My paper is about child slavery, the mention of which invariably conjures up images of sweated labour in such regions of the world as Africa, Latin America and south and southeast Asia, and in particular in such ‘developing countries’ as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. However, my paper is about child slavery in ‘developed countries’, or ‘modern society’. Mention of child slavery in developed countries invariably evokes images of highly marginal cases, very low numbers, and largely illegal and criminal activities. Any claim to the contrary - that child slavery in developed countries is common, widespread and largely legal – is likely to invoke dismissal, incredulity and derision. None the less, for me there are good grounds for maintaining that ‘child slavery’ is as at least as extensive in developed countries as it is in developing ones.
