Slavery, Servitude and Forced Labour in International Law: Should the Difference Still Matter?

After centuries of abolitionist struggle and attempts to improve labour standards at a global level, human exploitation is still endemic, including its most egregious forms: slavery, servitude and forced labour. In 2017, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reported 40.3 million victims of ‘modern slavery’ globally. Representing one of the most deeply entrenched human rights violations in history, it is striking to observe how little international courts and bodies have dealt with the interpretation of slavery, servitude and forced labour, and how recently some of them have started engaging with this task. Slavery, servitude and forced labour are equally prohibited under international law. Most international human rights conventions of a general scope deal with these three forms of treatment in the same article, indicating a strong connection between them. Slavery and forced labour are defined in two widely ratified international conventions, and even the more ‘mysterious’ concept of servitude has been given a