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Mercy Global Concern - 2003
Contemporary Forms of Slavery - Reports from the Geneva Conference
January 2004
March 2004
To many, the term "Slavery" conveys images of the transatlantic
slave trade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with all its deplorable
horrors. Relegated to a barbaric past, few realize that the enslavement of
human beings exists even today and remains a grave problem across our world.
From traditional chattel slavery in Sudan tot he contentious issue of trafficking
in persons, international organizations such as Anti-Slavery International
and Free the Slaves estimate that at least 27 million people are held in slavery
like situations today.
Persistent modern-day slavery covers a variety of human rights violations
and includes the practice of child-labour, bonded labour, serfdom, servile
marriage, trafficking in persons (especially women and children) and the exploitation
of domestic and migrant labour. Such slavery-like practices remain clandestine
in nature and, in certain cases, accepted as a part of society, making them
difficult to root out and eliminate. Public ignorance has contributed to governmental
and international inaction to abolish such forms of slavery.
The word "slavery" today covers a variety of human rights violations.
In addition to traditional slavery, and the slave trade, these include the
sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography, child labour, the
sexual mutilation of female children, the use of children in armed conflicts,
debt bondage, the traffic in persons and in the sale of human organs. Slavery
is defined as the " status or the right of ownership."
The present day phenomenon of trafficking in persons, which takes on different
forms, fulfills different purposes, and includes men, women, and children,
has diversified the definitions, interpretations, and public understanding
of this complicated issue.
Aspects of slavery
A stream of evidence presented to the United Nations human rights bodies,
notably the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, as well as studies
and the findings of special rapporteurs, give an accurate picture of current
slavery-like practices. The descriptions, which follow, are drawn from these
sources.
They also reveal that there are no clear distinctions between different forms
of slavery. The same families and groups of people are often the victims of
several kinds of modern slavery - for example, bonded labour, forced
labour, child labour or child prostitution - with extreme poverty as
a common linking factor.
Child Labour:
Child labour is in great demand because it is cheap, and because children
are naturally more docile, easier to discipline than adults, and too frightened
to complain. Their small physique and nimble fingers are seen as assets by
unscrupulous employers for certain kinds of work. It often happens that children
are given jobs while their parents sit at home unemployed. There are children
as young as seven who work twelve to fourteen hours per day and are paid less
than one-third of the adult wage.
At the extreme fringe, children are kidnapped, held in remote camps, and chained
at night to prevent their escape. Child labour is often hard and hazardous,
damages health for life, deprives children of education and the normal enjoyment
of their early years.
Children in armed conflict:
Forcible recruitment of children into military service has been reported in
many parts of the world. The consequences are devastating. Many have died or
been disabled in armed operations, while others have been interrogated, tortured,
beaten, or kept as prisoners of war. The recruitment, clandestine and exploitation
of women as prostitutes, and the organized prostitution of children of both
sexes in a number of countries is well documented. A link has been established
in some places between prostitution and pornography particularly involving
children and the promotion and growth of sex tourism.
Sale of Children:
Unscrupulous go-betweens have found that large profits can be made by arranging
the transfer of children from poverty-stricken homes to people with means-without
guarantees and supervision to ensure that the child's interests will
be protected. In such cases, financial gain- for the parents as well as the
intermediaries-takes on the character of trading in children.
Debt bondage
Debt bondage can hardly be distinguished from traditional slavery because
it prevents the victim from leaving the job or the land the tills until the
money is repaid. Although in theory a debt is repayable over a period of time,
a situation of bondage arises when in spite of all his efforts, the borrower
cannot wipe it out. Normally, the debt is inherited by the bonded labourer's
children. Sharecropping is a familiar way of leading borrowers into debt bondage.
Slavery: a state of mind - As a legally- permitted labour system, traditional
slavery has been abolished everywhere, but it has not been completely stamped
out. There are still reports of slave markets. Even when abolished, slavery
leaves traces. It can persist as a state of mind among its victims and their
descendents and among the inheritors of those who practiced it-long after it
has formally disappeared.
