WHAT IS MODERN SLAVERY?
People who are made to work for little or no pay, are forced to engage in exploitative sex work, or are married against their will. Its cost is individual freedom and economic stagnation. Its impact is global, and no country is immune.
What does the term “modern slavery” mean?
Modern slavery is a hidden crime that affects every country in the world. Modern slavery has been found in many industries, including garment manufacturing, mining, and agriculture, and in many contexts, from private homes to settlements for internally displaced people and refugees. Modern slavery impacts on all of us, from the food we consume to the goods we purchase. It is everybody’s responsibility to address and eliminate this crime where it occurs.
Modern slavery covers a set of specific legal concepts including forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, slavery and slavery-like practices, and human trafficking. Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term that focuses attention on commonalities across these legal concepts.
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.
Cotton pickers work at fields in despite of hot weather as cotton harvest starts in Reyhanli district of Hatay, Turkey.
Modern slavery refers to situations of exploitation in which a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, or abuse of power.
WHY IT STILL EXISTS
In some regions, ongoing conflict, political instability, and forced displacement are key drivers of modern slavery. Transformations in the world of work, climate change, and migration increase the vulnerability of many people to exploitation in others.
From poverty to gender discrimination and inequality, addressing risk factors is fundamental to combating and preventing modern slavery. Effective responses to modern slavery must account for these drivers and risks if we are to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 by 2030.
Modern slavery is an umbrella term and includes:
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Defined by the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol as involving recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion with the intent of exploiting that person for sexual exploitation, forced labour, or slavery, among others forms.
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve threat, use of force or, coercion.
DEBT BONDAGE
Status or condition where one person has pledged their labour or services (or that of someone under their control), in circumstances where the fair value of that labour or service is not reasonably applied to reducing the debt or length of debt, or the length and nature of the service is not limited or defined.
FORCED MARRIAGE
Any situation where persons, regardless of age, have been forced to marry without their consent.
SLAVERY AND SLAVERY-LIKE PRACTICES
Defined in the 1926 Slavery Convention as the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised. In a later treaty, states agreed that there are also certain “slavery-like practices”: debt bondage, forced or servile marriage, sale or exploitation of children (including in armed conflict), and descent-based slavery.
FORCED LABOUR
All work or service that is conducted under menace of penalty and for which the person has not offered themselves voluntarily.
WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR
Drawing on the 1999 Convention on Worst Forms of Child Labour, it includes situations where children are: exploited through slavery or slavery-like practices, including forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; used, procured, or offered for prostitution; used, procured, or offered for illicit activities including production and trafficking of drug; engaged in hazardous work which may harm their health, safety or morals.
“We can do more than cry for the millions of oppressed modern slaves around the world. As free people, it is our duty to use our voices to speak for the voiceless.”
Yeonmi Park
FEATURED PROJECTS
PROJECT
WOMEN AND GIRLS
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by modern slavery.
PROJECT
THE GLOBAL SLAVERY INDEX
Measuring the extent and risk of modern slavery and the effectiveness of our global efforts to end it.
PROJECT
BUSINESS & INVESTOR TOOLKIT
This toolkit is designed to help businesses and investors take action to improve human rights standards in their supply chains and combat forced labour, human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery.
The significant characteristic of all forms of modern slavery is that it involves one person depriving another person of their freedom for profit. Its cost is individual freedom and economic stagnation. Its impact is global, and no country is immune.
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How we work to end slavery
Freedom is a fundamental right for everyone, everywhere, always. But it can’t be taken for granted: modern slavery keeps around 50 million people worldwide from exercising their freedom – with children representing 1 in 4 people trapped in slavery.
At Anti-Slavery International, we work to end slavery so that everyone can live free from exploitation.
It isn’t easy to stop exploitation and secure freedom. But throughout our long history we’ve built the expertise, partnerships and knowledge needed to help prevent slavery in its many forms – including child slavery, forced labour and human trafficking.
What is modern slavery?
Modern slavery is when an individual is exploited by others, for personal or commercial gain. Whether tricked, coerced, or forced, they lose their freedom. This includes but is not limited to human trafficking, forced labour and debt bondage.
We prioritise ending child and youth slavery, responsible business, migration and trafficking, and slavery and the environment. Here’s how we work to end modern slavery and secure freedom for everyone, everywhere, always.
System change
We focus on achieving the long-term changes that are necessary to end slavery and secure freedom.
We work in partnership with survivors, international organisations, businesses, governments and communities to help achieve realistic and permanent changes in the systems that currently allow modern slavery to exist. These systems include international trade (and loopholes in trade law), the climate emergency, and weak rule of law. By working in this way, we have a bigger impact, longer term.
Working with survivors
We work with survivors and survivor-led organisations, and make sure they and their views are at the heart of our work.
Through our direct interventions worldwide, and in our work with the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group, we make sure survivors’ voices are heard by the people and organisations that can make the changes needed to help prevent and end modern slavery.
Building a movement
Activism has been at the heart of our work for more than 180 years. But we don’t campaign alone: we’re part of a global movement against slavery, and we use our expertise, campaigning experience, partnerships and knowledge to help that movement work in unison.
Our supporters are a vital part of that work, helping us to campaign in communities, companies, universities, schools and more, so that everyone understands the impact of modern slavery – and can help us to end it.
Framing the issue
Sometimes it‘s difficult to believe just how deep-rooted modern slavery is; often it hides just out of view, concealed by complex social and political issues that allow society and governments to look the other way. We won’t allow that to happen.
Through our research, our work with the media and our campaigns, we make sure modern slavery remains part of the public and political agenda so that people understand the pressing need to stop exploitation, right now.
Legal frameworks
International human rights instruments – treaties, conventions and legal bodies – have a huge role to play in the campaign to end modern slavery. But these instruments are facing enormous pressures, from Covid-19, to the climate emergency, and the rise of political turbulence. We can’t afford to let slavery prosper as a result.
That’s why we work directly with organisations and institutions such as the United Nations, European Union and other regional blocs, as well as national governments, to make sure the campaign to end slavery is always high on the agenda when laws and regulations are being developed. We also make sure the issue is understood properly, using our research, experience and work with survivors to help frame laws and regulations that make a genuine difference.
This is all challenging work. We’re a small team, but we have an impact that far exceeds our size.
This is only possible thanks to the support of our supporters – today’s abolitionists, whose support helps continue a campaign for freedom that started more than 180 years ago.