60 years ago, the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated that all human beings, without distinction of any kind, should be free from slavery. Yet there are still more than 12 million people living in slavery and every continent of the world is affected.

Anti-Slavery International believes it is long past the time when every human being – without exception – should be able to live a life free from slavery. This is why we are launching our new No Slavery, No Exceptions campaign. Sign the pledge now.

The campaign focuses attention on discrimination which is one of the root causes of slavery in the 21st century. In order to effectively tackle slavery we need to tackle the discrimination which underpins it.

The evidence of the link between discrimination and slavery can be clearly seen in much of the project work that Anti-Slavery International carries out. For example, the vast majority of bonded labourers in India, Nepal and Pakistan are dalits and those who are considered to be of "low" caste, indigenous people or those from other minority groups, including religious minorities.

Similarly, caste and ethnic status underpins the use of slavery in Niger, Mauritania and Mali, where tens of thousands of people are ascribed a slave status at birth and are then considered to be the property of their "masters" who force them to work without pay.

In the Republic of the Congo, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru it is indigenous groups who are mainly affected by forced labour. The most common mechanism of control is debt bondage.

Discrimination is a pivotal part of slavery practices because it allows people to disengage their humanity and justify or tolerate the violation of other people's human rights. Discrimination also limits certain groups' access to education, jobs and healthcare, leaving them socially excluded and vulnerable to slavery as they look for ways to provide for themselves and their families.

In the coming months we will be taking action on individual countries where discrimination plays a key role in trapping marginalised groups in slavery and urging governments' to address this alongside measures to prosecute offenders and rehabilitate victims. We will also be promoting the No Slavery, No Exceptions campaign pledge which calls on governments and relevant international organisations to commit to eradicating all forms of slavery by 2015 and to put in place and fully implement national and regional action plans to achieve this.

Anti-Slavery International needs your help in building support for the No Slavery, No Exceptions campaign. You can do this by
signing the pledge

For more information on the campaign and other ways that you can get involved please join the Campaigns Network  
 

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