Debt bondage (or bonded labour) is when a person pledges him or herself against a loan. In debt bondage, the services required to repay the debt may be undefined, and the services' duration may be undefined. Debt bondage can be passed on from generation to generation.
In modern times, debt bondage is most prevalent in South Asia.
Read more about Debt Bondage: Legal Definition, Modern Views
Famous quotes containing the words debt and/or bondage:
“However patriarchal the world, at home the child knows that his mother is the source of all power. The hand that rocks the cradle rules his world. . . . The son never forgets that he owes his life to his mother, not just the creation of it but the maintenance of it, and that he owes her a debt he cannot conceivably repay, but which she may call in at any time.”
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