United Nations Radio

The United Nations expert on contemporary forms of slavery, Gulnara Shahinian, has called for effective action to combat slavery.

In a statement issued on the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, observed on 2 December, she says slavery is the reality of modern life.

Ms. Shahinian says that slavery affects rich and poor countries alike with more than 27 million men, women, boys and girls living in slavery or slavery-like conditions.

Slavery and slavery-like practices, she notes, go hand in hand with poverty, social exclusion, marginalization and discrimination, lack of access to education, weak enforcement of laws and corruption.

Ms Shahinian points out that whether it exists as part of a social, religious or economic system, slavery in all its forms flourishes as a result of demand.

Forced labourers include those who are kept in more traditional forms of forced labour such as debt bondage and sexual slavery.

Slavery-like practices occur in domestic work as well as in the construction, food and garment industries.

The UN expert on slavery warns that with the current economic downturn, economic exploitation by private agencies is likely to get worse with women and children suffering the most.

Diane Bailey, United Nations.

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