What is a slave?

A slave is a person who is forced to work for another
person, generally without pay or other recognition for his or her efforts. The slave can
be forced to maintain this position through any number of means: the threat of physical
violence, emotional pain, law, or social pressure. Often, it is a combination of several
factors that enforce slavery.

For instance, in the United
States before the Civil War, slavery was reinforced on an individual level in large part
by the threat (and fact) of physical violence and the force of certain state
laws.

Slavery is still a large, some might say growing,
problem in the world. Modern-day slavery does not always include laws that make the
slave the literal possession of his or her owner, but there may be social or practical
limitations that make it very difficult or impossible to escape from slavery, such as
being in a foreign country, inability to speak the language, social isolation, et
cetera.