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bonded labour
September 2009
This photo is the result of a photographic competition organized by the International Labour Office New Delhi branch to promote decent work for domestic workers. Original caption by the author: Midday Meal: Woman is serving the meal at children's school.
India 2009.
bonded labour
1985
Workers in a brickyard. India.
India 1985.
bonded labour
Logging, Maranhão. Slave loggers having a rest. Thousands of slave workers live in precarious conditions and do not benefit from basic sanitation and hygiene. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Mr. Sarney, Piauí. Osmar went further north, from Piauí to southern Pará, to find work. He was never paid his wages while working on the ranch. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Maranhão. Slave worker having lunch. Some forced labourers think that the situation is not that bad; as they say, at least they have a daily meal. Yet most work in conditions contrary to human dignity, far worse than how they lived at home. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Minas Gerais. Reports from the Brazilian Ministry of Labour indicate that agriculture - including production of crops and sugarcane- is the second main activity employing slave labour after cattle ranching. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Minas Gerais. Worker heading to a sugarcane camp in Minas Gerais. Victims are taken to remote areas almost impossible to escape from and very difficult to access for labour inspectors. In Brazil, the ILO has been providing trainings and designing awareness-raising materials to prevent workers from falling into forced labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Minas Gerais. Worker driven from a sugarcane camp in Minas Gerais. Victims are usually recruited by an intermediary (gato), to work in camps located far away from the place of recruitment. In Brazil, the ILO has been providing trainings and designing awareness-raising materials to prevent workers from falling into forced labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Minas Gerais. Workers driven from a sugarcane camp in Minas Gerais. Victims of slave labour are poor rural workers, mostly internal migrants, who seek to make a living by working on big fazendas. In Brazil, the ILO has been providing trainings and designing awareness-raising materials to prevent workers from falling into forced labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Minas Gerais. Slave worker showing the misdemeanour effects of slave labour on the hands. Many slave workers have their skin destroyed by weed killer and other chemicals. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Rubber tapping, Pará. Precarious and degrading living conditions of almost all slaves workers. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Rubber tapping, Pará. Slave labour is rooted in situations of extreme vulnerability and poverty amongst rural workers. Thanks to the joint efforts by the ILO project to combat forced labour and the Brazilian government, awareness is being raised as an important means of prevention. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. Forced labourers are often deceived at the recruitment stage. They face excessive arduous working conditions and have to work for many years in order to reimburse a debt which is manipulated. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Ceará. Indigenous worker in a sugarcane camp. Thanks to the national commitment to improve labour standards in the sugarcane industry, a voluntary agreement between Government, industry and trade unions on minimum standards was launched in June 2009 by the Government. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Ceará. Child worker sleeping. Slave labour often means also degrading conditions of work, exhaustingly long working day, maltreatment, abuse or violence. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Logging, Paraná. Many women are left on their own when husbands are lured away by the promises of a labour recruiter. Theirs husbands may never come back. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Logging, Paraná. Young worker resting. Thousands of youth work and live in degrading conditions, with precarious housing or lack of basic sanitation and hygiene. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Logging, Paraná. Logger showing the misdemeanour effects of bad working conditions. Many slave workers have their skin destroyed by the long exposure to the sun, by weed killers, pesticides and other toxic chemicals. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Logging Paraná. Forced labourers are often deceived at the recruitment stage. They face excessive arduous working conditions and have to work for many years in order to reimburse a debt which is manipulated. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Piauí. Hundreds of families, victims of slave labour are living and working in degrading conditions, in precarious accommodations. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Piauí. Thousands of slave labourers work without any personal protective equipment, often under conditions of bonded labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Piauí. Thousands of slave workers were deceived during their recruitment. They face excessive arduous working conditions and have to work for many years in order to reimburse a debt which is manipulated. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Piauí. Some forced labourers think that the situation is not that bad; as they say, at least they have a daily meal. Yet most work in conditions contrary to human dignity, far worse than how they lived at home. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Piauí. Slave workers gather after the arrival of the Special Mobile Inspection Unit (GEFM), a special mobile team of labour inspectors, federal police officers, and labour prosecutors coordinated by the Ministry of Labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Piauí. Seated workers, asking for better working conditions. Thousands of workers face excessively arduous workdays, often in slavery-like conditions. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Antônia, Piauí. Antônia lives in Barras, a town accustomed to seeing its children leave in search of a job and a better life. Some return with little, others with even less and some don't return at all. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Antônia, Piauí. Antônia's husband left in search of a better life but never returned. He was killed in a fazenda. The crime remains unpunished. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Bernardo, Piauí. Bernardo had to bury two co-workers, who died in a fazendas out of "weariness". A long battle against hunger and illness, dying a little each day. