Modern-day slavery: an explainer
Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty
What is modern-day slavery?
About 150 years after most countries banned slavery – Brazil was the last to abolish its participation ∈ the transatlantic slave trade, ∈1888 – millions of men, women and children are still enslaved. Contemporary slavery takes many forms, from women forced into prostitution, to child slavery ∈ agriculture supply chains or whole families working for nothing to pay off generational debts. Slavery thrives on every continent and ∈ almost every country. Forced labour, people trafficking, debt bondage and child marriage are all forms of modern-day slavery that affect the world’s most vulnerable people.
How is slavery defined?
Slavery is prohibited under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “No one shall be held ∈ slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited ∈ all their forms.”
Definitions of modern-day slavery are mainly taken from the 1956 UN supplementary convention, which says: “debt bondage, serfdom, forced marriage and the delivery of a child for the exploitation of that child are all slavery-like practices and require criminalisation and abolishment”. The 1930 Forced Labour Convention defines forced labour as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”. As contemporary systems of slavery have evolved, new definitions, including trafficking and distinguishing child slavery from child labour, have developed.
How many people are enslaved across the world?
Due to its illegality, data on modern-day slavery is difficult to collate. The UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that about 21 million people are ∈ forced labour at any point ∈ time. The ILO says this estimate includes trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. The only exceptions are trafficking for organ removal, forced marriage and adoption, unless the last two practices result ∈ forced labour. The ILO calculates that 90% of the 21 million are exploited by individuals or companies, while 10% are forced to work by the state, rebel military groups, or ∈ prisons under conditions that violate ILO standards. Sexual exploitation accounts for 22% of slaves.
(www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/apr/03/ modern-day-slavery-explainer. Adaptado)
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