“I’m just a child, not a slave”: we shed light on modern slavery (forgotten by the world)

A forced wedding? It is a form of slavery. The servitude for debts? It is a form of slavery. Sexual exploitation? It is a form of slavery. And we could continue well beyond. What should make you think is the fact that all these types of slavery They still exist, and not necessarily in the most remote parts of the earth.

Although it reinforces globally, in 2022 modern slavery had almost 50 million victimsincluding millions of minors. Schiavitù manifests itself in different forms, all characterized by constriction to work and the loss of freedom, and the victims who mostly are the most vulnerable members of society, such as women and children or people belonging to ethnic or religious minorities, native populations or nomadic groups.

To rattle off the data on the occasion of the World Day against the section of human beings It is Amnesty International, according to which the common denominator of all forms of slavery is the constraint to the work of human beings who have somehow become “property” of another person.

What is slavery

A real violation of human rights, characterized by:

Is there still slavery?

There is all right and sources identify different forms of modern slavery:

Servitude for debts: this form of slavery is linked to loan models a wearwidespread above all in rural sphere. Poor families who receive loans from a land owner must give the free work of one or two of their members in exchange. Due to the often very high interests, people are forced to work for life for the landowner, under surveillance (also armed) and risk of physical and sexual violence. Sometimes, the inability to pay the debt leads to the transmission of the condition of slavery from father to son

Slavery by birth: considered a form of “classic” slavery, in which people are slaves because their ancestors were, and the condition has handed down from generation to generation. This form is still present in Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Chad and Sudan, despite having been declared illegal. Slaves, being the property of their masters, are exploited and can be sold or given; Children are often subtracted very early from the mothers and forced to work

It is human beings: According to Unadoc, more than 53,800 victims of trafficking were identified in 2020, of which a third were minor (18% girls and 17% boys). The victims can be busy for various reasons:

The victims of sexual exploitation (27% girls and 5% boys) come mainly from:

The victims intended for forced work (12% boys and 5% girls) come mainly fromAfrica subsaharan and from theSouthern Asia. Minors can be used for begging or for forced criminal activities, such as drug trafficking. The removal of organs was discovered in at least 10 countries. Another form of trafficking involves teenagers and young women sold for forced weddings. It is estimated that in 2021 there were 22 million forced marriages, of which almost 9 million involved minors (87% were girls, and 41% were less than 16 years old). Most of these were reported in Asia and Pacific, with the percentage prevalence in the Arab States. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the risk of childhood and forced weddings, with increases reported in different countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India. Once forced to marry, the girls are at greater risk of further exploitation, including sexual exploitation, home servitude, violence and other forced for forced work. The traffic routes are often uncomfortable and dangerous, putting the life of minors at risk.

Yet slavery is condemned internationally …

Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes:

No individual can be kept in a state of slavery or easement; Slavery and slaves are prohibited in any form.

Then there are two conventions against slavery, of 1926 and 1956, with the first adopted by the Nations Society and subsequently taken up by the United Nations.

In addition, other specific international treaties include the 1930 forced work convention and the agreement for the abolition of the forced labor of 1957.

In addition there are:

Faced with those numbers and systemic brutality of the section of human beings, indifference is no longer acceptable.

In 2025, the urgency to curb this plague is not only a question of human rights, but a collective responsibility that calls into question governments, institutions, companies and citizens. The victims cannot wait for the slow evolution of the policies: concrete, immediate and global measures are needed to interrupt the flows of the trafficking, protect those who are affected and hit the managers hard.

Continuing to tolerate this modern shape of slavery is equivalent to legitimizing it. The time to act is now.

Sources: Amnesty International / UNODOC, 2022 Global Report in Traffiking in Person