International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

Slavery is a horror from the history books – and a relentless contemporary crisis. On the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, we remember past victims, especially the more than 15 million men, women and children across Africa who were seized, shackled and sold into bondage an ocean away – or perished en route. We recall the painful scars their enslavement left on our societies, including structural inequalities and systemic injustices that have persisted for generations. We rally to protect the estimated 50 million people now trapped in contemporary forms of slavery around the world, many of them women and children. And we reiterate our appeal to prevent human rights violations like forced labour and forced marriage from claiming more victims. Contemporary forms of slavery are perpetuated by crime rings that prey on people struggling to cope with extreme poverty, discrimination or environmental degradation – and by traffickers who exploit people fleeing armed conflict or m...

  The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 50 million people worldwide live in modern slavery – 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage . Children make up 12% of those in forced labour and more than half of them are in commercial sexual exploitation . 181 of the 187 ILO members have ratified the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 which aims to Suppress forced labour . In 2014, a legally binding Protocol was adopted to strengthen global efforts to eliminate forced labour

At its 2023 session (November–December), the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) adopted a general observation on the application of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) . The text of this observation is reproduced in this brochure . As part of the regular supervisory system on the application of ILO international labour standards, the CEACR is an independent body whose function is to provide an impartial and technical assessment of the application of these standards by ILO Member States. The CEACR is composed of 20 experts, eminent jurists from different geographical regions, legal systems and cultures. In addition to the comments directly addressed to Governments, the CEACR may decide to publish the so-called "general observations” on certain issues concerning the application of a Convention. General observation on the application of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)  The Abolition of F...

The annual global profit generated from forced labour is estimated at US$236 billion. This amount represents wages effectively stolen from workers, particularly affecting those already struggling to support their families. For migrant workers, it means less money being sent back home. Additionally, governments lose tax revenue due to the illegal nature of these profits, which can also foster further exploitation, empower criminal networks, and undermine the rule of law. The Profits and Poverty report aims to shed light on these illegal gains . It reveals that the profits are alarmingly high and have surged over the past decade, driven by an increase in forced labour and higher profits per victim. According to the ILO, there were 27.6 million people in forced labour worldwide in 2021. From 2016 to 2021, the number increased by 2.7 million, mostly due to privately imposed forced labour. No region is exempt from the problem, with Asia and the Pacific having the highest number (15.1 m...

The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery , December 2nd , marks the date of the adoption, by the United Nations 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). The focus of this day is on eradicating contemporary forms of slavery , such as trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation , the worst forms of child labour , forced marriage , and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.