Modern slavery

Warm-up

1. What is slavery and what drives it? Is there a global consensus on the
definition of slavery?
2. Are there any situations of slavery nowadays? Read the following campaign
poster and explain it. Why does it say that it is “closer than you think”?

3. Are there places in the world where slavery is more prevalent?

4. Is poverty a root cause of slavery? If so, would eliminating poverty eliminate
slavery?
Reading

1. Let’s read a definition of modern slavery by the Anti-slavery organization.

Then discuss:
a) Why does the text say that slavery is “hidden in plain sight”?
b) What is their definition of slavery?
c) Why is forced marriage considerate a type of slavery?
d) What is the organization’s mission?
e) What is the relation of slavery and human trafficking?

What is modern slavery?

You might think that slavery is a thing of the past. But right now, almost 50 million
people are trapped in slavery worldwide.
It’s a problem that affects every country on earth – including yours.
In many ways, slavery may look different from the slavery of the Transatlantic slave
trade, but modern slavery – as a term – encompasses many forms of slavery, including
human trafficking and people being born into slavery.
There are hundreds of definitions of modern slavery. All of these include aspects of
control, involuntary actions and exploitation.
At Anti-Slavery International, we define modern slavery as 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.
Our mission is to stop slavery – to secure freedom for everyone, everywhere,
always.
Modern slavery is all around us, often hidden in plain sight. People can become
enslaved making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories,
or working in houses as cooks, cleaners or nannies. Victims of modern slavery might face
violence or threats, be forced into inescapable debt, or have their passport taken away and
face being threatened with deportation.
Many people have fallen into this trap because they were trying to escape poverty
or insecurity, improve their lives and support their families. Now, they can’t leave.
According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery (2022) from Walk
Free, the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for
Migration:
• 49.6 million people live in modern slavery – in forced labour and forced marriage
• Roughly a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children
• 22 million people are in forced marriages. Two out of five of these people were
children
• Of the 27.6 million people trapped in forced labour, 17.3 million are in forced
labour exploitation in the private economy, 6.3 million are in commercial sexual
exploitation, and nearly 4 million are in forced labour imposed by state authorities
• The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the conditions that lead to modern
slavery
• Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to forced labour.
Types of slavery today
Modern slavery takes many forms. The most common are:
 • Human trafficking. The use of violence, threats or coercion to transport, recruit
or harbour people in order to exploit them for purposes such as forced prostitution, labour,
criminality, marriage or organ removal
• Forced labour. Any work or services people are forced to do against their will,
usually under threat of punishment
• Debt bondage/bonded labour. The world’s most widespread form of slavery.
People trapped in poverty borrow money and are forced to work to pay off the debt, losing
control over both their employment conditions and the debt
• Descent–based slavery (where people are born into slavery). A very old form
of slavery, where people are treated as property, and their “slave” status has been passed
down the maternal line.
• Child slavery. When a child is exploited for someone else’s gain. This can
include child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage and child domestic slavery
• Forced and early marriage. When someone is married against their will and
cannot leave. Most child marriages can be considered slavery
• Domestic servitude. Domestic work and domestic servitude are not always
slavery, and when properly regulated can be an important source of income for many
people. However, when someone is working in another person’s home, they may be
particularly vulnerable to abuses, exploitation, and slavery, as they might be hid den from
sight and lack legal protection.

Source: https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/

Listening

1. Why are usually immigrants made slaves?

2. Listen to a testimony by a woman that was made a slave. Discuss:
a) Where is she from? Where was she working by force?
b) What was her working conditions?
c) How did she scape?
d) What is her advice for someone that is leaving the same situation as her?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59KGc6UyjAw

3. Then, watch the following video and discuss:

a) Which countries in the world has more numbers of people being made
slaves?
b) Why do you think this number is high in those places?
c) Why are they made slaves?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRu6CaXTAxA

Speaking

1. How does slavery impact women and children specifically?

2. Why is it difficult to eradicate slavery?
3. Does law enforcement do enough to eradicate slavery?
4. Whose responsibility is it to end slavery? What are some common tactics
and strategies used to combat slavery?
 5. Do you think countries built on slavery should pay compensation to the
descendants of the slaves?
6. Do you think families that are rich now because their ancestors had slaves owe
something to the descendants of the slaves?
7. If people earn less than the minimum wage, are they like slaves?
8. How has slavery changed the world?
9. Do you believe Globalization has reduced or increased the chances of slavery
and human trafficking?

