Questions and Answers

The following questions and answers give a basic overview of the topic. Links are provided to articles with further information.

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Is slavery still an issue?

Slavery is a concern both for its historic impact and unfair treatment of people, and because some forms of slavery are still occurring today.

What is slavery in historic terms?

Slavery goes back to ancient times and has been (and continues to be) practised around the world. In Africa slavery has been practiced for thousands of years. Slavery in Arab countries existed since the early days of the Islamic Caliphate. Great civilisations such as Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Persia, and Ancient Rome made use of slaves. The Vikings raided the British Isles for slaves, and the Islamic World captured slaves from Medieval Europe. A large number of Christian slaves entered Islamic countries as a result of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars. In South Africa slaves came from the Dutch who brought their slaves from Asia. Slavery was a mainstay of the Brazilian colonial economy, and 37% of all African slaves (more than 3 million people) went to Brazil. In America slavery was officially sanctioned and laws such as the Virginia Slave Code of 1705 declared slaved to be property rather than people.

Wasn't slavery made illegal?

Some dates from around the world about the abolition of slavery. It should be noted that slavery itself however continues both legally and illegally in many places around the world.

In 1588 in Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered all slave trading to be abolished. In France slavery was abolished in February 1794, re-established by Napoleon in 1804, and then permanently abolished in 1814. In 1807 the United Kingdom made the slave trade illegal throughout the British Empire (but not slavery itself). Slavery was abolished in both Hindu and Muslim India by the Indian Slavery Act V. of 1843. The abolition of slavery was an official goal of the Union in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Romania abolition slavery in 1864, prior to this some of the Roma has been kept as slaves. Private slavery in China was officially abolished in 1910. Slavery in Morocco was outlawed in the 1930s. Slavery in Mauritania was criminalized as recently as August 2007.

The League of Nations (the precursor to the UN) passed the Slavery Convention in 1926 (a turning point in banning global slavery). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly, explicitly banned slavery in Article 4. The is far more to the issue than a question of reparations, particularly given the number of people still slaves today

Slavery today

The fastest growth in slavery today is in the area of people trafficking. Trafficking is a form of slavery because victims are force to work against their will, often due to threats, violence and coercion. Those who are trafficked have no freedom of movement. They have no say over the work they will do or the pay (if any) they will receive. Those trafficked include women, men and children. They end up working in areas such as prostitution, domestic slavery, agricultural work, food processing and construction.

How many slaves are there today?

According to Kevin Bales, there are between 27 million and 200 million people live in slavery. The number depends in part on strictness of the definition. The 27 million represented a strict definition and about 15 million to 20 million of those are bonded labor in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. (Kevin Bales, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy (revised ed), University of California Press, 2004. Pg 8)

Other articles on slavery

For related articles, visit the slavery section of Durban Review or select from the articles below. Other anti-racism themes, conference details, and news are available from the Durban Review home page.