Global
slavery has become a profitable growth industry generating an estimated
$150 billion a year in illicit profits. Modern-day slaves include
construction workers in the Persian Gulf, girls from Nepal trafficked
into prostitution, shrimp fishermen on Thai ships, children in India
working in brick kilns and garment workers in Bangladesh. Slavery is
also present in prostitution rings, and even in private homes that
employ domestic workers in the United States and Europe.
The
United Nations estimates that 21 million people are trapped in forced
labor, while the Walk Free Foundation puts the number of people around
the world used, bought, sold or transferred for exploitation at nearly
36 million. Despite laws that clearly make the practice illegal, slavery
is increasing. Women and girls account for 70 percent of those
trafficked.
Just
five countries account for 61 percent of the world’s slaves. India has,
by far, more enslaved people than any country — more than 14 million.
Three million are enslaved in China; two million in Pakistan; 1.2
million in Uzbekistan and one million in Russia. In Mauritania, which
made slavery illegal decades ago but remains prey to an entrenched
tradition of slavery, 4 percent of the population is enslaved. Poverty,
conflict, gender inequality and relentless pressure to reduce labor
costs provide fertile ground for slavery.
Fourteen
years ago, the United States made human trafficking illegal, and the
United Nations adopted the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking. Clearly, much more needs to be done. The House of
Lords is currently considering a Modern Slavery Bill aimed at meting out
tougher sentences in Britain to traffickers. The new British
anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland, is threatening to expose
companies that fail to eliminate slavery from their supply chains. This
is a potentially effective tactic.
There
also needs to be more transparency and accountability in how millions
of dollars for combating trafficking are spent. Precious little reaches
the victims, according to the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
It also does no good to have laws on the books against forced labor and
child labor, as India does, if these are not vigorously enforced.
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