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Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Relevant economic factors include advance or deferred payment designed to increase dependency, payment that keeps workers below the poverty level, payment in kind only or prohibitions to freely change employers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Even where there are laws and contracts that are meant to protect domestic workers, they are often inadequately enforced. Sometimes employers do not even have to register live-in domestic workers. There are no meaningful complaints mechanisms or the authorities fail to adequately follow up complaints. In many countries, the authorities also lack the legal power or human resources to follow up violations taking place in private homes. A positive exception is Uruguay, where the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate can obtain judicial authorization to conduct home inspections in cases of presumed labour law violations; the inspectorate has created a special section to monitor domestic work. Other countries require that employers ensure that live-in domestic workers attend periodic, private interviews with labour inspectors. This breaks their isolation and allows them to report abuse and exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- [The criminalization of all forms of slavery and servitude, in line with States' international obligations, is one aspect of an effective response. At the same time, the issue is embedded in the wider challenge to ensure that domestic workers are finally provided with equal protection of their labour rights. Combating domestic servitude and protecting domestic workers' rights are two sides of the same coin. The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Curtail practices that reinforce dependency, including by prohibiting employment agencies from charging fees to domestic workers (rather than employers), prohibiting payment in kind and prohibiting advance or deferred payment schemes designed to create dependence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Many States do not afford domestic workers the equal protection of labour law, which invites exploitation, leading, in extreme cases, to domestic servitude. In a number of States, domestic work is excluded from the scope of application of relevant labour laws. At best, parallel regimes are set up that provide lesser standards of protection. It is very common to exclude domestic workers from essential social benefits such as health care, compensation in case of invalidity, pensions or maternity leave and labour rights such as paid vacations, rest days or maximum work hours.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The line between domestic work, albeit accompanied by serious violations of fair labour standards, and domestic servitude and slavery is difficult to draw. In practice, there is a wide spectrum ranging from domestic workers engaged in labour relationships that follow applicable labour and human rights standards to victims of domestic servitude and slavery. Owing to the criminal and hence clandestine nature of servitude and slavery, it is impossible to determine what percentage of domestic workers are actually victims thereof.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Servitude and other slavery-like practices prohibited by article 8 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights extend beyond the specific instances recognized by the 1956 Supplementary Convention on Slavery and includes other cases of economic exploitation in which the victim is so dependent on the perpetrator that s/he cannot leave the situation of exploitation. Dependency in this context can derive from a multiplicity of physical, economic, social, cultural, psychological and legal factors. While each factor may by itself not be strong enough to create the severe dependency characterizing servitude, the factors may reinforce each other creating a net of dependency factors from which the victim cannot extract herself.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Their physical and social isolation, which is at times deliberately fostered by unscrupulous employers, interferes with their human right to freely organize and associate. The highly personalized relationship with the employer makes collective bargaining very difficult. Despite these obstacles, domestic workers are increasingly forming organizations. There are now a number of domestic workers associations doing outstanding work and some pioneers have even organized themselves into domestic worker cooperatives. Labour unions also increasingly incorporate domestic workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Owing to the indicated vulnerabilities, domestic workers are often subject to unfair and exploitative labour practices. Some are paid way below minimum wage standards or not at all, while others are confronted with the arbitrary deduction or withholding of wages. Many domestic workers are expected to live with their employers, yet are only offered sub-standard or degrading living conditions. Live-in workers might be expected to work 16-18 hours a day, be always on call and forego regular rest days and vacations. They frequently face restrictions on their freedom of communication and movement. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse is also common.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Slavery and servitude have in common that the victim is economically exploited, totally dependent on other individuals and cannot end the relationship at his or her own volition. In cases of slavery, as classically defined by the Slavery, Servitude, Forced Labour and Similar Institutions and Practices Convention of 1926, the perpetrator puts forward a claim to "own" the victim that is sustained by custom, social practice or domestic law, even though it violates international law. In servitude and slavery like practices, no such claim to formal ownership exists. This does not mean that servitude is the lesser human rights violation: the humiliation, exploitation and suffering can be equally or more intense depending on the nature of the individual case.