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Bernardo, Piauí. Bernardo had to bury two co-workers, who died in a fazendas out of "weariness". A long battle against hunger and illness, dying a little each day. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. Two generation of slave workers. Thousands of slave workers were deceived during their recruitment. They face excessive arduous working conditions and have to work for many years in order to reimburse a debt which is manipulated. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. Slave farmers facing precarious and degrading conditions of work such as poor housing, lack of basic sanitation and hygiene. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. Slave farmers facing precarious and degrading conditions of work such as poor housing, lack of basic sanitation and hygiene. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. Freed forced labourers gathering. His employer will be included in the "dirty list" published by the Ministry of Labour. Created in 2004, the list is a register and online database containing the details of individuals and legal entities caught by labour inspectors in the act of subjecting workers to slavery like conditions. The list is updated every semester and the name of the offenders remains on the list during two years. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. Slave labour is rooted in situations of extreme vulnerability and poverty amongst rural workers. Thanks to the joint efforts by the ILO project to combat forced labour and the Brazilian government, awareness is being raised as an important means of prevention. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. A young slave worker, freed by labour inspectors. Thank to the Ministry of Labour's actions against slave labour, freed workers are entitled to three months of unemployment pay at the basic rate. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Interior of São Paulo. Cane cutters comparing their shoes. It's not unusual that slave labourers work without any personal protective equipment, often in bonded labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Meeting of workers with Special Mobile Inspection Unit (GEFM), Pará. Freed slave workers meeting with GEFM to be informed about their labour rights. Since its creation in 1995, GEFM has freed more that 39,000 workers from slavery-like working conditions. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Farm worker's dormitory, cane cutters, São Paulo. Precarious and degrading living conditions of almost all slaves workers. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Logging Santana do Araguaia, Pará. Young men cutting trees. Thousands of slave loggers work without any personal protective equipment, often caught in bonded labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal processing unit, Mato Grosso do Sul. Charcoal processing unit loading a heavy truck. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, north of Minas Gerais. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Minas Gerais. Slave worker loading a heavy truck in a charcoal camp in indecent work conditions. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Pará. Man enslaved in a charcoal camp. Thousands of slaves work in precarious and degrading conditions. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, north of Minas Gerais. Slave labourers working in precarious and degrading heath conditions. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, north of Minas Gerais. Thousands of slave workers work without any personal protective equipment, often under conditions of bonded labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Slave labourers being freed, Pará. Slave labourers being freed. His employer will be included in the "dirty list" published by the Ministry of Labour. Created in 2004, the list is a register and online database containing the details of individuals and legal entities caught by labour inspectors in the act of subjecting workers to slavery like conditions. The list is updated every semester and the name of the offenders remains on the list during two years. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Children of black community, northern Minas Gerais. Children of black community freed from a charcoal camp in northern Minas Gerais. In Brazil, a lot of slave workers start working at a very early age. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Mato Grosso do Sul. Precarious food distribution in a sugarcane camp. Thousands of slave workers live in degrading working and living conditions, without proper food, drinkable water nor health care. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Malaria Victim, Pará. Worker victim of malaria. Like him many slave workers suffer health problems without receiving any treatment. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal processing unit, Mato Grosso do Sul. Charcoal processing unit filling charcoal bags in degrading conditions. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Pará. Old man shaving. Forced labourers are often deceived at the recruitment stage. Then they have to work for many years in order to reimburse a debt which is manipulated. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Mato Grosso do Sul. Man enslaved in a charcoal camp. Thousands of slaves work in precarious and degrading conditions. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Farm worker's dormitory, Pará. Canvas tents crowed with several hammocks. Hundreds of families are living in such precarious and degrading conditions. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Untitled. Brazil
bonded labour
Rescue of workers, Pará. Forced slave workers leaving the camp thanks to the Special Mobile Inspection Unit (GEFM). Between 1995 and 2010 GEFM has released more than 39,000 workers from conditions analogous to slavery. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Rescue of slave labourers, Pará. Rescued slave labourers queuing for identification. Their employer will be included in the "dirty list" published by the Ministry of Labour. Created in 2004, the list is a register and online database containing the details of individuals and legal entities caught by labour inspectors in the act of subjecting workers to slavery like conditions. The list is updated every semester and the name of the offenders remains on the list during two years. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Mato Grosso do Sul. Indigenous worker in a sugarcane camp. Thanks to the national commitment to improve labour standards in the sugarcane industry, a voluntary agreement between Government, industry and trade unions on minimum standards was launched in June 2009 by the Government. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Pará. Slave labour often means also degrading conditions of work, exhaustingly long working day, maltreatment, abuse or violence. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Pará. Slave labour often means also degrading conditions of work, exhaustingly long working day, maltreatment, abuse or violence. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Farm worker, Pará. Slave worker freed by the Special Mobile Inspection Unit (GEFM) and offered decent accommodation. Since its creation in 1995, GEFM has multiplied raids carried out in landed properties. Between 1995 and 2010 GEFM has released more than 39,000 workers from conditions analogous to slavery. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Farm worker's dormitory, Pará. Canvas tents crowed with several hammocks. Hundreds of families are living in such precarious and degrading conditions. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Family awaiting return of father from prison in southern Pará. Maria Francisca is a mother of seven and a "seasonal widow". Her husband was lured away by the promises of a labour recruiter. "I've had neither news nor money from him". This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Mato Grosso do Sul. Slave labourers working in indecent conditions. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Mato Grosso do Sul. Entire family forced to work in charcoal camp. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Minas Gerais. Slave worker in a sugarcane camp. Thanks to the national commitment to improve labour standards in the sugarcane industry, a voluntary agreement between Government, industry and trade unions on minimum standards was launched in June 2009 by the Government. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Logging, Pará. Slave logger without adequate working clothes. It's not unusual that slave labourers work without any personal protective equipment, often in bonded labour. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Cattle ranch, Pará. Slave labour is rooted in situations of extreme vulnerability and poverty amongst rural workers. Thanks to the joint efforts by the ILO project to combat forced labour and the Brazilian government, awareness is being raised as an important means of prevention. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Mato Grosso do Sul. Slave worker hidden by the smoke of the charcoal. In 2004 the Citizen's Charcoal Institute (ICC) was created to prevent slave labour in the pig iron industry and to promote corporate social responsibility. The ICC program allows some freed workers to get a decent job. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, Bahia. Slave workers having lunch. Some forced labourers think that the situation is not that bad; as they say, at least they have a daily meal. Yet most work in conditions contrary to human dignity, far worse than how they lived at home. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Minas Gerais. Couple victim of slave labour in a charcoal camp. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, São Paulo. Workers driven from a sugarcane factory. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, São Paulo. Workers driven from a sugarcane factory. In 2005, ILO, Ethos and Repórter Brazil launched the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour. Some 140 companies are signatories of the Pact and have committed to ensure that slave labour is not used in their supply chains. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, São Paulo. Slave worker in a sugarcane camp. Thanks to the national commitment to improve labour standards in the sugarcane industry, a voluntary agreement between Government, industry and trade unions on minimum standards was launched in June 2009 by the Government. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Mato Grosso does Sul. Slave labour is rooted in situations of extreme vulnerability and poverty amongst rural workers. Thanks to the joint efforts by the ILO project to combat forced labour and the Brazilian government, awareness is being raised as an important means of prevention. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Mato Grosso do Sul. Charcoal is one of the sectors where forced labour cases have been observed in Brazil. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charoal camp, Mato Grosso do Sul. João has been enslaved all his life. Life hasn't made him rich in comfort but in calluses and broken promises, denying him a minimum of dignity. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, north of Minas Gerais. Thousands of slave workers were deceived during their recruitment. They face excessive arduous working conditions and have to work for many years in order to reimburse a debt which is manipulated. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, Mato Grosso does Sul. Thousands of slave workers were deceived during their recruitment. They face excessive arduous working conditions and have to work for many years in order to reimburse a debt which is manipulated. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, São Paulo. Many women are left on their own when husbands are lured away by the promises of a labour recruiter. Theirs husbands may never come back. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
João and Olga, Riba do Rio Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul. João and Olga have been enslaved all their lives. "I must admit I don't dream any more. Some days I even fall asleep from sheer exhaustion. Don't hope anymore. Don't expect to get anything more out of life". This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sidney, Mato Grosso do Sul. Sidney's dream was to become of football player. Instead of feeling the heat of the match, he suffered from the smoke-blackened hell of the charcoal chimneys. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, São Paulo. Slave worker in a sugarcane camp. Thanks to the national commitment to improve labour standards in the sugarcane industry, a voluntary agreement between Government, industry and trade unions on minimum standards was launched in June 2009 by the Government. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Sugarcane, São Paulo. Cane cutter exploited in a sugarcane camp. Like this old woman, a lot of slave workers have their skin destroyed by long exposure to the sun, weed killers, pesticides and other toxic chemicals. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
bonded labour
Charcoal camp, north Minas Gerais. Charcoal is one of the sectors where forced labour cases have been observed in Brazil. This photo is from the book "retrato escravo".
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