research paper about modern slavery

Modern Slavery: A Global Perspective, by Siddharth Kara

New York: Columbia University Press, 2017

• Book Review
• Published: 19 October 2019
• Volume 20 , pages 485–487, ( 2019 )

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Berliner, B.A. Modern Slavery: A Global Perspective, by Siddharth Kara. Hum Rights Rev 20 , 485–487 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-019-00571-z

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JOURNAL of MODERN SLAVERY

A multidisciplinary exploration of human trafficking solutions.

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Access to Remedy for Survivors of All Forms of Slavery, Trafficking and Forced Labour

Access to Remedy – Our Greatest Failure, Our Biggest Opportunity Heather Moore

Remedy as Relational Sarah S

Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Child Labor and Trafficking Survivors: a Case Study of Nepal GoodWeave Foundation’s Transit Home “Hamro Ghar” Silvia Mera and Hem Bahadur Moktan

Access to Effective Remedy and Grievance Mechanisms: a Brief Review of the Situation for Exploited Migrant Workers in Finland and Norway Dr. Tina Davis and Saara Haapasaari

Understanding Remedy Under the Australian Modern Slavery Act: From Conceptualisation to Provision of Remedy Samuel Pryde, Justine Nolan, Shelley Marshall, Andrew Kach, Martijn Boersma, Fiona McGaughey, and Vikram Bhakoo

How Import Bans Affect Access to Remedy for Individuals Affected by Forced Labour Archana Kotecha

A Case Study in the Mauritian Garment Industry: the Promise and Challenge of Securing Effective Remedy Karen Stauss and Samantha Rudick

Increasing the Prospects of Corporate Accountability, Compensation, and Financial Health for Victims and Survivors of Forced Labour and Human Trafficking Loria-Mae Heywood and Andy Shen

Towards Worker-Driven Remedy: Advancing Human and Labour Rights in Global Supply Chains Martina Trusgnach, Olga Martin-Ortega, and Cindy Berman

JOURNAL AIM & SCOPE

Journal of Modern Slavery: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Human Trafficking Solutions , is dedicated to research, theory, and practical application in eradicating slavery. It is a nexus of critical thought for all fields relating to understanding and combating modern slavery and is unique in its focus on the issues of slavery and human trafficking.

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Urmila Bhoola is a South African human rights lawyer working internationally on issues of women’s human rights, modern slavery, human trafficking and business human rights accountability. She was formerly the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, its causes and consequences, a mandate she held for six years. She is a former Judge of the Labour Court of South Africa and is currently an acting Judge of the High Court.

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How Import Bans Affect Access to Remedy for Individuals Affected by Forced Labour Archana Kotecha and Nawin Santikarn

Delta 8.7 Policy Guides in Action

Journal of Modern Slavery Special Supplement: Delta 8.7 Policy Guide Introduction Angharad Smith and Alice Eckstein

The Justice Policy Guide – Exploring What Works to End Modern Slavery: A Survivor-Centric Approach to Justice Ruth Juliet Nyambura Gachanja and Peter Williams

What Works To Eradicate Modern Slavery In Crisis Settings? Lessons From The Evidence Katharine Bryant and Katarina Schwarz

The Smart Mix Of Measures In Markets: A Review Of What Works, And More Importantly, Why Hannah Thinayne, Leanne Melnyk and Michael Gallo

Forced Migration and Modern Slavery: Unplanned Journeys of Exploitation and Survival, Volume 8, Issue 1, 2023

Introduction to Forced Migration and Modern Slavery: Unplanned Journeys of Exploitation and Survival Brad K. Blitz

Summary of the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Including its Causes and Consequences on the Nexus Between Displacement and Contemporary Forms of Slavery Tomoya Obokata

Europe’s Migrant Human Trafficking – A Case Study of Romania’s Sexually Exploited Women Roxana Claudia Tompea

What Has 20 Years of ‘Freedom’ Meant for Kamaiya Men in Kailali District, Nepal? Analysing Changing Patterns of Migration as a Marker of Freedom Matthew Maycock

Re-(B)ordering: The Impact of the European Union’s Externalisation of Migration on the Human Rights of Migrants in Libya Lauren Jackson

Stuck In The Middle: The Case of Venezuelan Migrants Carolina Spiridigliozzi and Florencia Barbeito

Forced into Slavery: Eritreans Caught Between Refugee and Migration Policies Lucy Hovil and Sasha Jesperson

Immigration Detention in Australia and Asylum Seekers’ Rights to Appropriate Health Care. Health Care Consequences of Keeping Asylum Seekers in Mandatory Detention in Alternative Places of Detentions (APOD)s Vinu Verghis, Jackson Moody, and Suzanna Fay

The Ru.Lag: the Kremlin’s New Empire of Forced Labor Alexandra Lewis and Brad K. Blitz

EARLY RESEARCHERS Special Edition, New Approaches to Understand and Address Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 7, Issue 2, 2022

Introduction to New Approaches to Understand and Address Contemporary Forms of Slavery Hannah Baumeister

Syrians’ only option – Rethinking unfree labour through the study of displaced agricultural workers in the Middle East Ann-Christin Zuntz, Mackenzie Klema, Shaher Abdullateef, Esraa Almashhor, Salim Faisal Alnabolsi, Sinem Sefa Akay, Bürge Akbulut, Selin Ayaes, Ertan Karabiyik, and Lisa Boden

Forced Marriage and Modern Slavery: Analysing Marriage as a “Choiceless Choice” Helen McCabe, Wendy Stickle, PhD, and Hannah Baumeister

A Feminist Analysis of the Trafficking of Women and Girls into China for the Purpose of Forced Marriage and Childbearing Amelia Watkins-Smith

Human Rights Through the Eyes of Bonded Labourers in India Elena Samonova, PhD

Campaigning Against Modern Slavery: Social Assets for Business Action Dr Akilah Jardine and Reem Muaid

Global Patterns of Forced Labor in Island Southeast Asia Cheryll Alipio and Yancey Orr

Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2022

The Ghost at the Junction: Exploring the Links Between Historic and Modern Slavery in Accra, Ghana Stephen Collins and Nii Kwaterlai Quartey

Multi-Sector Human Trafficking Task Forces in the United States: Typologies and Overlapping Jurisdictions Laura A. Dean and Julisa Sierra

The Biopolitics of Contemporary Slavery in Brazil and the Bare Life of the Enslaved Worker Patrícia Trindade Maranhão Costa

CHILD LABOUR Special Edition, Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 6, Issue 4, 2021

INTRODUCTION to the CHILD LABOUR Special Edition Cindy Berman and Urmila Bhoola

Reframing, refining, and reconceptualising the worst forms of child labour through participatory adaptive programming Marina Apgar and Danny Burns

Reviewing child labour and its worst forms: Contemporary theoretical and policy agenda Md Mahmudul Hoque

