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Understanding Contemporary Forms of Slavery

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Chapter I An Introduction to Slavery

“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”
- Article 4, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

For most people slavery is an age old understanding of African people in shackles being captured and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, where they are sold at public auctions, however the reality is that slavery still thrives. Slavery was officially abolished during the age of enlightenment, further now it has been prohibited in all its forms in international human rights treaties, in international labour rights agreements and in almost every country worldwide. However it still persists as a grave violation of human rights in many countries.
Defining Slavery
It has been said that Slavery was the very first issue to draw international concern; however, there is no well-set definition of slavery which could lead us to say that over the years it has started to encompass various forms of exploitation in to the ambit of ‘slavery’.
With the legal definition of slavery marginalised, people looked elsewhere to define slavery. A survey of the academic literature on modern forms of slavery would show that, it has turned to the work of Kevin Bales (one of the world's leading experts on modern slavery) and his social understanding of what constitutes slavery. For more than fifteen years, Kevin Bales has attempted to build discussions on modern forms of slavery and propose an agenda for both research and effective intervention.
According to Kevin Bales, to be a slave is to be controlled by another person or persons so that ones will does not determine one’s life course, and the rewards for the work and sacrifices cannot be claimed. "People are enslaved by violence and held against their will for purposes of exploitation."
Various other International Treaties,

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