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This issue includes environmental heroes from Nigeria, Ecuador and Thailand, Brazil's long and unfinished history of slavery and the first woman from India to win the International Booker Prize; plus: Iraq's sandstorm problem, Spain's dangerous-for-pro-democracy-activists relationship with Algeria, Afghanistan's male journalists, a justice-serving verdict against a rapist in Bosnia, and so much more.

Brazil is talking about slavery, again

Everyone in Brazil is talking about an 85-year-old Black woman called Doña Maria (not her real name). On May 13, her life story became public and the Latin American nation found out that she had been working for a privileged white family for 72 years without a salary or vacation time.

Tell me more about Dona Maria
She does not recognize herself as a slave, nor do her 'employers' see themselves as enslavers. Both see what happened as a 'she's like family' kind of situation. In reality, of course, Doña Maria was enslaved as a result of a very perverse power relationship. She is currently experiencing separation trauma (meaning, she doesn't want to leave because she feels like she still has to take care of her 'employer') as social workers are helping her leave the exploitative environment she has called 'home' for decades. Naiara Galarraga Gortázar for EL PAÍS wrote a long-read about this recent case of labor exploitation.

Are there other Doña Marias?
Unfortunately, yes. Domestic workers are common in privileged, mostly white households in Brazil. They are mostly Black and come from very poor families. Some of these domestic workers (not all) work in such exploitative conditions that experts call them 'contemporary cases of slavery'. Some dozen such cases are known. It's very difficult to find them, as the crime takes place in private homes, making it really easy to hide. Thanks to the awareness-raising work of domestic worker unions and anti-racist movements in the country, along with the journalists that break these stories, this is finally being talked about more often.

Why this matters:
The case of Doña Maria is the first case of slavery that was discovered recently and that went on for so long in today's Brazil.

How come this went on for so long?!
​​Doña Maria's case was made public on May 13, on the same day as the 134th anniversary of the day slavery was finally 'officially' abolished. Black movements call it 'the day of the unfinished abolition'. As Gortázar writes: "After abolition, Brazil did not offer land, work or education to the freedmen, whose labor was soon taken over by white European immigrants. Totally helpless, many former slaves preferred to return to their masters, begging for shelter and food." Today, Brazil is still a very unequal country on many levels.

• Btw, 'abolition was not something that happened simply through the signing of a bill. Sugarcane fields were set on fire, plantation owners were poisoned, etc,' as Black activist Katiara Oliveira explains in this piece by Juliana Gonçalves for Brasil de Fato.

F*ck. Does the government do anything about it?
Well, the government knows that slavery still exists in today's Brazil. It has started a program called Integrated Action that focuses on reducing the damage of separation trauma and helping the victims build independent lives. So far, they have treated a dozen women who had been exploited for up to 30, 50 and 70 years. The program includes therapy and activities as simple as going out for ice cream and choosing their own favorite flavor. Employers aka enslavers can be punished up to eight years in prison.

What's next for Dona Maria?
If Doña Maria still has relatives and they are willing to take her in, she will stay with them. If not, she will live in a home with other elderly people.

Chima Williams, an activist in Nigeria, and others win the 'Environment Nobel'

The Goldman Environmental Prize was announced on May 25 last week. The Prize is also known as the 'Environment Nobel', it's a pretty huge deal among environmental activists worldwide. There were seven winners. Among them was Chima Williams, a legal activist and human rights lawyer from Nigeria.

Why this matters:
Some prizes don't mean much (looking at you, Oscars). Others don't mean much either but they give out a lot of money to the recipients and that's sometimes a really good thing. The Goldman Environmental Prize is worth $US200,000. Plus: "While the many challenges before us can feel daunting, and at times, make us lose faith, these seven leaders give us a reason for hope and remind us of what can be accomplished in the face of adversity," said Vice President of the Goldman Environmental Foundation Jennifer Goldman Wallis. Watch the award ceremony on YouTube if you're in need of some inspiration.

Who is Chima Williams?
Williams is the guy who held the oil company Royal Dutch Shell accountable for environmental damages they caused in Nigeria. Shell spilled oil into the Niger Delta communities between 2004 and 2007, causing so much damage, people are still recovering from it today. Williams went to court in The Netherlands for it, sued the sh*t out of them, and 13 years later, in 2021, he won the...