Introduction

To most of us it is common knowledge that slavery was formally abolished in most parts of the world during the 19^th Century. However, questions remain as to whether slavery has really been eradicated? Despite the various legislative and constitutional utterances from governments involved in the ‘Slave Trade’ during the 19^th Century and the passing of Article 4 of the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”, slavery or modern-day slavery, and modern slavery, as it is also known continues to exist in many forms in many countries in both developed and less-developed worlds.

In 2017, Public Health England (UK government) commissioned research into the impact of modern slavery on public health in the UK. The authors of the report, researchers from: the School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield; Public Health, England: and the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Sheffield, defined modern slavery as, “the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation.” (Such, E., Laurent, C., & Salway, S., 2017).

An infomercial  during the Nov, 2020 US Presidential Election results on CNN, discussed how enterprise software platforms can be used to trace and track forced Labour in business supply chains. Founder and CEO of FDRM, Justin Dillon explained how the software can be used in the fight against modern slavery and why, now more than ever, this is important. Dillon suggested, “Slavery in the 21st century, in a lot of ways, looks a lot like poverty but with the bottom dropped out of it. People being exploited  for work without pay. Being economically exploited and in many cases unable to walk away. So that can look like young children picking the sparkles that go into cosmetics. It can look like young fishermen out on boats for five years. It’s hidden in plain sight (Dillon, J., 2020).

Anti-Slavery International (ASI), established in 1839 and one of the oldest human rights organisation in the world, define modern slavery as, “the severe exploitation of other people for personal or commercial gain. Modern slavery is all around us, but often just out of sight. People can become entrapped making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories, or working in houses as cooks, cleaners or nannies” (ASI, 2021a). They go on to put flesh on the bones by describing the most common forms of modern slavery as,

• Human trafficking. The use of violence, threats or coercion to transport, recruit or harbour people in order to exploit them for purposes such as forced prostitution, labour, criminality, marriage or organ removal.
• Forced labour. Any work or services people are forced to do against their will under threat of punishment.
• Debt bondage/bonded labour. The world’s most widespread form of slavery. People trapped in poverty borrow money and are forced to work to pay off the debt, losing control over both their employment conditions and the debt.
• Descent–based slavery. Most traditional form, where people are treated as property, and their “slave” status was passed down the maternal line.
• Slavery of children. When a child is exploited for someone else’s gain. This can include child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage and child domestic slavery.
• Forced and early marriage. When someone is married against their will and cannot leave. Most child marriages can be considered slavery. (ASI, 2021a).

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) report ‘Global Estimates of Modern Slavery’, states that 24.9 million people globally work under forced labour, whilst 15.4 million people endure forced marriage. Of the forced marriages 88% were female and more than a third (37%) were under 18 years of age. Of these, 44% were under the age of 15. ILO argue that, “International cooperation in addressing modern slavery is essential given its global and cross-border dimensions” (2017). This is imperative if Target 8.7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals is to be achieved. Target 8.7 states, “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.” (UNODC, 2020).

The way in which ‘Community Stories of Modern-day Slavery in Migori County, Kenya’ can contribute to this SDG target is to ensure that the research we produce, in terms of the stories being told, relates to and raises awareness of modern-day slavery, in all its forms.