“Twenty-seven million slaves exist in our world today. Girls and boys, women and men of all ages are forced to toil in the rug loom sheds of Nepal, sell their bodies in the brothels of Rome, break rocks in the quarries of Pakistan, and fight wars in the jungles of Africa. Go behind the façade in any major town or city in the world today and you are likely to find a thriving commerce in human beings. You may even find slavery in your own backyard.”
I was shocked to find out that:
• 800,000 are trafficked across international borders annually
• 17,500 new victims are trafficked across our borders each year
• 30,000 additional slaves are trans-ported through the U.S. on their way to other international destinations
• Of the 27 million people worldwide held captive and exploited for profit today, the Free the Slaves organization estimates that at least 15 million are bonded slaves in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
• The slave trade generates $9.5 billion in revenue each year
Kevin Bales, a pioneer in the fight against modern slavery, expresses well those commercial connections: "Slaves in Pakistan may have made the shoes you are wearing and the carpet you stand on. Slaves in the Caribbean may have put sugar in your kitchen and toys in the hands of your children. In India they may have sewn the shirt on your back and polished the ring on your finger."
Read the story of a modern day abolitionist, Kru Nam at http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0703&article=07031.
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