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- [The criminalization of all forms of slavery and servitude, in line with States' international obligations, is one aspect of an effective response. At the same time, the issue is embedded in the wider challenge to ensure that domestic workers are finally provided with equal protection of their labour rights. Combating domestic servitude and protecting domestic workers' rights are two sides of the same coin. The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Strictly prohibit and take action against anyone who unduly restricts the freedom of movement and communication of domestic workers, including by prohibiting them to leave the house outside work hours or by withholding passports, other identification documents or air tickets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- [In the case of live-in domestic workers, the identity of work place and home is deeply problematic as it makes this group dangerously isolated. In order to limit and regulate live-in domestic work, States should:] Provide the labour authorities with the necessary legal powers, expertise and resources to carry out on-site inspections, based on a judicial order, in cases of credible allegations of serious violations of labour standards. The police should prioritize investigations of reported crimes affecting live-in domestic workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Trafficking is one path into domestic servitude. International law defines trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Slavery, practices similar to slavery and servitude are among the worst forms of exploitation that can result from trafficking; the victim's "consent" to such exploitation is immaterial.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Domestic servitude does not emerge in a vacuum but is linked to wider patterns of social and economic exclusion, discrimination and, most importantly, a lack of State protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- [The criminalization of all forms of slavery and servitude, in line with States' international obligations, is one aspect of an effective response. At the same time, the issue is embedded in the wider challenge to ensure that domestic workers are finally provided with equal protection of their labour rights. Combating domestic servitude and protecting domestic workers' rights are two sides of the same coin. The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Adopt specific provisions to criminalize servitude in all its forms and manifestations, including bonded labour, child and forced marriages and other so-called "cultural" practices; prosecute and punish perpetrators with due diligence and ensure that victims can obtain reparation for material and immaterial loss from perpetrators.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- [The criminalization of all forms of slavery and servitude, in line with States' international obligations, is one aspect of an effective response. At the same time, the issue is embedded in the wider challenge to ensure that domestic workers are finally provided with equal protection of their labour rights. Combating domestic servitude and protecting domestic workers' rights are two sides of the same coin. The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Put in place effective and accessible information and complaints mechanisms for victims of domestic servitude, domestic workers and other community members (e.g. telephone hotlines with operators speaking relevant languages). Instruct immigration and other relevant authorities to refer cases of suspected domestic servitude to the police and the labour authorities. Provide all victims of domestic servitude with adequate and unconditional assistance to protect, rehabilitate and reintegrate them, including by funding relevant non-governmental organizations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The implementation and enforcement of applicable laws and contracts is often undermined because domestic workers are not adequately informed of their rights and obligations. By the same token, many employers are not sensitized thereon and it is left to their individual moral judgement to determine what constitutes fair treatment. Unions may find it difficult to organize domestic workers since they are dispersed and often hard to access if they live with their employers. In some cases, domestic workers are even prohibited from forming or joining trade unions, which constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of association and the prohibition of discrimination. These obstacles notwithstanding, non-governmental organizations and domestic worker self-help groups have taken up tasks that are the responsibility of the Government: setting up points of information in places where domestic workers are accessible (e.g. shopping malls or water-drawing points) or providing shelter for workers fleeing abuse or exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Domestic servitude is intrinsically linked to discrimination based on ethnicity, race, skin tone or caste. Imagined distinctions in human worth and dignity, derived from meaningless differences in outward appearance or lineage, set the ground for ruthless exploitation. Patterns of discrimination are internalized by both perpetrators and victims, who more or less consciously envisage themselves as "masters" or "servants".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- International human rights law unequivocally outlaws all forms domestic servitude and domestic slavery. However, available international instruments do not address the specificities of domestic servitude, which undermines the implementation of this comprehensive prohibition. After decades of stagnation, progress in international labour law is finally in sight to ensure decent standards for domestic work and thereby prevent domestic servitude.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- While it would therefore be inappropriate to stigmatize domestic workers or their employers, the specificities of the sector make domestic workers particularly vulnerable to economic exploitation, abuse and, in extreme cases, subjugation to domestic servitude and domestic slavery. Domestic workers, especially if they live with their employers, often find themselves physically and socially isolated from their families, friends and peers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Families
