The awareness that slavery did not disappear with abolition has brought back discussions about dichotomies and tensions that were left unresolved in the context of the abolition. Remedy for people that were enslaved is among these unresolved issues. Brazil became one of the first countries to recognize the existence of contemporary slavery. In the past two decades, the word slavery jumped out of the history books to the pages of the newspapers.
Stories about women, children and men who were held in captivity by forced labor, debt bondage, sexual exploitation have put in check the belief which is still taught in schools all around the world that modern society, enlightened by the spirit of capitalism, managed to abolish slavery.
It is true, that in legal terms slavery was indeed abolished. However, recent key figures show that the enforcement of these regulations has failed.
Firstly, there is not a clear answer about the number of people living under different forms of slavery nowadays. The fight against the transatlantic slave trade in the nineteenth-century has been considered one of the most successful episodes in the history of international human rights law, as it has put slavery and the slave trade among the few acknowledged crimes against humanity MARTINEZ, Nowadays, the awareness that slavery did not disappear with abolition has brought back discussions about dichotomies and tensions that were left unresolved in the context of the abolition MARTINEZ, On May 13, , Brazil became the last nation in the Western world to abolish slavery.
After that process, there was an expectation that the former slaves would be integrated into the free work market. However, the destiny of this group was no longer a priority as a public policy. Nobody assumed responsibility for including those people into the free market. At the same time, landowners turned to their own interests, which meant trying to get indemnity for financial losses with the abolition of their once valuable property, arguing that it had provoked a crisis in the farming business.
