Does Slavery Exist Today?

Yes, slavery still exists today, to sum it up. It is believed that over 403,000 people in the United States are now enslaved.

Slavery is still practised all across the world, yet it is hidden from view.

Slavery is universally considered in the same manner as it has been throughout history. A slave is someone who is "forced to work without pay under fear of violence and unable to walk away," according to Kevin Bales, co-founder of Free the Slaves.

Human trafficking is a term we regularly use instead of slavery. Human trafficking is defined by the United Nations as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, intending to exploit them for profit.”.

Historically, individuals forced into slavery were highly valuable to slaveholders. Capturing individuals and sending them to the U.S. was challenging and costly.

Individuals who were forced into slavery were historically extremely valuable to slaveowners. Capturing people and transporting them to the United States was difficult and expensive.

However, today's slave supply and demand are great, but the cost is cheap. Individuals are quite easy to entrap and coerce into slavery for modern traffickers. An average slave cost around $40,000 in 1850. (adjusted for inflation). Today, the average cost of a slave is only $90 worldwide.

More people are enslaved today than at any other time in recorded history. However, defining slavery is far more difficult than it was when it was legal and publicly practised. Due to its hidden or "underground" character, modern-day slavery can be difficult, if not impossible, to detect.

The situation has been exacerbated by the quickly growing industry for cybersex trafficking and child internet exploitation.

Because human trafficking is so well disguised, it's easy for people to believe it doesn't exist. "Traffickers continuously change their strategies to elude discovery and operate in zones of impunity," according to the Trafficking in Persons Report.

Slavery in the modern era entails one person or a group of individuals managing and exploiting others for financial earnings. False promises, unjust obligations, or desperation to sustain themselves and their family are common ways in which victims are duped.

While everyone can be enslaved, some groups are frequently targeted because of their weaknesses. Someone inexperienced with their surroundings, a member of a disenfranchised population, or in severe need of labor, love, and shelter is more readily exploited. Abuse, addiction, and trauma have all been present in the lives of many of these people. Foster children, persons of color, LGBTQ+ people, and migrants are among the groups most at risk of becoming victims of modern-day slavery.

Veronica Marinangeli, 5ASA

21/03/2022

links for further reading:

Global Estimates of Modern Slavery - International Labour Office

Summary of Findings - Antislavery in Domestic Legislation

2018 Highlights - Global Slavery Index

Countries that still have slavery - Borgen Project

What is Modern Slavery? - U.S. Department of State

Slave states and free states - Wiki

FONTE:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-that-still-have-slavery

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