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- [Domestic servitude is rooted in entrenched patterns of gender discrimination and discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity and caste. At the heart of the problem is the fact that work in or for the household, whether paid or unpaid, is undervalued:] Senior Government officials, religious and community leaders should publicly acknowledge the value of domestic work to society and emphasize the equal dignity and autonomy of domestic workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Domestic servitude and domestic slavery can be distinguished by the fact that the exploitation takes place primarily in or around the household of the perpetrators. In many cases, these phenomena go hand in hand with other forms of servitude and slavery. Beyond having to do household chores, for instance, a victim might be forced to work in agriculture, in the market or engage in prostitution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has discerned a number of instances, where people engaged in domestic work are victims of servitude or slavery as defined by the 1926 Slavery Convention, the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956 (the 1956 Supplementary Convention on Slavery) and jurisprudence relating to article 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also notes a 2008 judgment of the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice ordering the Government of Niger to pay compensation to a former domestic "slave" sold to her "master" at the age of 12 and made to work for almost ten years. Although slavery in Niger is criminalized, national courts did not recognize the plaintiff's right to be free from her "master" and marry another man.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Economic and social human rights abuses, for instance, the threat of withholding food, water or essential medical care where the worker depends on the employer for these goods, can also place the victim in a position where she has no choice but to submit to exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 111
- Paragraph text
- Governments should establish programmes to create awareness in frontier communities about the health risks they face particularly with regard to handling toxic chemicals such as mercury, cyanide and lead. The communities should undergo testing for contamination and those contaminated should be provided with medical care. Local health workers should be clinically trained on how to prevent, diagnose and treat contamination. These programmes should also extend to ensure that workers are made aware of the less visible and long-term negative impact on the environment (soil, water) which threatens food security and biodiversity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- On 22 February 2008, in Prosecutor v. Brima et al, the Special Court for Sierra Leone recognized forced marriage as a crime against humanity under international criminal law for the first time. The Court confirmed that forced marriage involved a perpetrator compelling a person by force or threat of force, through words, or conduct of the perpetrator, or anyone associated with him, into a forced conjugal association resulting in great suffering or serious physical or mental injury on the part of the victim. It concluded that forced marriage might also include one or more international crimes such as enslavement, imprisonment, rape, sexual slavery and abduction.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Victims of servile marriage are often unable to escape because their families and/or the societies in which they live will not support them, whether for economic reasons or for traditional, cultural and religious beliefs. Such beliefs and practices cannot, however, be used to justify servile marriage. Under the Supplementary Slavery Convention, States parties are to bring about the complete abolition or abandonment of slavery-like institutions and practices, such as servile marriage. It does not provide for any exceptions in which slavery may continue to exist. Evolving international law has confirmed that slavery is a crime against humanity and, as such, no culture, tradition or religious practice can be used to justify servile marriage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Families
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Under the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, all forms of forced marriage are defined as practices similar to slavery, which reduce a spouse to a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised. International law has further reiterated and reinforced the provisions within the Convention that prohibit forced and early marriages. Over the years, however, the idea that forced and early marriages are forms of slavery and, therefore, servile marriage has been lost.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- To tackle the issue of forced and early marriages, under article 2 of the Convention States parties are required to prescribe, where appropriate, suitable minimum ages of marriage, to encourage the use of facilities whereby the consent of both parties to a marriage may be freely expressed in the presence of a competent civil or religious authority, and to encourage the registration of marriages.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- Human rights violations taking place within a marriage may at best be seen as isolated domestic violence cases and treated as such, disregarding the wider issue of servitude within a home. In some countries, even in cases of marital rape or physical abuse, the police or judiciary may show leniency to the perpetrators. For example, cases of acid attacks either go unreported or, when reported, the attackers go unpunished.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph