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...