Prioritising Agro-Rural Areas with Holistic and Community-Participatory Initiatives to Accelerate Progress towards Elimination of Child Labour Purva Gupta and Gazal Malik

Multinational Enterprises and child labour: Insights from supply-chain initiatives in different sectors Jolijn Engelbertink and Ans Kolk

The Role of NGO-Supported Community Based Schools Gardens in Contributing to Reducing the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Eastern DRC Cecile Fanton d’Andon, Mark Canavera, Nadine Nkubonage Rudahindwa, Pascal Mongane, Henry Gathercole, and Stefano Battain

“I’m literally here to hear your story… let them know that”: Exploring Narrative Therapy Approaches with Victims of Child Trafficking, Exploitation & Slavery Dr. Romana Farooq, Chelsea Addy, Gavin Smyth, and Afua Appiah

Slavery and Humanitarian Response, Supplemental, Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 6, Issue 3, 2021

Older than Troy: slavery as a consequence of human catastrophe Dr. Aidan McQuade

Exploring the Relationship Between Humanitarian Emergencies and Human Trafficking: A Narrative Review Viktoria Curbelo, MPH

Forced Labour and Access to Education of Rohingya Refugee Children in Bangladesh: Beyond a Humanitarian Crisis Md Mahmudul Hoque

What is the Link between Natural Disasters and Human Trafficking and Slavery? Dr. Kevin Bales

Providing Protection or Enabling Exploitation? Orphanages and Modern Slavery in Post-Disaster Contexts Dr Kathryn E. van Doore and Rebecca Nhep

Without data we are fighting blind: the need for human security data in defence sector responses to human trafficking Peter Wieltschnig, Dr. Julia Muraszkiewicz, and Toby Fenton

COVID-19 and Modern Slavery, Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2021

Introduction to the COVID-19 and MODERN SLAVERY Issue Helen McCabe

COVID-19’s Impact on Anti-Trafficking Efforts: What do we know? Idel Hanley and Jean-Pierre Gauci

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Identification of Victims of Modern Slavery and Their Access to Support Services in Australia Nerida Chazal and Ms Kyla Raby

Fluid Vulnerabilities: Narratives of Modern Slavery in India during Lockdown George Byrne, Professor Tamsin Bradley, Elizabeth Khumallambam, Sutirtha Sahariah

Ripped at the Seams: RMG Sector Workers During a Global Pandemic Christopher Hansen, Jafar Iqbal, Maansi Parpiani, Ridhi Sahai, Vaiddehi Bansal, Mithila Iyer, Michelle Davis, and Kareem Kysia

Shattered Dreams: Bangladeshi Migrant Workers during a Global Pandemic Ridhi Sahai, Vaiddehi Bansal, Muhammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, Kareem Kysia, and Sharon Shen

Underlying Conditions: The Increased Vulnerability of Migrant Workers Under COVID-19 in Israel Maayan Niezna, Yahel Kurlander, Hila Shamir

The Finance of Sex Trafficking and Impact of COVID-19 Phoebe Ewen

Red Light Refracted: Impacts of COVID-19 on Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Maharashtra, India Erika Keaveney, Mithila Iyer, Xiran Liu, Rachael Jackson, and Kareem Kysia

Pivoting technology: understanding working conditions in the time of COVID-19 Hannah Thinyane, Michael Gallo

Australia’s Modern Slavery Act and COVID-19: a get out of jail free card? Fiona McGaughey

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on survivors of human trafficking in the Philippines Laura Cordisco Tsai, Jonna Eleccion, and Ankita Panda

The Impact of COVID-19 on Survivors of Human Trafficking in Kenya: A Participatory Approach Emily Brady, Aisha Ali Haji, Rehema Baya,Yasmin Manji, Helen McCabe, Muthoni Muhunyo, Sophie Otiende, and Ruth Sorby

COVID-19 Supplemental Issue, Abstracts, Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2021

Forward to the COVID-19 Supplemental Issue Dr. Helen McCabe

COVID-19’s Impact on Anti-Trafficking Efforts: What do we know? Idel Hanley, Jean-Pierre Gauci

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Identification of Victims of Trafficking and Their Access to Support Services in Australia Dr. Nerida Chazal, Ms Kyla Raby

Critiquing America’s Response to Human Trafficking: Race, Gender, and Colonialism Narratives in a COVID-19 Context Lucy Mahaffey

Fluid Vulnerabilities: Narratives of Modern Slavery in India during Lockdown Dr. George Byrne, Professor Tamsin Bradley, Elizabeth Khumallambam, Dr. Sutirtha Sahariah

Ready Made Garment (RMG) Study: Bangladesh and India Christopher Hansen, Jafar Iqbal, Maansi Parpiani, Michelle Davis, Ridhi Sahai, Vaiddehi Bansal, Mithila Iyer, Kareem Kysia

Overseas Labor Recruitment (OLR) Study – Bangladesh Ridhi Sahai, Vaiddehi Bansal, Muhammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, Kareem Kysia

Underlying conditions: The Commodification of Migrant Workers Under COVID-19 Maayan Niezna, Dr. Yahel Kurlander, Hila Shamir

Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Study – India Erika Keaveney, Mithila Iyer, Xiran Liu, Kareem Kysia

Services and Safety for Survivors of Human Trafficking: A Social Service Agency Statewide Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 Kimberly A. Hogan

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on survivors of human trafficking in the Philippines Laura Cordisco Tsai, PhD, and Jonna Eleccion

COVID-19 and Child Criminal Exploitation: Implications of the Pandemic for County Lines Ben Brewster, Grace Robinson

Assessing the impact of ad-hoc migratory and asylum regulations on the vulnerability to human trafficking and forced labour in Spain, Germany, and Italy: identifying good practices during the COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Ana B. Valverde-Cano, Juan J. Ruiz-Ramos, Paola Cavanna

The Impact of COVID-19 on Survivors of Modern Slavery in Kenya Emily Brady, Dr. Helen McCabe, Sophie Otiende, Aisha Ali Haji, Rehema Maya, Yasmin Manji, Ruth Sorby

Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2021

CLICK/TAP HERE to read/download the full issue in a new window/tab

Adapting a life skills training program for survivors of human trafficking Laura Cordisco Tsai, PhD, MSSW, Janice Ubaldo and Penny Sun

Piloting a method for the aggregation and visualisation of audit data to enhance forced labour risk identification Zoë Fortune, Silvia Mera, and Paul Ling

“Boys Are Like Gold”: The Gendered Differences in Sexual Violence Against Street-Involved Children in Southwest Cambodia Jarrett Davis, Glenn Miles, Maggie Eno, and Andrew G. Rowland

Contemporary slavery and health: mortality levels of rescued workers in Brazil Dr. Bráulio Figueiredo Alves da Silva, Bernardo Lanza Queiroz, PhD, André Braz Golgher, PhD, Luciano Rodrigues Costa, PhD, and Patrícia Trindade Maranhão Costa, PhD

Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2020

Sentinel Surveillance and Centring Prevention in Anti-Trafficking Policy and Response

Michael Gallo, Hannah Thinyane

“I demand justice. I hold them all responsible”: Advancing the Enforcement of Anti-slavery Legislation in Mauritania

Rosana Garciandia, Maeve Ryan, Philippa Webb

Can Tech Tame the Outlaw Ocean? A Book Review of T he Outlaw Ocean: Crime and Survival in the Last Untamed Frontier (Author: Ian Urbina) and Film Review of Ghost Fleet (directed by Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron)

Bama Athreya, PhD

Research Unchained: The Multidisciplinary Future of Antislavery Studies, Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 4, Issue 2, Dec 2018

Forward to Research Unchained: Multidisciplinary Future of Antislavery Studied Dr. Jean Allain and Dr. Kevin Bales

Introduction by the editors of the Antislavery Usable Past Postgraduate Research Network Special Issue Katarina Schwarz, Hannah Jeffery, and Rebecca Nelson, PhD candidates

Part I: Definitions and Legal Justice

Approaching Contemporary Slavery Through an Historic Lens: an Interdisciplinary Perspective Rebecca Nelson and Alicia Kidd, PhD candidates

Securing the Prohibition of Labour Exploitation in Law and Practice: Slavery, Servitude, Forced Labour and Human Trafficking in Italy, Spain and the UK Dr. Paola Cavanna, Ana Belén Valverde Cano, PhD candidate, and Amy Weatherburn, PhD candidate

Strategic Litigation as a Tool to Combat Modern Slavery James Sinclair, PhD candidate

Irregular Victims: Investigating the Immigration Status Decisions of Post-NRM Victims of Human Trafficking, the Availability of Eligible Benefits and the Related Impact on Victims of Trafficking Alexandra Williams-Woods and Yvonne Mellon, PhD candidates

Reasserting Agency: Procedural Justice, Victim-Centricity, and the Right to Remedy for Survivors of Slavery and Related Exploitation Katarina Schwarz and Jing Geng, PhD candidates

Part II: New Anti-Slavery Strategies and Cultures

“A Colossal Work of Art”: Antislavery Methods of Visual Protest From 1845 to Today Hannah Jeffery, PhD candidate, and Dr. Hannah-Rose Murray

‘They don’t play or run or shout…They’re slaves’: The First Survey of Children’s Literature on Modern Slavery Charlotte James, PhD candidate

Analysing Slavery through Satellite Technology: How Remote Sensing Could Revolutionise Data Collection to Help End Modern Slavery Bethany Jackson, PhD student, Dr. Kevin Bales, Dr. Sarah Owen, Dr. Jessica Wardlaw, and Dr. Doreen S. Boyd

Collaborating to Identify, Recover and Support Victims of Modern Slavery Ben Brewster, PhD candidate

Journal of Modern Slavery, Volume 4, Issue 1, Summer 2018

The Developments of Trafficking in Women in Post-Revolution Tunisia Racha Haffar, M.A.

Understanding Child Trafficking within Ghana: Stakeholders’ Perspective Emma Seyram Hamenoo and Efua Esaaba Mantey Agyire-Tettey

An Economist’s Perspective of Kevin Bales’ “Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving the World” Jennifer Bossard, Ph.D

Cultural Competence of Western Psychotherapists in Helping Sex Trade Survivors: An Initial Exploration Daphne Catherine Spyropoulos, B.A.

Civil Society Organisations in Counter-Trafficking Governance: When Long-Standing Interactions Lead to Solid Partnerships Chloé Brière, PhD, LLM

Slavery Today Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, August 2016

Book Review: Collaborating Against Human Trafficking: Cross Sector Challenges and Practices (Author: Dr. Kirsten Foot) Eve Aronson, M.A.

Book Review: Enslaved: The New British Slavery (Author: Rahila Gupta) Amber L. Hulsey, A.B.D. and David L. Butler, PhD

Learning From Incidents to Improve Services: Kenyan Victims’ Reaction to a Migrant Labour Scam in Thailand Oscar Mmbali, B DIV

Prosecuting Human Trafficking – Progress in the UK Kate Garbers

The Relationship Between Human Rights Violations and Human Trafficking Julia Muraszkiewicz, LLM

Listening to Local and Foreign Sex Buyers of Men and Women in Cambodia Samantha Sommer Miller, MAICS and Glenn Miles, PhD and James Havey

Measuring Government Responses to Modern Slavery: Vietnam Case Study Bodean Hedwards and Katharine Bryant, M.A.

Thinking Beyond the Escape: Evaluating the Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Uganda Jillian LaBranche, M.A.

Slavery Today Journal, Volume 2, Issue 2, December 2015

Partnership, The Fourth P, Enhances HT Service Efforts in Prevention, Protection and Prosecution Arenas Thomas B. Hofmann, PhD and Yaroslaba Garcia, MA

Repressed Memories: Historical Perspectives on Trafficking and Anti-Trafficking Eileen P. Scully, PhD

Criminal Legislation for Human Trafficking in the Republic of Moldova Nicole Fiorentino, MA

A Model of Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration in Regional Anti-Slavery Efforts Erica Baer, PhD and Refael Olivares, MA and Johnny McGaha, PhD and Tama Koss Caldarone, JD

Human Trafficking at the US-Mexico Border and the Role of the Commercial Sex Trade Client Lori Celaya, PhD and Marta Boris-Tarré, PhD

A Quantitative Analysis of Commercial Sex Advertisements During Super Bowl XLVIII Jesse Bach, PhD and Courtney Mintz and Jennifer Dohy, MS

Slavery Today Journal, Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2015

Trafficking in Human Beings as an Enterprise: Highlighting Key Questions About Data Shortage on the Business Side Julia Muraszkiewicz and Dr. Hayley Watson and Kush Wadhwa and Dr. Paul De Hert

Rise, Unite, Support: Doing “No Harm” in the Anti-Trafficking Movement Karen Countryman-Roswurm LMSW, PhD

Toward Assessment of Child Survivors of Restavèk in Haiti: Development and Evaluation of a Locally Adapted Psychosocial Assessment Instrument Cara L. Kennedy, PhD

Considering a Regional Approach to Combating Human Trafficking in the Caribbean: The ECOWAS Example Jill St. George LLB, LLM, PGDIP (BVC) and Tom Durbin LLB, LLM, PGDIP (BVC)

Slavery Today Journal, Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2014

A Theory of Human Trafficking Prevalence and Forecasting: Unlikely Marriage of the Human Security, Transnational Organized Crime, and Human Trafficking Literatures Davina Durgana

Human Trafficking Specific Jury Instructions: Tools to Increase Prosecutions and Convictions Alexander Esseesse and Emily Tocci

Human Trafficking Investigations, Implications of Apathy and Inaction, Recommended Solutions David Hartless

Funding and Capacity Building Fuel Cooperation: A Case Study of Counter-Force Networks Fighting Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in India Rodney Green, MSc

Au Pair Scheme: Cultural Exchange or a Pathway to Slavery? Tina Davis

Human Trafficking NGOs in Thailand: A Two-Site Case Study of the Children Served in Education Programs Robert Spires, PhD

Economics of Child Mining Labor: Estimation of Corporation’s Profits

Book Review: Enslaved: True Stories of Modern Day Slavery, by Jesse Sage and Liora Kasten Benjamin Thomas Greer

Slavery Today Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, February 2014

Unlocking the Science of Slavery Kevin Bales, PhD

Adopting an Anti-human Trafficking Law in the DR Congo: A Significant Step in the Process of Combating Trafficking Roger-Claude Liwanga, J.D.

