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The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2nd December, marks the day of the adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution 317(IV) of 2 December 1949).
After centuries of struggle, slavery was eventually declared illegal at the global level in 1948 under the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Despite this action, Slavery still exists in other forms referred to as “Modern slavery”. Modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriages, and human trafficking. Essentially, it refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception,
and/or abuse of power (ILO, 2016).
Modern slavery occurs in almost every country in the world, and cuts across ethnic, cultural and religious lines. More than half (52 per cent) of all forced labour and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle-income or high-income countries. (ILO, 2016).
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) latest estimate shows that forced labour and forced marriages have increased significantly in the last five years. 10 million more people were in modern slavery in 2021 compared to 2016 global estimates, bringing the total to 50 million worldwide. Women and children remain vulnerable. An estimated 50 million people are in modern slavery, including 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriages. Almost one in eight of all those in forced labour are children. More than half of these children are in commercial sexual exploitation (86 per cent) and are found in the private sector.
Almost four out of five of those in forced commercial sexual exploitation are women or girls (Source ILO, 2022). On this International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, we at Engage Now Africa call on non-governmental organizations and Government institutions particularly those in Africa to take immediate action to address contemporary forms of slavery through what we call the 4P’s:
Prevention: Develop and implement a capacity-building strategy that enhances awareness of issues of trafficking and addresses gaps in identifying people at risk.
Protection: Enhance capacities of social workers, and caregivers in transitional shelters and selected residential homes in the provision of comprehensive care to victims of trafficking.
Prosecution: Improve the Effectiveness of Prosecution Efforts for Trafficking and to Strengthen Legal and Regulatory Framework for Combating Human Trafficking.
We acknowledge that government institutions mandated by law and legislation have
done more and we hope they will receive more support from NGOs and media
institutions to combat human trafficking and its related issues for the coming years.
Partnership: Increase cooperation amongst International, national and regional actors in the fight against cross-border trafficking.
