Editing Debt bondage (section)

== Policy initiatives ==
=== The United Nations ===
Debt bondage has been described by the United Nations as a form of "modern day slavery"<ref name="Gupta" /> and is prohibited by [[international law]].  It is specifically dealt with by article 1(a) of the United Nations 1956 [[Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery]]. It persists nonetheless especially in developing countries, which have few mechanisms for credit security or [[bankruptcy]], and where fewer people hold formal title to land or possessions. According to some economists, like [[Hernando de Soto (economist)|Hernando de Soto]], this is a major barrier to development in these countries. For example, [[entrepreneurs]] do not dare to take risks and cannot get credit because they hold no [[collateral (finance)|collateral]] and may burden families for generations to come.

=== South Asia ===
{{See also|Debt bondage in India}}

India was the first country to pass legislation directly prohibiting debt bondage through the [[Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976]].<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Belser|first=P.|date=2003|title=Forced labour nowadays|journal=Pensee|volume=336}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gopal|first=Meena|date=2012|title=Caste, sexuality and labour: The troubled connection|journal=Current Sociology|volume=2}}</ref> Less than two decades later, Pakistan also passed a similar act in 1992 and Nepal passed the [[Kamaiya]] Labour (Prohibition) Act in 2002.<ref name=":7" /> Despite the fact that these laws are in place, debt bondage in South Asia is still widespread.<ref name=":7" /> According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment of the Government of India, there are over 300,000 bonded laborers in India, with a majority of them in the states of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Karnataka]], and [[Odisha]].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Acharya|first1=Arun Kumar|title=Practices of Bonded Labour in India: Forms of Exploitation and Human Rights Violations|date=2019|url=http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage-handbook-of-human-trafficking-and-modern-day-slavery/i1223.xml|work=The SAGE Handbook of Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery|pages=126–138|publisher=SAGE Publications Ltd|doi=10.4135/9781526436146.n6|access-date=2020-05-03|last2=Naranjo|first2=Diego López|isbn=9781473978553|s2cid=169418671|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In [[India]], the rise of [[Dalit]] activism, government legislation starting as early as 1949,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hart |first=Christine |url=http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/researchdigest/minority/Dalit.pdf |title=Untouchability Today: The Rise of Dalit Activism |journal=Human Rights & Human Welfare |year=2010 |publisher=United Nations |pages=51–62 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422073416/https://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/researchdigest/minority/Dalit.pdf |archive-date=22 April 2018 |access-date=2 February 2012 |url-status=unfit}}</ref> as well as ongoing work by NGOs and government offices to enforce labour laws and rehabilitate those in debt, appears to have contributed to the reduction of bonded labour there. However, according to research papers presented by the International Labour Organization, there are still many obstacles to the eradication of bonded labour in India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://idsn.org/key-issues/caste-based-slavery/,%20https://idsn.org/key-issues/caste-based-slavery/|title=Caste-based Slavery - International Dalit Solidarity Network|first=Damir|last=Pasic|date=14 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Ravi S. |last=Srivastava |url=http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/forcedlabor/18 |title=Bonded Labor in India: Its Incidence and Pattern |journal=InFocus Programme on Promoting the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work; and International Labour Office, (2005). Forced Labor |date=April 2005 |ref=Paper 18 |hdl=1813/99630}}</ref>

=== Sub-Saharan Africa ===
In many of the countries like [[South Africa]], [[Nigeria]], [[Mauritania]], and [[Ghana]] in which debt bondage is prevalent, there are not laws that either state direct prohibition or specify punishment.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2013/215617.htm|title=South Africa|publisher=U.S. Department of State|access-date=2016-10-29}}</ref> In addition, though many of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have laws that vaguely prohibit debt bondage, prosecution of such crimes rarely occurs.<ref name=":13" />