Modern Day Slavery
By: Justin Ghidossi, TJ Peck, Tate Peterson
Background Information
. It is estimated that there are anywhere from 20 to 30 million people who are in slavery at this moment. This is a large increase from the 12.3 million slaves estimated in the 2005 study done by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
.Forced labor lies within the realms of sexual abuse and prostitution, state-enforced work and many others.
.As of 1981, slavery is not considered legal anywhere. That year, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. However, the act of owning slaves didn’t become a crime in Mauritania until 2007.
.Slave-owners often use euphemisms instead of the term “slavery” in order to avoid getting caught.Such euphemisms include: debt bondage, bonded labor, attached labor, restavec (a French word that means “one who stays with”), forced labor and indentured servitude.
.According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons report, there are 800,000 people trafficked across international borders every year; 80 percent of those victims being female.
.According to the U.S. Department of State, one million children are exploited by the global sex trade every year. The average age a teen enters the American sex trade is 12-14 years of age.
.The average cost of a slave is about $90.