Who’s Watching the Watchdog?: Are the Names of Corporations Mandated to Disclose under the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act Subject to a Public Records Request? Benjamin Thomas Greer, J.D.

A Truly Free State in the Congo: Slavery and Abolition in Global Historical Perspective John Donoghue

Slavery Beyond History: Contemporary Concepts of Slavery and Slave Redemption in Ganta (Gamo) of Southern Ethiopia Bosha Bombe

Ending Slavery Aidan McQuade, PhD

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• v.4(1); 2020

Child modern slavery, trafficking and health: a practical review of factors contributing to children’s vulnerability and the potential impacts of severe exploitation on health

Laura c n wood.

Centre for Child & Family Justice Research, Lancaster University Department of Sociology, Lancaster, UK

Associated Data

Child trafficking is a form of modern slavery, a rapidly growing, mutating and multifaceted system of severe human exploitation, violence against children, child abuse and child rights violations. Modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) represents a major global public health concern with victims exposed to profound short-term and long-term physical, mental, psychological, developmental and even generational risks to health. Children with increased vulnerability to MSHT, victims (in active exploitation) and survivors (post-MSHT exploitation) are attending healthcare settings, presenting critical windows of opportunity for safeguarding and health intervention.

Recognition of child modern slavery victims can be very challenging. Healthcare providers benefit from understanding the diversity of potential physical, mental, behavioural and developmental health presentations, and the complexity of children’s responses to threat, fear, manipulation, deception and abuse.

Healthcare professionals are also encouraged to have influence, where possible, beyond the care of individual patients. Research, health insights, advocacy and promotion of MSHT survivor input enhances the collaborative development of evidence-based approaches to prevention, intervention and aftercare of affected children and families.

Key messages

• Child modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) is a global public health concern with profound risks to life-course health and development.
• Children from all ages, genders, homes, backgrounds and socioeconomic status may be exploited.
• Breakdown of social protective barriers (including migration), significant relational dysfunction or loss (including child abuse, removal from family) and economic stress can increase vulnerability to MSHT.
• Child MSHT victims are presenting in healthcare settings yet may remain undetected.
• Physical, mental, emotional, behavioural and developmental health presentations of child MSHT victims and survivors can be complex.
• Child MSHT victims may not have confidence in healthcare staff or systems—trust needs to be built.
• Health professionals from all disciplines are encouraged to engage in the development of evidence-based, survivor-informed approaches to the prevention, intervention and aftercare of children and families subjected to MSHT.

Introduction

‘Modern slavery’ is an umbrella term for criminal acts of severe human exploitation. 1 For victims under the age of 18 years, modern slavery in its myriad forms is considered violence against children (as defined by WHO 2 ), child abuse and a gross child rights violation compelling an urgent safeguarding and healthcare response.

Child trafficking, perhaps the most recognised form of child modern slavery is legally defined in the UK as the ‘recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt’ of a child (<18 years of age) for the purpose of exploitation. 3 Trafficking typically involves the deliberate relocation (once or multiple times) of a victim locally, nationally or internationally resulting in isolation, victim disorientation and dependence. For children exploited for sex, trafficking and generic child sexual exploitation (CSE) terminology may be inconsistently applied. 4 Children may be trafficked or enslaved for a range of purposes (detailed in table 1 ) that frequently overlap or occur on a continuum within and beyond childhood. In all nations, local regions also have trafficking and exploitation purposes unique or nuanced to local demand (such as child soldiers, 5 child camel jockeys, 6 fishing, 7 witchcraft practices, 8 forced surrogacy 9 and illegal adoption for exploitation) with directly associated health impacts.

Forms of modern slavery of children and adolescents with examples (global, non-exhaustive) 1 58

*In the UK, children may work limited hours in certain jobs from 13 years old, and full time from 16 years. The exception is children with performance licenses (acting, modelling etc). 59

Children of any nationality, legal status, gender and age can be at risk of trafficking. Risks increase when social protective networks are fractured secondary to intrafamilial or societal tensions, rejection of a child and aspects of their identity (including gender, sexuality, religion or disability), war or armed conflict, persecution, breakdown of the rule of law, climate emergencies and ensuing migration journeys. 10 Trafficking adds complexity to international child, refugee and asylee care and the safeguarding of children accused of criminal activity. Vulnerable families may also be trafficked as a unit, requiring consideration of parental context when child abuse concerns are raised. 11

Global estimates of slavery and trafficking victim numbers are higher now than at any prior point in human history, with over 40 million individuals directly impacted, 1 in 4 of whom are children. Millions more are affected indirectly, including children of a trafficked parent. 12

Accurate child trafficking statistics are notoriously difficult to ascertain, and official figures may be misrepresentative of victim numbers, diversity and lived experience of slavery. Data collection challenges are numerous and include the complex, covert, hostile and highly lucrative nature of the crime (second only to the illegal drugs trade), with significant imbalances of power, wealth and impunity perpetuating it. Modern slavery practices function to suppress help-seeking behaviour through psychological and physical means, distancing victims from recognition, support and research. 13 Accurate victim identification by authorities may also be hindered by distracting stereotypes of victim vulnerability and presentation. Discriminatory practices (particularly where victim identification and immigration status are interlinked) have also been raised as concerns within government victim-identification and support mechanisms. 14 Additionally, disparities in trafficking definition use, inconsistencies in data collection methodologies, recording and analysis hamper precise measurement. 15 16

In the UK, recent Home Office National Referral Mechanism statistics continue to demonstrate a rising trend in referrals of potential victims. Between 1 July and 30 September 2019, 2808 potential victims were referred of whom 40% claimed exploitation as a minor. These figures represent a 61% increase in overall victim referrals from the same quarter in 2018. Ninety-one nationalities of origin were represented, with British nationals denoting 26% of potential victims. Labour exploitation (which includes criminal exploitation) is the dominant detected exploitation format for both adults and children. 17

Children with increased vulnerability to modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT), victims (in active exploitation) and survivors (post-MSHT exploitation) are attending healthcare settings, offering critical windows of opportunity for safeguarding and intervention in the trajectory of potential severe health harm. 18 19 Victimised children may present with their traffickers or associates (who may be family members) when a health need impacts their ability to work or earn. 20 Other children may seek support unaccompanied, in crisis, in conjunction with police, emergency service or immigration authority action. The status of the child as a trafficked person may be known at the time of presentation for healthcare or may be identified at some point in generic health services, mental health and addiction support, sexual health, maternity or foster care. Modern slavery also has significant intersectionality with other forms of community, familial and interpersonal violence. Health and social care professionals should consider exploitation in such presentations, as the concept and articulation of slavery or trafficking is frequently not used or understood by victims.

