Sex Robot Matters: Slavery, the Prostituted, and the Rights of Machines

Abstract

Slavery is the coercive and controlled use of another human. Contrary to the belief that the practice ended in the 1800s, slavery still persists today. There are many different terms used to describe slavery including, debt bondage (a person's pledge of labor for a debt or obligation), sale and exploitation of children, and human trafficking (forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation). Sexual exploitation is the most commonly identified form of human trafficking (79%) followed by forced labor (18%) [52]. To be held in slavery is to be held in miserable conditions and have a form of power over you that denies you a life of freedom. For most people in Europe and North America slavery is not a visible problem, and one could think slavery is somehow less important, and less violent today than in the past. This is not the case. The United Nations estimates that almost 21 million people are currently victims of slaver y [25]. A staggering $150billion in profits is generated from forced labor and 168 million girls and boys are in child labor [25]. Central to our understanding of slavery and its related forms is that a person is recast, often without bodily integrity, as property that can be bought, sold, and accessed by others with more power, status, and money.