International Day for the  Abolition of Slavery by Anti-Slavery International 1:18pm 2nd Dec, 2003   International Day for the  Abolition of 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.    On 2 December, the world marks United Nations International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. But slavery continues, despite being against the law. Millions of women, children and men around the world are living in slavery today.    Slavery takes many forms. It is bonded labour, forced labour, early and forced marriage, hazardous child labour, the commercial sexual exploitation of children and human trafficking.    Human trafficking is the fastest growing form of slavery. A US Government report estimates at least 800,000-900,000 people are trafficked across borders each year; this does not include people trafficked within a country. Traffickers use violence, coercion and deception to force people into a range of exploitative work. Boys as young as four are trafficked to the United Arab Emirates as camel jockeys, men into forced labour in Brazil and women and girls, like Adriana, are trafficked into prostitution in Europe:    When Adriana was 15 her father forced her to marry Driton. She believed the marriage was real but Driton was a trafficker and her father had sold her for over US$16,000. Driton took her from Albania to Paris via Athens and through threats and beatings forced her into prostitution. Eventually, she escaped, but was caught by French police and returned to Albania.    Trafficking, like all forms of slavery, is illegal under international law, yet in many countries laws are not implemented and victims of trafficking are treated as criminals.    "Governments must act against slavery. They need to address the conditions that lead to this abuse, and prosecute those who profit from slavery. The failure to implement laws and reluctance to help those most vulnerable keep the system of slavery alive," Mary Cunneen Director of Anti-Slavery International says.    Slaves are forced to work through the use or threat of violence. They are owned or controlled by an 'employer' through mental or physical threat, dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as property. They are physically constrained or have restrictions placed on their freedom of movement.    Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their 'employers'.    Slavery exists today despite the fact that it is banned in most of the countries where it is practised. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Women from eastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children are trafficked between West African countries and men are forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agricultural estates. Contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race.    Bonded labour affects at least 20 million people around the world. People become bonded labourers by taking or being tricked into taking a loan for as little as the cost of medicine for a sick child. To repay the debt, they are forced to work long hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year. They receive basic food and shelter as 'payment' for their work, but may never pay off the loan, which can be passed down through several generations.    Forced labour affects people who are illegally recruited by governments, political parties or private individuals, and forced to work - usually under threat of violence or other penalties.    Worst forms of child labour refers to children who work in exploitative or dangerous conditions. Tens of millions of children around the world work full time, depriving them of the education and recreation crucial to their personal and social development.    Children are exploited for their commercial value through prostitution, trafficking and pornography. They are often kidnapped, bought, or forced to enter the sex market. Trafficking involves the transport and/or trade of humans, usually women or children, for economic gain using force or deception. Often migrant women are tricked and forced into domestic work or prostitution.    Early and forced marriage affects women and girls who are married without choice and are forced into lives of servitude often accompanied by physical violence. Traditional or 'chattel' slavery involves the buying and selling of people. They are often abducted from their homes, inherited or given as gifts.    Source: Anti-Slavery International. http://www.antislavery.org    http://www.freetheslaves.net/    Following is the message of Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan on the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December:    Slavery has been outlawed by national legislation and prohibited by numerous international instruments.  Yet nearly every day, there are shocking reports of men, women and children who are exploited, denied their basic rights and their dignity and deprived of a better future, through both ancient and modern forms of slavery.    Slavery and trafficking, and related practices such as debt bondage, forced prostitution and forced labour, are violations of the most fundamental human rights:  the right to life; the right to dignity and security; the right to just and favourable conditions of work; the right to health; and the right to equality.  These are rights that we all possess -- irrespective of our sex, our nationality, our social status, our occupation or any other characteristic.    The United Nations, which is based on a reaffirmation of faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, has a special responsibility in the fight to eliminate all contemporary forms of slavery and all slavery-like practices.  To advance in this fight, we must ensure that root causes are addressed -– poverty, social exclusion, illiteracy, ignorance and discrimination in all its forms.    UN General Assembly President Julian Hunte of St. Lucia noted that "Fifty-five years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirmed that 'no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.'"    "How is it that at a time of astounding progress in science, technology and advanced global communication; at a time of increased awareness of, and insistence on, the importance of respect for human rights, some 27 million persons are enslaved or work as forced labourers?"
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