ABSTRACT
Perhaps no other milestone in the pursuit of human rights and dignity stands out as greatly as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The Declaration was introduced by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948 as a “common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.” It was the first internationally recognized instrument to articulate fundamental human rights that are to be universally protected. Contained within the Declaration is the statement: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” Despite the prominence of this statement in our Universal Declaration, human rights violations are perpetrated daily, including the exploitation of those forced to work in slave-like conditions in most countries in the world.
