Forced labour is often associated with slavery. That is correct. Forced
labour is therefore often associated with the past. This is incorrect. Forced
labour continues to manifest itself in new forms throughout the world, and
certain contemporary forms are even increasing in numbers of victims
in a context of globalisation and increased migration. The ILO made a
very conservative minimum estimate in 2005 stating that at any given
moment 12.3 million people are working in forced labour conditions. The
way in which forced labour is used is constantly changing. The legislation
abolishing slavery two centuries ago may have abolished formal slavery
and legal ownership of certain people over others; however, in practice
forced labour has never been eradicated. Workers in forced labour today
loose their freedom of movement through more indirect and less obvious
mechanisms such as debt bondage, serfdom, indentured labour, etc.
At the same time there are still some persistent vestiges of traditional
slavery in certain parts of Africa, and the difference between a modernday
domestic worker abused, exploited and locked up in a private home
or bonded labourers on remote farms or working with brick kilns and
traditional slaves may in practice be smaller than we like to think.
Forced labour is a truly global problem affecting every region and all
countries in the world whether industrialised or developing, rich or poor.
Labour intensive and unregulated industries are affected the most:
agriculture, domestic work, construction, mining, quarrying and brick
kilns, manufacturing processing and packaging, entertainment and
prostitution.
* Read the "Mini Action Guide Forced Labour 2008" (50 p., pdf)