Modern Slavery

These flashcards cover key terms and definitions related to the topic of modern slavery, including historical examples and contemporary issues.

Neoslavery

A modern form of slavery that may involve forced labor or human trafficking.

Mercedes Benz & BMW

Companies identified for using 46,000 forced laborers during Nazi Germany. Used many Jews and Catholics as slaves. If they didn’t work up to standards theyd’d be sent to concentration camps. Issued apologies and millions of dollars to the families of those unpaid slave workers.

Rape of Nanjing

A brutal episode during WWII in 1938 involving widespread atrocities committed by Japanese troops. Japanese soldiers invaded Nanjing(the Capital of China then) and slaughtered the Chinese troops and raped all the women and girls of China. Faced international backlash. Other embassies witnessed.

Comfort Women

Women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. Prostitutes who were being recruited. Filipino women, east asian women, etc. Recruiters would go to struggling communities and told the families that the girls can be nurses in Japanese army and earn money, but they lied and used the women to satisfy themselves. Women’s passports would be taken. They were locked up and enslaved.

Social Death(post comfort women)

They were unable to tell their parents the truth. They wouldn’t return home. When women became pregnant, they’d be forced into abortions. Natal Alienation(loss of ties of birth in both ascending and descending generations). This term describes the complete disconnection from family and community suffered by women coerced into sexual slavery, particularly during wartime. Japanese government never issued apologies.

Fair Trade labels

Labels that certify products as ethically sourced and ensure fair treatment of workers. Usually on cheaper goods. Diddy’s clothing line used forced labor. Sugarcane fields in DR used child labor. US officials decided they wont buy sugarcane anymore from DR until child labor was removed.

Human Trafficking

The illegal trade of humans for purposes such as forced labor or sexual exploitation.

Operation Underground Railroad

An organization led by Tim Ballard that aims to rescue children from human trafficking.

Penance

Self-imposed punishment for wrongdoing, often used in the context of moral responsibility.

Debt bondage

An exploitative practice where a person works to repay a debt, often with unfair conditions.

Child soldiers

Children who are recruited or used by armed forces for combat or support roles.

Forced marriage

A marriage in which one or both parties have not consented to the union.

Sexual exploitation

Sexual Exploitation is the act of taking advantage of someone for sexual purposes, typically through manipulation, coercion, abuse of power, or situations of vulnerability, often for personal gain or profit.

Forced labor

emerged after the formal abolition of chattel slavery, often characterized by legal loopholes, economic coercion, and systemic exploitation to bind individuals through debt, vagrancy laws, or other forms of indirect compulsion, rather than direct ownership.

Domestic servitude(forced to work as slaved)

form of exploitation where an individual is forced to work in a household under unfair or abusive conditions. It often involves long hours, little or no pay, and restrictions on freedom or movement.

Organ removal

Illegal removing of organs for profit usually on black market

forced begging

form of exploitation where individuals are coerced or compelled to solicit alms or money, often through threats, violence, or psychological manipulation. While sharing characteristics with neo-slavery (modern forms of slavery such as human trafficking or debt bondage), it might not always meet the strict legal criteria for such classifications, existing instead in a complex area of severe exploitation and deprivation of freedom.

Human Trafficking Step 1: ACT

Recruitment of vulnerable individuals through deception or coercion. This can involve false promises of employment, education, or a better life, which ultimately lead to exploitation. Also known as Transporting, Harbouring, and Recieving.

Step 2: MEANS

Methods used to control victims, such as THREATS, FORCE, ABDUCTION, DECEPTION, ABUSE OF POWER, GIVING PAYMENTS OR BENEFITS, to ensure compliance and prevent escape.

Step 3: PURPOSE

Exploitation