Slavery In The 21st Century

 If you thought slavery were a thing of the past, think again.  Right now, almost 50 million people worldwide are trapped in slavery.  It's a problem that affects every country on earth.

Slavery today may look different than our picture of American slavery from the 19th century.  Modern slavery encompasses many forms of slavery, including human trafficking and people being born into slavery.

The definition of modern slavery varies, depending on who you talk to, but at Anti-Slavery International, they define it as "When an individual is exploited by others, for personal or commercial gain.  Whetcher tricked, coerced, or forced, they lose their freedom."

Modern slavery is often around us in plain sight.  People can become enslaved making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories, or working in homes.  Victims of modern slavery might face violence or threats, be forced into inescapable debt, or have their passport taken from them.

Here are a few staggering statistics.  49.6 million people live in modern slavery-in forced labour or forced marriage.  A quarter of all victims are children.  22 million people are in forced marriages.  27.6  million people are trapped in forced labor, 17.3 million are in forced labour exploitation in the private economy, 6.3 are in commercial sexual exploitation, and 4 million are in forced labour imposed by state authorities.

Sobering statistics.  The most common types of slavery today are human trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage labour, descent-based slavery (where people are born into slavery), child slavery, forced and early marriage, and domestic servitude.

Where do we find modern day slavery?  North Korea, Eritrea, Burundi, India, China, and Pakistan, just to name a few.  People may end up trapped in slavery because they're vulnerable to being tricked, trapped and exploited, often the result of poverty, and laws that do not protect them.  Tragic to hear this, when we have so much.  Fortunately, there are organizations working to eliminate this.  More about this later.