The United Nations' International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is annually observed on August 23 to remind people of the tragedy and horror of the transatlantic slave trade. According to a private TV channel, the celebration gives people a chance to think about the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of slave trade.
In late August 1791, a slave rebellion in Santo Domingo, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic sparked the beginning of the end of the system of slavery.
The slave rebellion in the area weakened the Caribbean colonial system, sparking an uprising that led to abolishing slavery and giving the island its independence. This date also allows us to honour the people who worked to abolish the slave trade and slavery throughout the world. This commitment and the actions used to fight against the system of slavery had an impact on the human rights movement.
Slavery can be traced back to our earliest historical records. It has existed at some time in almost all cultures and continents. Today it is outlawed in nearly all countries. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms."
Men, women and children are no longer shackled, put on the auction block and sold like prized cattle to the highest bidder. In today's world, one person does not buy another and own him or her for life.
Despite the official abolition of slavery, racism still pollutes our world. So too do contemporary forms of slavery, including bonded servitude, forced prostitution, and the use of children in warfare and the international drug trade.