Co-chaired by: Rebecca Scott (Law/History) and Bridgette Carr (head of
the clinic on Human Trafficking at the UM Law School).

The panel brings together legal specialists from France, Brazil, Argentina, and the United States to share their
experience with action in this domain.

Leonardo Barbosa, staff attorney, Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, Michigan Grotius
Research Scholar, UM Law School.

Bénédicte Bourgeois, Director of Litigation, Comité Contre l’Esclavage Moderne, Paris
Marcelo Colombo, State Prosecutor with special responsibility in the area of human
trafficking, Argentina

Carlos Henrique Haddad, Federal Judge, Brazil, Michigan Grotius Research Scholar,
UM Law School

The term “slavery” has come to be used to describe modern forms of exploitation
that, while not involving the ownership of persons as property, contain elements in
common with chattel slavery. Legislators, litigators, judges, prosecutors and jurors now
face the challenge of understanding what we mean by “slavery” in a modern context.
How does one combat a practice that is widespread but often hidden, wrapped in layers
of illegality but characterized by a term – “slavery”– whose primary meaning generally
refers to a legally-recognized form of exploitation imposed upon persons of African
descent until its abolition in the nineteenth century?

Co-sponsors: The Law in Slavery and Freedom Project; International Institute;
Program in Race, Law & History; Center for Latin American and Caribbean
Studies; Institute for the Humanities; Human Trafficking Clinic (U-M Law),
Program in International and Comparative Studies.