Health and social care staff should recognise that trafficked children may not hold any automatic trust of staff or healthcare systems. International victims particularly may have little experience with doctors, dentists or other staff and may poorly understand their roles, trustworthiness or UK patient-engagement styles. Children may have previously experienced exploitation or been disbelieved by other adults who held a position of trust or authority, including those in health, social care, immigration or other systems designed to protect. 21

While recognition and care of potential child victims can be challenging, health professionals from all disciplines are encouraged to build on their pre-existing safeguarding, healthcare and interpersonal skills to become astute to potential markers of slavery, exploitative abuse and trauma. Children are unable to consent to exploitation 22 and a child’s apparent complicity or criminal intent, normalisation of their abusive situation or emotional attachment to perpetrators should be viewed through a trauma-informed, non-judgemental lens.

Vulnerabilities rooted in pretrafficking experiences

Research regarding pre-trafficking vulnerabilities remains very limited. Simplified push and pull factor models of understanding why certain children are trafficked may mask complex and fluid interactions of cultural, societal, familial, economic and intrinsic vulnerabilities. However, due to the significant intersectionality between trafficking and more researched fields of abuse and trauma such as domestic violence, CSE, children in state care and refugee health, the consideration of trafficking risks can be cautiously expanded. Given the diverse origin countries of trafficked children in the UK, this article takes a global lens on health risks and recognises that trafficking experiences must be considered in the context of the whole life course of the child. Equally, while this article focusses on vulnerabilities pertaining to the child, no blame is placed on the victim and the location of the child in a much wider system of inadequate protection is recognised. 21

Many children who are subjected to slavery have experienced family situations of economic stress. 23 While it is important not to assume economic stress leads to a negative childhood, it can be associated with detrimental social, health and developmental circumstances beginning in the preconception environment, through in utero growth, infancy and childhood. 24 Challenges may include lack of antenatal care, low birth weight, lack of medical and preventative healthcare (including vaccinations), food insecurity, poor nutrition and suboptimal housing environments (ie, exposure to waste, hazardous chemicals and reduced air quality). Children may have difficulties accessing education and engaging in learning due to fatigue, reduced concentration, stress and behavioural expressions of unmet need. Illiteracy, innumeracy and fewer years of school attendance heighten trafficking vulnerability. 25 Severe carer stress and generational poverty factors may also impact parenting ability and availability, health, life choices, expectations and opportunities. 24

Deeply embedded issues of stigmatisation, honour, shame and survival threat can compound situations of poverty leading to complex views on the value and expectations of male and female children, personal sacrifice and the acceptability of risking the well-being of a child (or a child risking their own well-being) in the pursuit of employment, money, it's culturally associated values and survival. 26 Traffickers frequently exploit those in dire circumstances by offering hope of work, finance, food, shelter, love, personal independence, education, opportunity and honour to those who see no other option and to whom a fragment of hope is irresistible. With a double effect, when the victim realises their abusive trap they may feel further shame and responsibility for their situation, compounding the challenges of seeking help. For international victims whose family are engaged in the trafficking scenario (wittingly or unwittingly), traffickers may have also extracted relatively large sums of money, touted to be for visas, flights or documents and be demanding a large payment of high-interest debt for the arrangement of the child’s ‘new job’. Families may have taken bank loans or loan shark finances to facilitate this and the victim will be aware that the family will be crippled by debt or assaulted should money not be provided. 27 In many countries, such trafficking and exploitation of the poor is further compounded by police and justice system corruption and perpetrator impunity. 28 In contrast with many media portrayals of child trafficking, the kidnapping or abduction of children for the purpose of exploitation is significantly less common, although these methods may peak in certain circumstances, such as forced recruitment of child soldiers by rebel groups. 29

Children who have experienced child abuse, forms of violence, familial dysfunction, relational loss and removal into foster care represent a disproportionate percentage of trafficked children. 30 Children in these circumstances have often been exposed to significant relational trauma leading to complex attachment difficulties and a sense of worthlessness and shame. 31 Additionally, there is a higher prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and in utero substance exposure in this population. 32 All of this early adversity may contribute to developmental problems, educational and relational difficulties, decreased danger awareness and increased vulnerability to manipulation. 33

Grooming for exploitation

Traffickers are able to observe the vulnerable child directly, or online, and apply grooming techniques to gain trust. Such tactics often appear to address the unmet needs of a child—praise, flattery, value and worth, the promise of romance, love, adventure and a good future, provision of material goods and gifts that may secondarily enhance status and the pride of feeling ‘hand-picked’ and accepted in an aspired-to peer group. 34 Tactics also deliberately seek to isolate the child from existing carers, friends, support networks and to vilify police or other potentially helpful authorities.

Traffickers may use deception and manipulation to build complex psychological scaffoldings around a child for a short period of time before beginning insidious psychological abuse (may include spiritual abuse), blackmail, overt abuse, violence and exploitation which may continue to be layered with expressions of love, value or sole provision for basic human needs. In doing so, powerful survival response trauma-bonds are created between victim and trafficker that may negate the need for physical restraint. 35 Trafficking should also be considered in the context of gang activity, violence and the illegal drugs trade. 36 Trafficking can also be a significant component of radicalisation practices. 37

Unclear status: victim, offender or both?

Determining the boundary between the child as ‘crime victim’ and the child as ‘crime perpetrator’ can present an incredibly complex challenge at multiple levels. Key examples include the ongoing criminalisation of ‘child prostitutes’ (including in the USA 38 ) and children within the illegal drugs trade. While a detailed discussion of this topic is outside the margins of this review, it is pertinent to recognise the significant level to which child victimhood and criminality (perceived or legally evidenced) is bound to our differing global and individual sociologies of childhood, expectations of children and conceptualisations around ‘childhood innocence’, ‘good children’, ‘bad children’ and ‘bad families’. Child criminalisation can be painfully and tortuously tied to attitudes (overt or surreptitious) of racism, xenophobia, negative stereotyping and scapegoating of people groups from individual to state level. As health professionals of all disciplines, it is vital to prioritise and advocate for the health and well-being of children across all legal categories and processes. Children in the criminal justice system have often faced significant earlier life challenges and are especially likely to feel unsafe, with survival response behaviours and stress more readily triggered and potentially misunderstood. 39 Attuned health professionals can play a significant role in justice and rehabilitation.

