- Editor's Note
It is a common misconception that slavery is a thing of the past, a purely historical phenomenon that no longer occurs in today’s world, coming to an end in the nineteenth century with the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade and the defeat of the slave-holding South in the American Civil War.
Yet while slavery is nowhere legally permitted today—a clear break with the past—it is still widespread, present in one form or another in virtually every country on earth. (One widely cited estimate holds that as many as twenty-seven million people are slaves today.)
Pervasive though it may be, present-day slavery is largely clandestine and hidden, because of its illegality; slaveholders naturally shun publicity, and their victims are usually unable or unwilling to speak out. This issue of Global Dialogue tries to throw a little light on a murky subject by looking at the forms modern slavery assumes, and by enquiring what, if anything, can be done to counter what by any reckoning is a major curse of today’s world.
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- Slavery and Its Definition
An examination of how slavery has been defined in international law. While there has long been an established international legal definition of slavery, the term remains contested, leading to disputes as to whether certain clear and severe instances of servitude amount to slavery. Recognising as fundamental possession and the control that demonstrates it allows an exit from the definitional quagmire.
Jean Allain and Kevin Bales
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- Document
The Bellagio–Harvard Guidelines on the Legal Parameters of Slavery
Recently drawn up by a group of property scholars and experts on slavery, the Bellagio–Harvard Guidelines on the Legal Parameters of Slavery resolve the dilemma of having to choose between the legal definition of slavery and a definition which reflects reality. The guidelines will thus advance the abolition of slavery in fact as well as in law.
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- The Scourge of Slavery: The Contemporary Reality of an International Human Rights Challenge
The numerous forms slavery takes today are surveyed, among them sexual slavery, chattel slavery (which still persists in certain parts of the world), debt bondage, contract slavery, domestic servitude, state slavery, religious slavery, and child slavery. A range of policy options to ameliorate the problem is considered, including community-based interventions, harm-reduction strategies, and legal and economic responses.
David K. Androff
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- Absolving the State: The Trafficking–Slavery Metaphor
Present-day trafficking—the dealing in human beings for purposes of forced exploitation—is often likened to the transatlantic slave trade, yet how valid is this metaphor? The analogy makes campaigning against trafficking morally and politically uncontentious, yet there are significant differences between the two phenomena, so that the slavery metaphor is historically inaccurate. It is also politically questionable, in that it camouflages the state’s contemporary role in creating the conditions in which some groups are open to abuse and exploitation.
Julia O’Connell Davidson
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- Rethinking Trafficking: Patriarchy, Poverty, and Private Wrongs in India
Contemporary slavery, including human trafficking, is best understood as a “private wrong”—a particular form of human rights abuse by non-governmental perpetrators in which the state fails to protect its citizens. Trafficking in South Asia, and particularly sex slavery in India, shows that insufficient attention has been paid to the factors of power and patriarchy that facilitate the abuse and exploitation of women. Trafficking must be rethought to remedy this deficiency and allow more effective anti-slavery policies throughout the global South.
Alison Brysk and Aditee Maskey
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- Children Trafficked to the United States: Myths and Realities
Children are arguably the most vulnerable victims of trafficking. The plight is examined of children trafficked to the United States for labour and sexual exploitation. Some of the prevailing assumptions and myths concerning such children are considered in the light of research supported by the US National Institute of Justice. These assumptions and myths are contrasted with the realities as expressed by the survivors of child trafficking and the discoveries unearthed by the research.
Elzbieta M. Gozdziak
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- Debt-Bondage Slavery in India
India is home to the greatest number of people held in the form of servitude known as debt bondage, whereby individuals pledge their labour as security against a loan. The duration of the bond is typically undefined, and uncleared debts are passed on to succeeding generations, obliging them also to labour for the creditor. The socio-political factors in India that allow slavery to continue are identified, chief among them being the caste system. India’s current anti-slavery laws and organisations are surveyed, and measures to address the problem are suggested.
Sarah Knight
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- The Many Faces of Slavery: The Example of Domestic Work
Can the abuse suffered by many domestic workers—particularly migrant domestic workers—be considered a modern form of slavery? The key features of domestic labour are described and the special difficulties that domestic workers face are highlighted. The notion of slavery and related notions of servitude, forced and compulsory labour, as these have been analysed in recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights, are discussed. Modern slavery is a multifaceted concept which can include both de jure and de facto elements. The manner in which national criminal law and international labour law have developed to address the abuse of migrant domestic workers is illustrated.
Virginia Mantouvalou
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- Child Domestic Workers: Protected Persons or Modern-Day Slaves?
Child domestic workers—children under the age of eighteen years who perform tasks in other people’s households—are among the most vulnerable and exploited of the world’s labourers. Their seclusion and dependency routinely result in physical, psychological and sexual abuse. The relationships and beliefs that drive children into domestic work are outlined. These causal factors are central to understanding the children’s vulnerability to exploitation and abuse at the hands of the receiving family, and also explain why their situation can be analogous to slavery.
Jonathan Blagbrough
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- Forcing Children to Bear Arms: A Contemporary Form of Slavery
Nowhere is the continued existence of slavery more conspicuous than in the forced military servitude of children. Each year, significant numbers of children are forcibly recruited into official state armies and irregular armed groups such as opposition units, paramilitary forces, and other non-state militias. The reasons for such recruitment are explained, as are the methods used to control and exploit the children. Suggestions are offered about how to end this widespread form of slavery. Throughout, attention is drawn to the often neglected issues of gender that motivate recruitment in some circumstances and shape how control is exercised.
Michael G. Wessells
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- Abused Migrant Women in the United States: Progress, Challenges and Recommendations
Often overlooked in discussions of the relationship between immigration and crime is the victimisation of undocumented immigrants. Because of their migration status, undocumented immigrant battered women who are not legally recognised as trafficked victims can face multiple barriers to seeking legal protection from abuse. Immigrant women are often unaware of the protection afforded to non-citizens, or the legal protection is limited so they may fear deportation if exposed as non-citizens or loss of the custody of their children. The understudied linkage between migration policies and interpersonal violence against undocumented immigrants is examined. A criminal justice response to every victim of crime based on the harm done rather than the migration status of the victim is advocated.
Gabriela Wasileski and Mark J. Miller
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- Repairing Past Injustice: Remarks on the Politics of Reparations for Slavery in the United States
Chattel slavery—the outright ownership of one human being by another—came to an end in the United States following the Civil War. Its pernicious influence persisted for many decades, however, in the form of segregation and economic and political discrimination against the freed slaves and their descendants. Its legacy is still evident today in widespread racial inequalities reflected in such phenomena as the ghetto and incarceration policies which consign disproportionately large numbers of African Americans to US jails. For this reason, demands have intensified for reparations for slavery, not just to atone for past wrongs, but to redress current injustices. Consideration is given to some of the practical–political arguments for and against pursuing at the present time reparations for slavery in the United States.
Thomas McCarthy
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- Analysis
Libya: The Road to Regime Change
The overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya was one of the major events of the “Arab Spring”, the series of uprisings that began to sweep the Middle East in late 2010 and that have yet to run their course. Gaddafi’s time in power and the nature of his rule are reviewed. The manner of his downfall is described, and the motives of the Western states that intervened against him are analysed. An assessment is made of whether his removal heralds a better future for Libya.
Hafizullah Emadi
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