The Scourge of Modern Slavery
More people are enslaved today than any other time in history
Between the 15th and 19th centuries, 13 million people were enslaved. Today over 40 million people are living as slaves, according to the UN’s International Labor Organization. Women and girls make up 71% of the slave trade, while children account for 25%, or 10 million of all global slaves.
A person is a slave if forced to perform work against their will, or is controlled by exploiters. Have little if any freedom of movement, are dehumanized, or bought and sold as property. Another form of slavery is forced marriages; 15.4 million people find themselves in this type of bondage.
Many modern-day slaves, 16 million, clean houses, produce clothing, pick fruit and vegetables, trawl for shrimp, and work in mines. Another 4.8 million slaves are trafficked for sex with women and girls enduring most of the abuse. Some countries, like Mauritania, people are born into slavery.
Why is slavery so widespread today? Because slavery rakes in $150 billion in annual profits. About $46 billion comes from developed nations. Advances in technology and transportation have lowered over-head expenses, making slavery more profitable than ever before. And migration gives exploiters an almost infinite supply of victims for global supply chains, farming, fashion, and sex trafficking.
Siddharth Kara, an expert on modern-day slavery, says modern exploiters make up to 30% more than slave traders earned in the 18th and 19th century.
“It turns out that slavery today is more profitable than I could have imagined,” Kara said. “Profits on a per-slave basis can range from a few thousand dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars a year, with total annual slavery profits estimated to be as high as $150bn.”
An increase in violent wars over the last 30 years has added to the slavery problem. Armed groups have increasingly turned to human trafficking to display their dominance over a community. Some exploiters give sex slaves to their men as a reward for recruiting child soldiers. This scourge and under-reported problem, must end.
