Cover
story Who
is a slave?
Slavery in contemporary usage covers a variety of conditions of
involuntary servitude.
In the most rigid sense, a slave is human chattel, the legal
property of someone else.
As slavery is more loosely defined today, a slave is any victim
helpless in the presence of a dominating influence.
The most common form of slavery today, particularly in India, is
debt bondage, in which a person pledges to work to pay off a loan but the terms
of the payment are unclear, and the debt, in fact, never disappears.
Contract slavery, also common today, particularly in Asia,
involves a contract for employment, but the worker is actually paid little or
nothing and has no freedom.
Governments noted for human rights violations, such as Burma, may
enslave people for war or public labor.
Britains Channel 4 television, in a booklet published last
year to accompany a documentary focusing on international slave trade used the
definition: unpaid, controlled by violence or the threat of violence, unable to
leave.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act passed by the U.S. Congress
last October, relies on the word victims to carry its legal weight.
The United State has had laws against involuntary servitude on its
books since the late 19th century.
In criminal cases against slavery or involuntary
servitude in this country, prosecutors pull out every charge they can
find, using a variety of laws ranging from harboring illegal aliens to paying
less than minimum wage.
-- Arthur Jones
National Catholic Reporter, May 25,
2001
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