Self-identification as a victim and acceptance of help

When a potentially victimised child is detected, they may also struggle to identify as trafficked even when terminology is explained. Reasons may include a lack of insight into their exploitation; for example, a young person may be groomed to believe that selling sexual acts and giving money to their ‘boyfriend’ is acceptable in exchange for a relationship, or that missing school to earn fast money selling drugs is the glamourous lifestyle they desire. 40 Victims may also be unable or embarrassed to relate to the classic media portrayals of a victim (typically a young, helpless, ‘innocent-looking’ female being trafficked for sex). Immigration complications and a sense of personal blame regarding their situation may also significantly impact engagement with safe adults. 21

Staff need to actively build trust with potential victims, exploring how their unique world view and experience may influence their health presentation and decisions. For example, a victim from a culture where a child is perceived to dishonour their parents by not providing for them financially, or accepting comfort while their family suffer, may determine to remain with traffickers in the hope of sending money home. A child who views the involvement of their parent(s) or romantic partner in the trafficking process as a kind action to help them escape poverty may be very distressed by the portrayal of these individuals as abuse perpetrators and criminals, particularly if the child believes they did not know the trafficking realities that lay ahead, or they do not perceive their situation as abusive. 41 Issues of honour and shame can be particularly connected to sexual abuse. For families or communities where extramarital or same-sex sexual activity is considered taboo (regardless of abusive context), the victim/survivor may be deemed punishable by ostracisation, abandonment, violence, denial of future marriage or even death. 42 Such complexities can lead to frustration or misunderstandings if children respond in unexpected ways to actions designed to help them. High numbers (27%) of potential trafficking victims go missing from care, particularly in the first 48 hours, many of whom are never found. 43 It is important to recognise that status as a victim or survivor of trafficking does not negate a child having capacity, opinions and agency. Children should be involved in decisions regarding their care whenever possible. Health disciplines and social care need to continue working together to provide strategic, individualised safeguarding responses.

Avoidance of stereotyping

Stereotyping of trafficking practices, victim and perpetrator demographics, presentation and characteristics have been profoundly harmful to victims. It is important that professionals are not blinkered by fixed mindsets or emotive ideas of the ‘perfect victim’ or the ‘perfect rescue’. The background, presentation and needs of trafficked children are diverse. Abuse risks span the socioeconomic gradient and victims may be from affluent families, attending fee paying schools and recruited for their non-stereotypical appearance. 44 Children from loving, nurturing families can also be exploited, with perpetrators abusing the inherent vulnerability of the developing child and immature brain. Safeguarding and the development of patient trust should be promoted in all child health encounters.

Acting on concerns

All children suspected of being trafficked or subjected to modern slavery or abuse (including children of potentially trafficked or exploited parents) must be managed in line with your organisation’s child safeguarding policy. Details of additional support through the Modern Slavery Helpline (UK only) are available in box 1 .

Safeguarding children at risk

All patients suspected to be at risk of trafficking, modern slavery or abuse must be managed in line with your organisation’s child safeguarding policy.

For further advice please contact the Modern Slavery Helpline (UK only):

UK MODERN SLAVERY HELPLINE: 08000 121 700

https://www.modernslaveryhelpline.org/

Health risks associated with child trafficking

Trafficked children may be deprived of the basic provisions for healthy growth and development including adequate restorative sleep, exercise, balanced nutrition, clean water, clean air, appropriate clothing, shoes, basic hygiene, sanitary products, shelter, safety and crucially, healthy relational nurture. 45 46 Living conditions may be highly inappropriate with victims in prolonged physical and mental distress secondary to hunger, thirst, exhaustion, extremes of temperature and an atmosphere of unpredictable violence. Children will respond to such atmospheres in order to survive but will be unable to thrive.

Physical health

Health presentations will vary dependent on individual circumstances of abuse including whether the child remains in their family home, country of origin/prior residence, journey risks, chronological and developmental age, abuse formats, level of psychological trauma and survival responses. The child may have developed mechanisms to mask distress or disengage, trained not to draw attention to their needs. 47 Astute healthcare providers may also recognise multiple children presenting with similar patterns of health need, skin markings or stories suggestive of local trafficking activity. Health presentations alone are not diagnostic of trafficking and may have origins unrelated to trafficking or abuse.

Box 2 demonstrates key general indicators of potential MSHT. Table 2 highlights potential MSHT health presentations by body system. Injuries are considered in table 5. All tables are designed to complement standard history taking, physical examination and consideration of health presentations common to all children.

Potential indicators of child modern slavery and human trafficking—general (non-exhaustive) 40 45 60–62

• Inappropriately dressed for age, time of day or weather. Unkempt appearance or presence of unusually expensive items.
• Unusual behaviour including marked wariness, agitation, aggression, belligerence, sexualised manner, fear, timidity or submission.
• May be with an accompanying person who appears controlling or who insists on speaking for the child. Accompanying individual may show particularly ‘charming’ behaviour to staff or appear very attentive to child.
• Healthcare attendance in association with police or social services response to social concern or criminal activity.
• Healthcare attendance related to alcohol, illegal substance or inappropriate medication use.
• Delayed presentation with advanced or severely complicated health needs that would have been readily resolved as minor issues if help provided at an early stage.
• Child appearing unusually tired, sallow or sleep deprived.
• Child homeless or unsure of home address, current location or contact numbers of responsible adults.
• Not registered with general practitioner or school.
• Child has no or limited local language skills.
• Child asking for help and safety (verbally or non-verbally).
• Carer requesting help due to child’s behaviour deterioration, missing episodes, drug use.

Example potential indicators of child MSHT—body systems (non-exhaustive)

MSHT, modern slavery and human trafficking.

Skin, Dental & Sensory Systems

Depending on the child’s lived experiences of MSHT, reflections of chronic or underlying malnourishment and maltreatment may be evidenced on thorough examination of the child—the detection of one concerning feature prompting further assessment. The tattooing of children and women has been particularly prevalent within sexual exploitation. Table 3 highlights potential indicators of MSHT in the skin, dental and sensory systems.

Example potential indicators of MSHT—skin, dental and sensory systems (non-exhaustive) 45 65 70–72

Sexual & Reproductive Health

The sexual abuse of children of all genders is known to occur within the settings of MSHT, when children are trafficked for the core purpose of sexual exploitation and alongside all other MSHT formats. Child sexual abuse within MSHT may be violent, repetitive and without provision of contraception, disease protection or treatment. Sexual abuse carries profound risks to the mental, physical, emotional, behavioural and developmental health of children which may be lifelong ( table 4 ).

