In reality, there is an urgent need for laws and action to ensure that new forms of exploitation and oppression are not allowed to occur, and that old forms of slavery are eradicated, once and for all. Trafficking and related practices such as debt bondage, forced prostitution and forced labour are violations of the most basic of human rights. These are rights that we all possess irrespective of our gender, our nationality, our social status, our occupation. Men, women and children are not property but human beings. The international community should declare, loudly and more strongly than ever, that we are all members of the human family.
Slavery simply has no place in a world of human rights.
As we enter a new century and a new millennium, eradicating slavery is a goal we can and must reach.