U.K. House of Lords Voting on Anti-Slavery Legislation

Members of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the U.K. parliament, will vote on Monday on proposed legislation that would criminalize modern-day slavery and forced labor.

According to the London-based nongovernmental organization Anti-Slavery International there are 12.3 million people worldwide in forced labor, 360,000 of whom are in the industrialized world. Within the U.K. it is estimated that there are over 1,000 people working as slaves. Such individuals may find themselves working in factories, as maids, or fruit picking. The Independent reports that those in forced labor in the U.K. have most likely not been trafficked but have had their passports taken away by employers or members of their family who then virtually imprison them and make them work without pay. Whilst trading in slaves was made illegal in the 19th century and trafficking people for exploitation, false imprisonment, kidnap and breaking employment laws can lead to prosecution, the modern-day U.K. still does not have laws that forbid a person being held as a slave or forced in to labor. Those who find themselves in forced labor may have been threatened, deceived or coerced. Alternatively they may have been the victims of fraud or be in debt bondage. Shami Chakrabarti is director of the pressure group Liberty and she is disturbed by the lack of legislation, saying:

In an age when new criminal offences have flown out of Westminster like confetti, the lack of an effective anti-slavery law is a gaping hole in the protection of the vulnerable. We urge parliamentarians of all stripes to join together in supporting this amendment and honouring the tradition of William Wilberforce

A politician and philanthropist,William Wilberforce was, as Yahoo confirms, the leader of the movement that campaigned for the abolition of the slave trade. An act of Parliament in 1807 that made the slave trade in the British Empire illegal was the reward for Wilberforce's campaigning. If the vote in the House of Lords, which will follow a debate on the Coroners and Justice Bill, favors the introduction of new offences in respect of slavery and forced labor those who may in the future be found guilty of holding someone as a slave could find themselves jailed for up to 14 years. Subjecting another person to forced labor would carry a maximum sentence of seven years in jail. New laws, to end what Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, calls a situation "comparable to Britain not having criminalised torture", would also ensure that the U.K. complies with the European Convention on Human Rights. Article Four of the Convention obligates the U.K. to offer protection from slavery, servitude, forced labor and compulsory labor. Servitude would be defined by any new legislation as subjecting a person to forced labor or severely restricting their freedom of movement, including where they may choose to live.