Example potential indicators of MSHT—sexual and reproductive health systems (non-exhaustive) 45 68

Violence, Torture & Degradation

Children may have experienced violence on a wide spectrum of severity and frequency. Violence may be at the hands of sex buyers, work managers, gang members, traffickers, carers or others. Violence which may amount to state or non-state torture may also be perpetrated against children. 48

Violence and degradation are used to subjugate victims and instil a sense of hopelessness, helplessness and fear. In complex cases (including ritual abuse), severe violence may be used to deliberately develop dissociative identity disorders. 49 Recognised severe abuse methods include the holding of children in dark, small cages to ‘break their will’ prior to sexual exploitation, 50 chaining and beating of children, painful stress positions and sexual torture. In cases where trafficking victim’s physical appearance is important, torture forms that leave minimal physical markings may be employed. All forms of severe abuse and torture have profound psychological, developmental and health impacts on victims and specialist advice should be sought. 48 table 5 highlights potential physical injury indicators of MSHT.

Example potential indicators of MSHT—physical injury and torture (non-exhaustive)

Addiction, Alcohol Dependency & Substance Misuse

Victims may have struggled with addiction prior to trafficking, begun using substances as a coping mechanism or have been forced to use alcohol or substances by traffickers to increase dependency and compliance. 51 Children are exposed to significant physical, mental and developmental harm through substance abuse, improper use of prescription and contraceptive drugs, psychoactive herbal or traditional substances and forced internal carriage of illegal drugs (as indicated in tables 3–5 ). 52 Children may present intoxicated, high, withdrawing or in poisoning or overdose states.

Psychological Violence, Trauma & Mental Health

The negative health impact of severe psychological violence within the trafficking process and across the life course of a victimised child must not be underestimated. Children’s brains, even in utero, adapt to an environment of danger around them, enhancing the protective pathways of the brain and body through release of stress hormones, enabling the ‘fight, flight, freeze or submit’ physiological responses. For children experiencing severe, prolonged and compounded forms of violence (particularly in the absence of restorative relational support) the child’s neurological pathways appropriately remain primed for danger and self-preservation. The child’s brain development moulds to the environment of threat, prioritising survival over all other higher functions, damaging learning, executive function, relational and communication skills. 53

Psychological violence is experienced and expressed in the physical body. The Adverse Childhood Experiences studies have evidenced clear links between childhood abuse and poor adult physical, mental and relational health. Chronic stress hormone pathway dysregulation leads to cellular damage and epigenetic adaptations, increasing the relative risk of a host of diseases including cancer, respiratory disease, liver, cardiac and immune system dysfunction. 54 Risks are compounded by increased neurological drive for substances or activities that stimulate the reward and pleasure region of the brain including alcohol, drug, carbohydrate or behavioural addictions with their associated health harms. Psychological responses to belittlement, degradation, loss of agency and rejection include powerful, consuming feelings of shame, guilt and worthlessness. Such responses hold some protective value in keeping the victim withdrawn, hidden, compliant and dependent yet are catastrophic for healthy development and psychological internal working models from which to understand the world, others, relationships and self. 53 Victims may experience significant fear and guilt regarding the perceived placing of family members or friends in danger, with traffickers frequently using the threat or practice of violence against a victim’s loved ones, particularly their children, to enforce control. 55

Mental health disorders and trauma symptoms are frequently detected in child trafficking survivors and include post-traumatic stress disorder (often complex), severe affective disorders (including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder), severe stress and adjustment disorders. 40 Symptoms may be highly intrusive and be associated with other health risks including sleep disorders, nightmares, flashbacks, collapse, trauma-memory-associated body pain (with or without conscious memory of abuse), dissociation, palpitations and breathing difficulties ( table 6 ).

Potential indicators of child MSHT—mental health (non-exhaustive) 40 70 77

Supporting parenting & moving forward with experiences of MSHT

The physical, psychological and mental health consequences of child trafficking form a challenging landscape for healthcare providers, potentially leading to long-term impacts on healthy development. A small but growing body of survivor stories and research is evidencing the impact of childhood trauma on parenting. While parental mental ill health or trauma survivorship should never be assumed to lead to detrimental parenting, there is the potential for impact on the next generation when parents remain with high distress, unmet needs and inadequate professional encouragement and support. 56 Investment in the health, well-being and trauma recovery (not only symptom management) of trafficked children and parents is paramount.

Child trafficking victims demonstrate remarkable strength, tenacity, endurance and survivorship during their exploitation, the developmental trajectories of their brain responding to their environment. To recover, heal and move forward from abuse, children must first be supported into circumstances of physical, psychological and genuine relational safety, love and acceptance. From a basis of felt security, the function of physiological stress pathways can be stabilised and the child (or then adult) can access higher thought functions and work therapeutically to address, manage and heal deep psychological responses to trauma. 57 Some survivors demonstrate remarkable post-traumatic growth and go on to thrive, others live with severely limiting psychological and health sequelae.

Child trafficking is an aggressive form of violence against children and a growing global public health problem. Healthcare providers play a crucial role in combating modern slavery and trafficking by advocating for healthy, nurturing childhoods (vulnerability reduction), recognition of child victims when they present to healthcare and the provision of trauma-informed, survivor-informed, timely healthcare and safeguarding responses. The health impacts of child modern slavery and trafficking are numerous and compounding, particularly severe due to the impact of psychological and physical violence on the developing brain and body. There is a critical need for further education, advocacy, research and health expertise regarding child pretrafficking vulnerabilities, victim recognition, effective interventions and recovery pathways. The pathways from early childhood to perpetration of trafficking and exploitation also require urgent research.

Supplementary Material

Acknowledgments.

The author wishes to thank Jordan Greenbaum and Sarah Boutros for their support in manuscript development.

Twitter: @DrLauraCN

Funding: This study was funded by Economic and Social Research Council 1+3 PhD Studentship.

Competing interests: LCNW is the Child and Family Modern Slavery Lead for VITA, an organisation seeking to advance the public health response to modern slavery.

Patient consent for publication: Not required.

Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Data availability statement: No data are available.

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Financial Inclusion to Protect Vulnerable Populations from Modern Slavery: A Compilation of Practices

Current practices addressing how financial inclusion can protect vulnerable populations from modern slavery.

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Financial inclusion – access to financial products and services – can help protect vulnerable people exposed to the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking, including survivors, displaced people, and refugees.

This Thematic Review explores current practices addressing the interconnections between financial inclusion and protecting vulnerable populations from modern slavery, adding momentum to calls for the financial sector to fully play its role in eradicating modern slavery by 2030. 

The Review provides several key recommendations for improving financial inclusion policy and practices to reduce modern slavery:

• The design of transformative and inclusive financial services should be centred on the principles of accessibility, affordability, and appropriateness, coupled with consumer safety. 
• Policy and practices to increase financial inclusion for the most vulnerable, including those recovering from exploitation, need to consider the intersectional needs of financially excluded populations.
• Financial education and financial literacy should supplement actions to increase financial access and usage.
• Financial inclusion policy and practice should consider the significant prospect of inclusive finance for helping vulnerable populations build their resilience to externalities such as climate change, conflict, and economic shocks. 
• Financial access is not a panacea for reducing financial vulnerabilities to modern slavery – reducing poverty and addressing other structural vulnerabilities is fundamental.

