The exercise of powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person, or the extraction of work or services from a person under the menace of penalty and without that person's genuine and voluntary consent. Though formally abolished in nearly every country by the late twentieth century, both practices persist in forms including debt bondage, forced domestic servitude, and forced labor in agriculture, manufacturing and fishing, and are prohibited under multiple international instruments including the International Labour Organization's Forced Labour Convention. Enslavement is separately codified as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population.
Facts
Classification CodeUnited States federal law criminalizes forced labor under 18 U.S. Code section 1589 as knowingly providing or obtaining a person's labor or services by force or threats of force, serious harm or threats of serious harm, abuse of law or legal process, or a scheme intended to cause the person to believe serious harm would follow refusal, and separately criminalizes knowingly benefiting from a venture that used those means. 1 Typical PenaltyUnder 18 U.S. Code section 1589, forced labor is punished by a fine, up to 20 years imprisonment, or both, rising to a fine and any term of years up to life imprisonment when the violation results in death or involves kidnapping, an attempted kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill. 1 Elements of OffenseThe International Labour Organization defines forced labour as all involuntary work or service exacted under the menace of a penalty, a definition broad enough to cover debt bondage, forced domestic servitude, and forced labor in agriculture, manufacturing and fishing. 2 Notable ExampleThe scale of forced labor is illustrated by the International Labour Organization's estimate that at least 27.6 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide on any given day, 86 percent of it imposed by private actors rather than state authorities. 2 Jurisdiction VariationThe ILO's 1930 Forced Labour Convention carves specific exceptions out of its own definition, including compulsory military service, normal civic obligations, supervised prison labor not hired out to private parties, and labor exacted during a genuine emergency, while United States federal law criminalizes forced labor under 18 U.S. Code section 1589 without building the same categorical exceptions into the statute itself. 2 Classification
Offense GradeSerious or Indictable Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. 18 U.S. Code section 1589 (Cornell LII)
Cornell Law School, Legal Information InstituteSection 1589(a) opening clause
Whoever knowingly provides or obtains the labor or services of a person by any one of, or by any combination of, the following means
Section 1589(d) penalty clause
Whoever violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If death results from a violation of this section, or if the violation includes kidnaping, an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, the defendant shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both.
View the Source 2. Forced Labour (Wikipedia)
Definition section, ILO definition sentence
forced labour, which is defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as all involuntary work or service exacted under the menace of a penalty.
Definition section, 1930 Convention exceptions list
any work or service exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, provided that the said work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the said person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations
lead section, ILO global estimate paragraph
The International Labour Organization (ILO) now estimates that at least 27.6 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide on any given day; 86% of forced labour is imposed by private actors: 63% in non-sexual sectors and 23% in commercial sexual exploitation.
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