An examination of international instruments to eliminate slavery and slavery-like
practices reveals an ongoing evolution in the understanding of slavery and
the many forms of slavery. The Vienna Congress Declaration on the Universal
Abolition of Slave Trade was adopted in1815, though it was only in 1926 that
the League of Nations gave an international definition to slavery. The 1926
Slavery Convention (www.hri.ca/uninfo/treaties/28.shtml) and its protocol "Supplementary
Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and
Practices similar to Slavery" defined slavery as "the status or
condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right
of ownership are exercised." Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights states: "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery
and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms."
The convention on the Rights of the Child, which entered into force on September
2, 1990, deserves special mention as the most recent and potentially one of
the most effective means of combating slavery-like practices, taking into account
the number of child victims. Properly implemented by States, which have ratified
it, the Convention offers protection to children at risk from sexual, economic
and other forms of exploitation, including their sale, trafficking, and involvement
in armed conflict.
Sources of Information
In studying the current problems of slavery, NGOs make an important contribution.
They inform the Commission of Human Rights of situations as they see it in
many parts of the world and describe their work and experience in eliminating
practices condemned in the slavery conventions. Their involvement is in such
areas as legal aid and assistance for children affected by states of emergency;
rehabilitative services for children caught up in armed conflict; campaigns
for the abolition of child prostitution; assistance in framing legislation
on inter-country adoptions; and development assistance programmes for children
who run the risk of sexual exploitation.
Problems akin to slavery, which affect women, in particular receive continued
attention at the UN, especially from the Commission on the Status of Women.
The essential base of international covenants, national legislation and enforcement
procedures is established, but long experience has shown that official action
alone will not stamp out slavery in its various forms. Attitudes and customs
often deep-rooted must change.
The present day phenomenon of trafficking in persons, which takes on different
forms, fulfills different purposes, and includes men, women, and children,
has diversified the definitions, interpretations, and public understanding
of this complicated issue. A new framework to understand and address trafficking
is still under constant debate. Many believe that the solution lies in decriminalizing
the women in prostitution and criminalizing the men who buy women and children
and anyone who promotes sexual exploitation.
According to the Human Rights Caucus, the solution lies in decriminalizing
the women in prostitution and criminalizing the men who buy women and children
and anyone who promotes sexual exploitation. They ask for State policies and
practices to provide better education and employment opportunities that enhance
women's worth and status and give them more options. According to the
Human Rights Caucus, although the new protocol contains a strong law enforcement
provision and a first-ever international definition of "trafficking in
persons", the protocol does not require governments to provide shelter
or services to victims of trafficking, or cease arresting, imprisoning, and
summarily deporting victims of trafficking. According to a Human Rights Caucus
press release, "This serious gap in protocol is partly due to government
reluctance to make any commitments to provide services and protection to undocumented
migrants even if they are victims of a horrific crime."
The framework laid out by the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
in its Draft Programme of Action, filed under the Commission on Human Rights,
highlights the key principles of self-determination; human rights; social justice;
prevention through awareness and action; and women centred agendas. Despite
the divergences in opinion regarding the best strategy to ensure the respect
of trafficked person's human rights, the World March of Women (www. marchofwomen.org)
states that there is a consensus with respect to certain measures that states
that should implement in the short term to improve conditions for prostitutes
and victims of trafficking. This includes housing, financial and legal aid;
guaranteeing the right to social services and housing in the receiving country;
protection during the criminal proceedings against traffickers, decriminalization
of prostitutes and trafficked persons, and ensuring their rights to organize.
The solution should lie within the human rights and humanitarian framework
and strategies should focus on trafficking and the criminal nature of those
involved in this conduct, rather than on the victims of trafficking, whose
human rights should be assured.
Deirdre Mullan rsm
Representing the Sisters of Mercy a the UN
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