Access "Financial Inclusion to Protect Vulnerable Populations from Modern Slavery: A Compilation of Practices" here .

Suggested citation: Heywood Loria-Mae, Vaughn Leona . Financial Inclusion to Protect Vulnerable Populations from Modern Slavery: A Compilation of Practices : UNU-CPR, 2024.

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Modern Slavery: Definition and Types Essay

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Introduction

Definition and process, sex trafficking, forced labour, works cited.

Despite most countries in the world officially historically abolishing slavery and it is a universally condemned practice protected by law, in 2016, there were an estimated 40.3 million slaves around the world, with numbers continuing to rise (“Modern Slavery and Exploitation”). Modern slavery commonly takes on different forms than most people understand in historical context. It primarily focuses on forced and exploitative labour, particularly of vulnerable groups.

Private labour such as farming, construction, and domestic work are among common economic sectors involved in addition to well-known exploitation for groups such as sex workers or child labour. Modern slavery is a predatory practice that is being utilized by businesses and organizations, some seemingly legitimate, worldwide through the exploitative and forced labour of victims and needs to be addressed at the policy and law enforcement levels.

Modern slavery directly refers to the institutional slavery that occurs in present-day society through forms of forced labour via coercion, the threat of violence, or debt bondage. Modern slavery is often synonymous with human trafficking in the discourse on the topic. Although trafficking implies transportation of humans, the legal definition also encompasses acts of recruitment, harbouring, manipulating, and providing persons to be used in forced labour.

These individuals are considered victims regardless if they were borne into servitude, exploited in their hometowns or transported. Modern slavery takes advantage of vulnerable populations such as women and children, those experiencing poverty, and those who lack social support such as runaways, homeless, persecuted minorities (“What is Modern Slavery”). The economy of slavery in the modern day is devastating. While historically, slaves were a costly investment, and there were detailed records. In modern-day, there are no official records, making the extent of the issue unknown, and most slaves cost less than $100, having short spans of forced labour, but also being abused and experiencing traumatic consequences thereafter (Bales 13).

Often individuals are promised opportunities for a better life or income (as commonly practised with illegal migrants), and when they arrive, whether domestically or across national borders, they find that promised opportunities or conditions do not exist.

However, traffickers use manipulative methods such as keeping essential documents or forcing individuals into servitude over “debt” that has been acquired for the procurement of the promised job or transportation. Victims are particularly vulnerable as migrants where they lack the knowledge, language, and protection while being coerced (“What is Human Trafficking?”). However, it is erroneous to assume that victims only come from poor regions as countries such as the UK have one of the highest rates of origin for human trafficking victims (“2019 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery”).

Human trafficking of primarily women and young girls for the purposes of sex work is the most prevalent and well-known forms of modern slavery. Sex trafficking is defined when an individual engages in a commercial sex act (i.e. prostitution) due to threats or application of force, coercion, or fraud. Similar to the process described above, women and sometimes children are forced into paying off an unlawful “debt” that is incurred through transportation or recruitment. For adults, they are compelled into prostitution through coercion. Even if initially it is a consensual act, the person is held in service through psychological manipulation.

Meanwhile, children are often exploited as well through patronization or solicitation, taking advantage of their naivete, but using force and coercion as well (Kara 3). While some countries do allow legal prostitution for adults, it is universally illegal to use children in commercial sex work. It is estimated that 4.8 million people are victims of human trafficking for sex purposes, with 99% being female. Asia is the primary region for such activities (70%), followed by Europe and Central Asia at 14% (“Global Estimates of Modern Slavery”). Victims are exploited for an average of two years before being freed or escaping.

Forced labour is the performance of labour, often hard manual work, that is done involuntarily through coercion or under the menace of penalty with insignificant to none monetary compensation. Similar to sex trafficking, these individuals are forced through intimidation or means of manipulated debt, or retention of identity papers or denunciation to immigration authorities. Forced labour can be imposed by private employers as well as state enterprises, with 16 million people in the private economy and 4.1 million by the state. In forced labour, the female-male ratio is more equal with 57.6% female and 42.4% male. Breakdown by industry and types of work is: 24% domestic work, 18% construction, 15% manufacturing, and 11% in fishing and agriculture for the private economy (“Global Estimates of Modern Slavery”).

State-imposed forced labour is commonly overlooked as modern slavery but includes the use of labour by state authorities to participate in economic development projects, mandatory military conscripts performing non-military nature service, communal services, and prisoners working against their will. State forced labour is practised in many authoritarian nature countries such as China and North Korea and is shrouded by the state apparatus as legitimate despite being in principle forced slavery.

It is evident that modern slavery is prevalent and continues to grow in magnitude despite recognition and efforts by global institutions such as the UN-backed International Labour Organization. The issue is complex and closely tied to both domestic issues (poverty) and politics (immigration). To stop modern slavery will require a multifaceted approach consisting of economic and social protections, cultural understanding and recognition, and legal policy initiatives. It is necessary to recognize and extend protections and rights into the informal economy where modern slavery is prevalent. Given the cross-border dimensions of contemporary slavery, international cooperation is vital to success in its prevention.

“2019 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery.” HM Government , 2019. Web.

Bales, Kevin. Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves. University of California Press, 2007.

“ Global Estimates of Modern Slavery .” International Labour Organization , 2017. Web.

Kara, Siddharth. Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. Columbia University Press, 2009.

“Modern Slavery and Exploitation.” Joint Public Issues Team . Web.

“ What is Human Trafficking. ” Anti-slavery . Web.

“What is Modern Slavery.” US Department of State . Web.

• Sex Trafficking: Why Do We Have to Address It?
• Human Trafficking Is a Global Affair
• Human Trafficking in the United States: A Modern Day Slavery
• Effects of Human Trafficking in Teenagers: The Present-Day Situation
• Slave Voyages: Patterns and Past Events
• African Americans and Development of Pidgin English
• Slavery in "Disposable People" Book by Kevin Bales
• How to Win a Compromise: American North Experience
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, February 10). Modern Slavery: Definition and Types. https://ivypanda.com/essays/modern-slavery-definition-and-types/

"Modern Slavery: Definition and Types." IvyPanda , 10 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/modern-slavery-definition-and-types/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Modern Slavery: Definition and Types'. 10 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Modern Slavery: Definition and Types." February 10, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/modern-slavery-definition-and-types/.

1. IvyPanda . "Modern Slavery: Definition and Types." February 10, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/modern-slavery-definition-and-types/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Modern Slavery: Definition and Types." February 10, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/modern-slavery-definition-and-types/.