What is Debt Bondage?
Bonded labor, or debt bondage, is probably the least known form of labor trafficking today, and yet it is the most widely used method of enslaving people. Victims become bonded laborers when their labor is demanded as a means of repayment for a loan or service, in which its terms and conditions have not been defined or in which the value of the victims’ services, as reasonably assessed, is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt. The value of their work is greater than the original sum of money “borrowed.”
Bonded labor, also known as debt bondage and peonage, happens when people give themselves into slavery as security against a loan or when they inherit a debt from a relative. It can be made to look like an employment agreement but one where the worker starts with a debt to repay – usually in brutal conditions – only to find that repayment of the loan is impossible. Then, their enslavement becomes permanent.
Debt bondage, also known as debt slavery or bonded labor, is a situation where a person’s labor is pledged as security for a debt, often leading to exploitation and a cycle of servitude that can be passed down through generations. It is considered a form of modern slavery and is prevalent in various industries, particularly in South Asia.