and illegally sell them in order for them to fund civil wars ("The Truth About Diamonds"). Furthermore, the mines themselves are inhospitable places (see figure 1). Greg K., a contributor to the website of Brilliant Earth, a diamond retailer committed to putting a stop to the blood diamond trade, reports that miners often do not have the proper equipment or sanctions to ensure their safety. They are also severely underpaid, as most African miners make less than one dollar for a full day of dangerous work. As a result, mining communities are often the poorest communities and starvation, illiteracy, homelessness, and infant mortality are everyday problems. It may seem absurd that millions of people subject themselves to the long hours and dangerous working conditions of working in Africa’s diamond mines, but According to Time magazine author Aryn Baker, due to the fact that there are no other jobs are available to the miners, if they want to feed
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