International Day For The Abolition of Slavery

“Slavery is not just a relic of the past. Forced labour, sexual exploitation & domestic servitude are only a few of the forms of slavery that persist today.”- United Nations. An estimated 50 million people are in modern slavery, including 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage. Almost one in eight of all those in forced labour are children. More than half of these children are in commercial sexual exploitation. Latest estimates by the International Labour Organization (ILO) show that forced labour and forced marriage have increased significantly in the last five years. Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable. Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. Essentially, it refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power. Modern slavery occurs in almost every country in the world, and cuts across ethnic, cultural and religious lines. More than half (52 per cent) of all forced labour and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle income or high-income countries. No region is exempt from the problem, with Asia and the Pacific having the highest number (15.1 million), followed by Europe and Central Asia (4.1 million), Africa (3.8 million), the Americas (3.6 million) and the Arab States (0.9 million). However, in terms of prevalence, forced labour is most common in the Arab States (5.3 per thousand), followed by Europe and Central Asia (4.4), the Americas and Asia and the Pacific (both 3.5) and Africa (2.9). The UN adds that the annual global profit generated from forced labour is estimated at US$236 billion. This amount represents wages effectively stolen from workers, particularly affecting those already struggling to support their families. For migrant workers, it means less money being sent back home. Additionally, governments lose tax revenue due to the illegal nature of these profits, which can also foster further exploitation, empower criminal networks, and undermine the rule of law. International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is observed on December 2nd each year. The day provides an opportunity for governments, organizations, and individuals worldwide to come together and take steps to eliminate modern slavery and support survivors. The focus of this day is on eradicating contemporary forms of slavery, such as trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation, the worst forms of child labour, forced marriage, and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. Forms of Modern Day Slavery. Slavery has evolved and manifested itself in different ways throughout history. Today some traditional forms of slavery still persist in their earlier forms, while others have been transformed into new ones. The United Nations human rights bodies have documented the persistence of old forms of slavery that are embedded in traditional beliefs and customs. These forms of slavery are the result of long-standing discrimination against the most vulnerable groups in societies, such as those regarded as being of low caste, tribal minorities and indigenous peoples. Forced Labour. Alongside traditional forms of forced labour, such as bonded labour and debt bondage there now exist more contemporary forms of forced labour, such as migrant workers, who have been trafficked for economic exploitation of every kind in the world economy: work in domestic servitude, the construction industry, the food and garment industry, the agricultural sector and in forced prostitution. Child Labour. Globally, one in ten children works. The majority of the child labour that occurs today is for economic exploitation. That goes against the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognizes “the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.” Trafficking. According to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, trafficking in persons means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation includes 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. The consent of the person trafficked for exploitation is irrelevant and if the trafficked person is a child, it is a crime even without the use of force. The Way Forward. On this the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery the world is once again being reminded of the horrors of modern day slavery. The international community must remain vigilant. The global community must therefore urge governments to reinforce law enforcement, defend human dignity, liberate and support victims, and bring perpetrators to justice. Additionally, our education systems must become more transformative in the fight against modern day slavery. We all can play a role in the eradication of modern day slavery. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #InternationalDayfortheAbolitionofSlavery #ModernSlavery #AbolishSlavery