Reading

1. Do you know any examples of modern slavery in Brazil?

2. Read the following text about Bento Gonçalves case and discuss:
a) Who were the people being made slaves?
b) In this case, how were the working conditions of those people?
c) What is being made from the authorities?
d) Which other problems are related to this, according to the author?

FEBRUARY 28, 2023

FORCED LABOUR VINEYARDS IN BRAZIL EXPOSE MODERN SLAVERY
EDITOR: Ellen Nemitz

The most recent case involving f orced labour in cond itions ana logous to
slavery has just been d iscovered in Brazil, staining the reputation of the wine
ind ustry. Over 200 people - most of them brought f rom northeastern Brazil in
buses - were rescued f rom vineyard s in the southern State of Rio Grand e do
Sul and d enounced the violent ways of repression supposed ly used to maintain
their captivity by those who f irst employed them. The wine brand s involved
in the case will naturally have the right to d ef end themselves in a d ue process,
but evid ence f ound by the authorities ind icate grave human rights violations.
Several wineries operating in this region recruited f oreign workers,
promising them high salaries f or working the manual harvest which cannot be
perf ormed easily mechanically d ue to the steep hills. However, these f oreign
workers soon f ound themselves subjected to 18 hour workd ays, physical
violence like electric shocks and pepper spray, d elayed and low payments,
and were coerced to remain on site. Fed eral police arrived onsite to
investigate and f ound hund red s of f orced workers living in d egrad ing
cond itions. The owner of the company, which operates with several wineries
in the region, was arrested but released on bail shortl y af ter.
This is not the only case of what is sometimes called mod ern slavery:
d eeply d egrad ing cond itions of work, which includ e s extremely low incomes,
long working journeys, insalubrious places and captivity by unpayable d ebts,
f or example, are all realities of people und er mod ern captivity. I n Brazil
alone, the Ministry of Work and Social Security reports that there were 462
operations of this kind in 2022, lead ing to the rescue of 2,575 workers in
slave-like cond itions.
Globally, accord ing to the I nternational Labour Organisation (I LO), 27.6
million people were und er f orced labour in 2021, equivalent to the whole
population of Delhi, I nd ia, or more than twice that of Lond on. Approximately
13 percent of this astonishing number was attributed to the region of
Americas. When the I LO includ es f orced marriage in its consid eration, a total
of almost 50 million people were d eprived of their liberty in some f orm.
Moreover, the criminal exploitation of humans f or work, which af f ects all
gend ers and ages, or f orced marriage has actually risen by about 23 percent
in the past f ive years, the report shows.
I n allusion to the National Day f or Combatin g Slave Labour, marked on
28 January, a group of Brazilian institutions - most of them related to the
Catholic Church, but also secular NGOs and governmental bod ies - released
a note d emand ing that Society promote d ecent work cond itions f or all. This
grave violation to human rights usually relies on d iscrimination and overall
vulnerability - ind eed , d ata conf irms that victims of this crime of ten have
poor levels of f ormal ed ucation and alread y live in miserable cond itions when
recruited .
"Society has the responsibility to d emand an economy that prizes human
d ignity above prof it and this implies, among oth er things, putting an end to
the practice of enslaved labour still persistent in several f ield s of activity,
such as agriculture and cattle breed ing, large crops, civil construction,
clothing ind ustry, coalf ield s, mining, hotel services or housekeeping," read s
the note.
Even though some Latin American countries agreed to improve ef f orts
to combat f orced labour in their territories and joined a global calling f or the
ratif ication of I LO Forced Labour Protocol, much more must be d one to end
this of ten hid d en and , perhaps, und erestimated issue. "The Protocol on Forced
Labour won’t end f orced labour by itself . But convincing governments to
ratif y it is a critical step in that d irection," the I LO believes. I n f act, ef f orts
must be strengthened world wid e if we want to be able to write new stories of
f reed om together.

https://www.f airplanet.org/ed itors-pick/brazil-f orced -labour-mod ern-

slavery/