1. SLAVERY - A SUMMARY!
1. What is slavery?
Slavery is when a person is forced to work against their will. They have no freedom to
leave their ‘job’ and receive little or no benefits [e.g money] from working. The common
image is of a black slave working in the fields of the USA in the nineteenth century, or the
men from Roman times forced to row ships or fight as gladiators. However, there are more
slaves today (from servants in private houses to children working in factories) than ever
before - a massive 27 million according to a recent report!
2. What is the ‘slave trade’?
This is literally the buying and selling of people. The
slaves have no choice in the matter and cannot refuse. They are often sold from one
country to another and often do not even know where they will end up. This is illegal in
every country in the world (and has been since 1930). Despite this, it is estimated that 4
million slaves are sold in the world every year. They come mainly form Southeast Asia,
Eastern Europe and South America (but may end up anywhere in the world - even in
countries like the UK and Japan). Another term for the slave trade is ‘Human Trafficking’.

2. 3. Types of slavery:
!
DEBT BONDAGE: Where
people get into debt [owe money] with gangsters. When they cannot afford to repay with
money, the criminals take a member of the family to work off the debt. The person taken
often has no idea about the situation and nothing to do with it. ‘Bondage’ is another
word meaning slavery.
b) MARRIAGE: In some countries women have very little say in their marriage.
However, when this is taken to extremes it can be thought of as slavery. This is the

3. case if the woman is forced into a marriage against her will or if they are inherited
[passed on to someone else] by another person after the death of their husband.
c) CHILD WORKERS: Not all child workers are slaves. However, if they are not allowed
to leave their job, get paid very little or nothing, treated violently or harshly, are put in
a position where if they leave they will not be able to survive etc., then this can be
considered slavery. Children are especially likely to be slaves in this case as they
cannot defend themselves as well as adults can, do not know their rights and do not
always know that it is wrong or unusual.
d) OTHER TYPES OF SLAVERY: Prisoners who are forced to work, serfdom [peasants
who are not allowed to leave their farm by the owner], Military Labour (people forced
to work on army bases).
4. Who is against slavery?
a) ORGANISATIONS: The United Nations, The
European Union, The African Union, The Organisation of American States, the majority
of countries in the world have laws against it, and most try to make sure they are
obeyed (though often not very successfully!)
b) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS: [contracts/agreements signed between countries
promising to stop slavery] Include The Slavery Convention and the Declaration of
Universal Human Rights (1948). The last is the most important and almost all of the
countries of the world have signed up to it.
TASK:
Read the above - Now find a picture that best represents the information in each of the
sections and paste them in. Now post it to your blog (slide share).