December 2 was the United Nation's International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, a day dedicated to spreading awareness on the heinous contemporary practice of slavery which plagues some 45.8 million lives internationally. The exploitative aims of the multiplicity of forms under which modern-day slavery may manifest itself, constitute a large, yet often overlooked human rights violation in the 21st century. It is through an understanding of this grave injustice’s existence, a denial of misleading myths on the extent and nature of human trafficking and a recognition of ways in which all individuals may play a part in ending the malpractice of modern-day slavery, that its abolition may come to fruition.

More recent efforts in the global antislavery movement have included: the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s adoption of a legally binding Protocol, entered into effect in November 2016 and aimed at strengthening international initiatives to eradicate forced labor; in particular, a division of modern-day slavery which disproportionately impacts young boys and men. The ILO has also launched a campaign entitled, “50 for Freedom,” with the chief object of persuading fifty countries to ratify the Forced Labor Protocol by 2018. The main provisions of this Protocol, which has received 10 ratifications thus far, include: prevention (through educating the most vulnerable workers, employers and the public at large; extending coverage and enforcement of pertinent protective and labor laws to all workers and sectors; strengthening labor inspection for the implementation and enforcement of such laws; requiring due diligence of employers in all sectors to address risk-increasing factors and eliminate modern-day slavery in its business practices and supply chains), protection (investing in more efficacious means for identifying, releasing, protecting and recovering victims in rehabilitation; protecting victims and migrant workers from prosecution or punishment for unlawful activities they were compelled to commit as a result of exploitation), and remedies (providing survivors with compensation or appropriate remedies, regardless or their legal status in the country). This Protocol, along with the Forced Labor Convention of 1930 and the Abolition of Forced Labor Convention of 1957, will provide a more holistic approach to prevention, by reducing risk factors in the private and public sectors, protecting survivors’ rights and ensuring justice is served to human rights violators and perpetrators. You may join the over 13,000 individuals internationally who have called on world leaders to ratify the ILO protocol and provide essential mechanisms for the prevention and halting of the perpetuation of this contemporary wrongdoing.

It is out of my firm belief in the intrinsic value of every human being that this practice’s devaluation and dehumanization of millions internationally, treating human life as a commodity, strikes at my most personal of convictions regarding humanity and furthers my resolve to advocate on behalf of those fellow human beings that have been impacted by this injustice. This past December 2 serves as a day of remembrance for this life mission of mine and the further work which must be done to best protect workers from the exploitation of forced and child labor practices and all human beings from the brutality and immorality of modern-day slavery. It is my hope that the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery soon becomes a part of our world’s past as we near a slavery-free society.