What types of slavery exist today?
Bonded labour affects millions of people around the world. People become bonded labourers by taking or being tricked into taking a loan for as little as the cost of medicine for a sick child. To repay the debt, many are forced to work long hours, seven days a week, up to 365 days a year. They receive basic food and shelter as ‘payment’ for their work, but may never pay off the loan, which can be passed down for generations. 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 an
