Campos dos Goytacazes, in the North of Rio de Janeiro, occupies fifth place in the national ranking of municipalities with the most workers rescued from conditions similar to slavery. According to data from the SmartLab platform, 982 people have been rescued in the municipality since 1995.
In the state of Rio de Janeiro, more than 1,800 workers were removed from this situation in the same period, according to the SmartLab platform, an initiative of the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The topic was debated at the 1st Congress on Combating Contemporary Slave Labor of the Brazilian Bar Association in Rio de Janeiro (OAB-RJ), held on Tuesday (13), in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The event brought together experts and representatives from different sectors to discuss strategies for preventing, confronting and eradicating contemporary slave labor.
Although slavery was officially abolished in Brazil on May 13, 1888, with the signing of the Lei Áurea, the exploitation of workers in conditions similar to slavery is still a reality. The practice is considered a crime under article 149 of the Penal Code.
What characterizes contemporary slave labor?
According to the judge of the Regional Labor Court of the 1st Region (TRT-1), Rogério Lucas Martins, Brazilian legislation provides for different situations that may characterize work analogous to slavery, such as exhausting working hours, restriction of freedom of movement, debt bondage and degrading working conditions.
“The four basic elements are exhausting working hours, restriction of freedom of movement, debt bondage — when the worker needs to work to pay debts — and degrading conditions in the work environment,” explained the judge.
According to Rogério Lucas Martins, it is not necessary for all of these conditions to be present at the same time for the situation to be characterized.
"There are four conditions that do not need to be combined. It is enough to verify one of them to characterize what we call contemporary slave labor", he stated.
Campos dos Goytacazes is among the municipalities with the most rescues
According to data from the SmartLab platform, the state of Rio de Janeiro has rescued more than 1,800 workers in situations similar to slavery since 1995.
In the survey, Campos dos Goytacazes appears in fifth place in the national ranking of municipalities with the highest number of rescued workers, with 982 people. The city also ranks fifth among Brazilian municipalities declared as the victims' place of residence, with 393 records.
The profile of the victims also draws attention. According to data from the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 80% of identified workers declared themselves non-white, mainly black and mixed race.
Social vulnerability, poverty and lack of opportunities can increase exposure to exploitation. Among the people subjected to these conditions are workers who leave their regions of origin in search of jobs and better living conditions.
Inspection faces difficulties in identifying cases
The fight against contemporary slave labor involves different institutions, such as the Public Ministry of Labor, labor inspectors, Federal Police, Public Defender's Office and OAB, as well as researchers and representatives of the academic community.
Identifying situations of exploitation, however, can be difficult, especially when it occurs in private or domestic environments.
For the president of the Commission to Combat Contemporary Slave Labor of the OAB-RJ, Dr. José Agripino, one of the main challenges is to recognize the situations that constitute this type of crime and guarantee access for agents responsible for inspection to places where exploitation is suspected or reported.
"The biggest challenge is to identify and characterize work similar to slavery. In the case of domestic work, the difficulty is greater because access to residences is restricted. It is necessary to observe legal requirements so that inspectors can enter the property and verify the situation", highlighted Dr. Agripino.
Another obstacle, according to him, is the difficulty for some victims to recognize that they are being exploited.
“Often, the worker himself does not see himself in a work situation analogous to slavery”, he added.
How to report contemporary slave labor
Suspected cases of exploitation can be reported to the bodies responsible for monitoring and protecting workers. Check the available channels:
Public Ministry of Labor (MPT): receives reports of labor irregularities, including situations of work analogous to slavery. Reports can be submitted through the official reporting portal. MPT Pardal is the official application of the Public Ministry of Labor that facilitates the sending of complaints and evidence about labor irregularities.
Dial 100: the Federal Government's free channel for reporting human rights violations, including situations of work similar to slavery. The service operates 24 hours a day.
