Convention 105 and International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

C105 – Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957

7 May 2012

The essence of all slavery consists in taking the product of another's labour by force. It is immaterial whether this force is founded upon ownership of the slave or ownership of the money that he must get to live. Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Forced labour is a global problem, affecting all countries worldwide. Most victims are poverty-stricken people, whose vulnerability is exploited by others for a profit. According to a 2012 ILO global estimate of forced labour, 20.9 million women, men and children are trapped in jobs into which they were coerced or deceived and which they cannot leave. This estimate captures the full realm of forced labour and human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation, or what some call “modern-day slavery”. The figure means that, at any given point in time, around three out of every 1,000 persons worldwide are suffering in forced labour.

Forced labour was the first human rights subject dealt with at the international level, first addressed by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and then by the League of Nations straight after the end of the First World War. As early as 1930 the ILO undertook to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour via its Forced Labour Convention (No. 29). This fundamental Convention prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labour, which is defined as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily." The Convention also requires that the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour be punishable as a penal offence, and that ratifying states ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and strictly enforced. Building on Convention 29, the 1957 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105) prohibits forced or compulsory labour as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system.

C105 entered into force on 17 January 1959 and is ratified by 174 countries to date. C29 entered into force on 01 May 1932 and it is ratified by 177 countries to date.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, 23 August
The UN International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition reminds people of the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade. It gives people a chance to think about the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of slave trade.

The ILO established Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour in 2002. It helps raise global awareness and understanding of modern forced labour; assists governments to develop and implement new laws, policies and action plans; develops and disseminates guidance and training materials on key aspects of forced labour and trafficking; and, implement innovative programmes which combine policy development, capacity building of law enforcement and labour market institutions, and targeted, field-based projects of direct support for both prevention of forced labour and identification and rehabilitation of its victims.