Knowra Forced labour Forced labour Forced labour is work or service exacted from a person under threat of penalty and not offered voluntarily. It includes coercion that prevents a person from freely leaving or refusing the work.
International Labour Organization Forced Labour Convention, 1930 : A 1930 treaty requiring ratifying states to suppress forced or compulsory labour, subject to specified exceptions. Its definition centers on involuntary work exacted under threat of a penalty.
Slavery : A system in which people are treated as property or subjected to powers associated with ownership. Forced labour does not require legal ownership, though slavery often involves compelled work.
International Labour Organization : A United Nations agency that sets international labour standards and promotes decent work. It defines forced labour in its conventions and monitors labour standards.
International Labour Organization and Walk Free estimates of modern slavery : Joint estimates of the number of people living in modern slavery, including forced labour and forced marriage. These estimates show the scale of forced labour within the broader modern-slavery category.
Debt bondage : A form of forced labour in which a person’s work is demanded as security for a debt under exploitative terms. Debt can serve as the penalty threat that keeps workers from leaving.
Human exploitation : The abuse of people for another party’s benefit through unfair, coercive, or harmful practices. Forced labour is one specific form of exploitation, defined by compulsory work.
Forced Labour Protocol, 2014 : A 2014 treaty supplementing the ILO Forced Labour Convention with measures on prevention, protection, and remedies. It updates the international framework for preventing forced labour and assisting victims.
Migrant worker : A person who moves within or across national borders for employment. Recruitment fees, immigration dependence, and isolation can heighten migrant workers’ exposure to coercion.
Human trafficking : The recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of people for exploitation through specified coercive or deceptive means. Trafficking can lead to forced labour, though the two concepts are not identical.
Prison labour : Work performed by people held in prisons or other forms of detention. International standards distinguish some prison work from forced labour under defined conditions.
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