**2. Basic elements of slavery phenomenon**

Slavery was seen as a "useful and indispensable" element of social life as one of the cornerstones of the economy, starting from prehistoric times and continuing until the twentieth century, and it was continued by gaining legal legitimacy within the state society structure. Although slavery gained different appearances mostly due to the transformation in production styles, it continued to be a part of economic and social life for thousands of years.

The concepts of "slave" and "slavery" have been used many times in almost all legal systems, from cuneiform legal texts to the legal texts of other ancient civilizations, from Roman law texts, which are considered the basis of many contemporary legal systems, to religious-based legal texts and to the legal regulations of nation states, but have not been defined. It was only in the first quarter of the twentieth century that a widely accepted legal definition could be made for slavery, which has been applied for thousands of years with different appearances in all these legal systems and is described as "classical slavery" in this study. According to this definition, which is included in Article 1 of the Slavery Convention of 1926 and which is taken as a basis by many current international documents on the subject, "slavery is the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised."

As it can be understood from this definition, in the classical slavery approach, the situation or status of the person can only be considered as slavery if the propertyrelated powers are available. The details of these powers, which were codified in the Slavery Convention and defined as property, were listed in a report on slavery published by the United Nations Secretary-General in 1953. According to this:


#### *Perspective Chapter: Legal Definition of Modern Slavery DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109994*

These results, which emerged in the context of the definition of slavery in the Slavery Convention and the powers exercised on the slave on the basis of this definition, can be sufficient and useful in terms of understanding and making sense of classical slavery. However, it is insufficient in terms of understanding the practices of "modern slavery", which we describe as the present view of slavery that has been transformed over time.

This inadequacy is characterized as institutions and practices similar to slavery with the Additional Slavery Convention; but it could not be eliminated by expanding the scope of the prohibition by re-arranging it to cover debt bondage, servitude, forms of slave marriage and the abuse of children themselves or their workforce.

So much so that both the definition and the results of the powers used on the slave, which is reached on the basis of the definition; the use of property-related powers over the person and the related elements are no longer the absolute elements of slavery, within the framework of the conditions and requirements of the time. However, when the new type of slavery, which we describe as modern slavery, is examined, it can be easily seen that the basic element of slavery is neither the subject of property nor the existence of a legal status recognized in this way. These elements, which have been accepted as the basic element of slavery for thousands of years, are actually the results of slavery that emerged within the framework of the needs of the periods. Because in the social reality of all ancient civilizations that included slavery regulations in their legal systems, there are also countless masters who treat their slaves well beyond oppressing them. These slaves, who are treated well, have no problem with being the subject of property in most cases. Because people experience the discomfort of what they feel the pressure of. Throughout history, there are many examples of obedient slaves who were not shackled, surrounded and prevented from escaping, but still did not abandon their master and the circumstances. It should come as no surprise that a person who is treated well by his master and who, although a slave, is seen as a member of the family, part of the household population or work environment, is not uncomfortable with his status. Because for this slave, the status he is in does not create any pressure in itself. For most slaves, the legal status they are in is not disturbing as long as their basic needs for security, shelter, subsistence and similar are met and they are not mistreated. This status is an accepted status that can be based on learned helplessness from a psychological point of view and legality and legitimacy from a legal point of view. At this point, the main issue, which is a problem for the slaves both in terms of their social and economic situation and human rights, is that the master uses the individual within his working capacity, the product that comes out is included in the master's property without any compensation in proportion to the individual's labor, and the person has no will to end the situation he is in. In other words, when the slave believes that he does not get what he deserves, he begins to see this situation as an exploitation. It does not matter what the slave's right is or whether it is more or less. The important thing is that the slave feels deprived in terms of what he believes he deserves, that is, he realizes that he is exploited. If it is not possible to end this process with his own will, it will have consequences that will mean the person's social death.

From this point of view, it is seen that "exploitation" is the first essential element that always expresses the existence of slavery in both classical and modern slavery in the evolution of slavery. Of course, it cannot be concluded from this that wherever there is exploitation, as in slavery, it would not be wrong to conclude that exploitation is inevitable wherever there is slavery, with a reverse reading.

The main elements of exploitation, which is a reference to a general definition of slavery to include classical and modern slavery; it is the ability of the individual (with his labor and/or body) to be used within his absolute working capacity without any restrictions, and the products that come out without obtaining a compensation proportional to the value of the individual's labor become the property of the person who uses them. At this point, exploitation, which can occur in many different forms in economic and social life, also needs to be embodied in terms of the definition of the concept of slavery.

The most common form of exploitation that comes to the fore in slavery practices is undoubtedly "economic exploitation of the individual".

Considering the different aspects of both classical slavery and modern slavery, the most common type of exploitation other than economic exploitation on the enslaved person is "sexual exploitation". The exploitation faced by concubines, which are frequently mentioned in legitimate and legal slavery practices, those who are forced into prostitution, the majority of whom are women and children, and those who are forced into marriage for money or on the axis of traditional rituals, are examples of sexual exploitation. In fact, for those forced into prostitution, both sexual exploitation and economic exploitation occur at the same time.

The exploitation of war slaves who are forced into military service by being used as soldiers in conflicts and in hot contact or behind the front, or sex slaves who are offered to militants to increase their loyalty to ideology and therefore authority, is another form of exploitation. This type of exploitation can be described as "ideological exploitation".

In addition to these types of exploitation, it is also possible that slavery is linked to religion and that exploitation is based on religious motives. "Exploitation based on religious motives" can be seen in both classical slavery and modern slavery practices, as in other types of exploitation. For example, in the Law of Manu according to Ancient Indian law, it is written that the Sudras, which are at the bottom of the caste, were created by the God Svayambhu as slaves of the Brahmans (Manu VIII, 413). It is for this reason that the Sudras, whose slavery is by nature, cannot escape from slavery even if they are freed by their masters (Manu VIII, 414) [4].

Thus, a Brahman who uses a Sudra as his slave acts in accordance with the order of God Svayambhu and in this way provides spiritual satisfaction. Today, thousands of girls and young women in Southeast Ghana, Togo, Benin and Southwest Nigeria are given as slaves by their families to the pagan priests of that region for the purpose of exploitation based on religious motives. In these instances, according to a tradition that will probably seem very strange to us, girls are enslaved as atonement for sins committed by their own family members (of which rape is the most common of these sins) [5]. As can be seen, in this example, exploitation based on religious motives and sexual exploitation come together and two different types of exploitation occur simultaneously.

With all these different forms of appearance, "exploitation is an absolute element in the definition of slavery, but it is not the only element". At this point, the second main element common to both classical slavery and modern slavery is "control of another person". This element expresses a relationship of domination arising from the lack of free will of the exploited in the formation of the conditions leading to the exploitation of the person or the termination of this exploitation process. While this domination relationship is based on a legal property transaction in classical slavery, in modern slavery; it appears as a "de facto" control that is not supported by law and even constitutes a crime. But in both, the main tool used to maintain

this control is violence. Therefore, the control of another person and the violence or threat of violence that maintains that control play a central role in all forms of slavery. Therefore, a definition of slavery, classical or modern, which is devoid of the elements of "exploitation" and "control of another person based on violence or threat of violence", does not seem possible.
