Brazil's fight against slavery seen at risk with new labour rules
Brazil's fight against slavery seen at risk with new labour rules
by Anastasia Moloney | @anastasiabogota | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Thursday, 19 October 2017 18:14 GMT
By Karla Mendes
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Victims of slave labour in Brazil are less likely to be rescued following a government decree that changes the country's definition of slavery and weakens the hand of inspectors, campaigners and human rights officials say.
In Brazil, forced labour has been defined as a form of modern-day slavery. This includes debt bondage, degrading work conditions, and long work hours that pose a risk to a worker's health or life, and violate their dignity.
But campaigners said a decree issued by Brazil's labour ministry on Monday is a major setback in combatting slave labour because it changes the circumstances under which slavery is defined, limiting it to a victim's freedom of movement.
"Before, if a worker is sleeping with the pigs, has no water, and doesn't receive a wage, the labour inspector says this is slave labour, even though the worker can leave the farm," said Leonardo Sakamoto, a trustee of the U.N. Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, which helps victims of slavery.
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