Slavery in Today's World

Human trafficking and slavery are often overlooked by many in our society. The two are very closely related because many victims of human trafficking end up as slaves. Shockingly, today there are more victims of slavery and human trafficking than ever before. Though slavery is banned worldwide and many countries have strict laws against human trafficking, they are prevalent in all corners of our world. Slavery is even found in the United States, as an estimated 14,000 people are trafficked into the US each year, most of who become inducted into prostitution rings.

Poverty, overpopulation, and the lack of education have contributed much towards modern day slavery. Established sex trafficking networks exist in almost every country and this lucrative trade is highly profitable, victimizing many young women. Many people in India still follow the banned caste system, in which millions are born into slavery each year. Pakistan alone has 20 million bonded laborers, who are subject to terrible working conditions and are almost always threatened by violence. Slavery is not a issue of the past; it is very much a problem in today’s world, and will be a issue in the future as well.

Anti-slavery advocates define slavery as “The total control of one person by another for the purpose of economic exploitation.” This includes forced labor, bonded labor, forced marriage, and trafficking. Many people are unaware of the magnitude slavery occurs in today’s world. According to Kevin Bales, a leading anti-slavery advocate, the cost of obtaining a slave today is far less than during the pre-Civil war era. It is disturbing to see that humans are still sold as commodities; something that most of us thought was banned by the turn of the 20th century.