Abolishing Slavery and Its Contemporary Forms

This document explores international laws against slavery and describes modern forms of slavery, including ones that affect the human rights of women and girls with regard to marriage. Forced labour, trafficking in women and children, prostitution, forced marriage, mail-order brides, and child servitude are among the forms of slavery explained that persist today. The authors stress that these practices are in fact slavery because they commodify women as possessions to be owned and controlled by others, thereby violating their human rights, including marriage rights. [Descriptors: Marriage - International]