Today slavery has a much broader meaning than it's definition a century ago. Today slavery takes on many forms; however, all the forms are degrading to the human existence and oppressive to any individual. The United Nations recently defined slavery as "a variety of human rights violations. In addition to traditional slavery and the slave trade, these abuses include the sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography, the exploitation of child labour, the sexual mutilation of female children, the use of children in armed conflicts, debt bondage, the traffic in persons and in the sale of human organs, the exploitation of prostitution, and certain practices under apartheid and colonial regimes". This description of slavery makes it hard to pin point it. Things such as child labor, bonded and forced labor, sexual exploitation of children, trafficking, forced marriage, and female mutilation are all considered types of slavery. Millions of people are being enslaved currently all over the world especially in some areas of Asia and Africa. Many people fail to recognize the many forms of slavery hence, they tend to believe slavery is scarce. Such erroneous information must be put to an end.
Traditional slavery is what is also known as chattel slavery. Chattel slavery is what people most commonly associate with the definition of slavery. Chattel slavery is the buying and selling of people much like buying or selling goods. This kind of slavery has been abolished everywhere, however there are still many reports of slave markets around the world.
There are very few differences between "traditional" and "contemporary" slavery. Traditional slavery has a more restricted definition and a worse reputation. People must realize that any sort of abuse must not be permissible regardless of race, ethnicity, or physical appearances. Any type of slavery is clearly immoral and should be abolished.