Friday, February 5, 2010

Slavery in the World Today

Fast Facts


What? real slaves. People held against their will and forced to work for no pay, or for just barely the necessities of life.


How Many? Free the Slaves estimates 27 million all over the world


Is It Legal? No, but the majority of governments look the other way.


How Much Does an Average Slave Cost? Roughly 90 dollars. By contrast, a slave in the 1850s cost roughly 40,000 of today's dollars.


How Many Slaves in the US? There are approximately 14,500 to 17,500 slaves trafficked into the US every year. At least 10,000 forced laborers are working at any given time.


Where do slaves work? Will I see them on the streets? Most of today's slaves never walk the streets or appear anywhere visible. They work in brothels, sweatshops, private homes, and on farms.


Do slaves in America come from foreign countries? Most do, but some are US citizens.


Where in the US is slavery? Forced labor operations have been found in as many as ninety US cities. Most appear to be concentrated in California, Florida, New York, and Texas.


Where in the world is slavery? The top ten countries based on number of reported cases are Mexico, United States, China, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Vietnam, Honduras, and the Philippines.


What do most slaves end up doing? The vast majority of slaves are women and girls forced into prostitution. The other areas of work, in order by number of cases, are domestic service, agriculture, sweatshop/factory, service/food/care, sexual exploitation of children, entertainment, and mail order bride. Note that two "non prostitution" categories on that list could also be defined as sex slavery.


To find out more and learn what you can do to help, visit http://www.freetheslaves.net/ (also the source of all information above)

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