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IS THERE SLAVERY TODAY?The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade featured in Koanga was formally abolished in 1807, making this the 200th anniversary of abolition. However, in many parts of the world practices indistinguishable from slavery – though sometimes not called by that name – are continuing even today. The organisation Anti-Slavery International, the only charity in the United Kingdom to work exclusively against slavery and related abuses, reports that: Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their 'employers'. Slavery exists today despite the fact that it is banned in most of the countries where it is practised. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Women from eastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children are trafficked between West African countries and men are forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agricultural estates. Contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race. What is slavery?
What types of slavery exist today? Early and forced marriage affects women and girls who are married without choice and are forced into lives of servitude often accompanied by physical violence. Forced labour affects people who are illegally recruited by individuals, governments or political parties and forced to work -- usually under threat of violence or other penalties. Slavery by descent is where people are either born into a slave class or are from a 'group' that society views as suited to being used as slave labour. Trafficking involves the transport and/or trade of people -- women, children and men -- from one area to another for the purpose of forcing them into slavery conditions. Worst forms of child labour affects an estimated 126 million** children around the world in work that is harmful to their health and welfare. Read more on Anti-Slavery International's website |