Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery

Report or Suspect Trafficking?  Call the National Hotline 1-888-3737-888.

At least 27 million human beings are currently enslaved worldwide. Approximately 2 million women and girls worldwide are victims of the growing trade in sex slaves. The CIA estimates that 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the U.S. every year as forced laborers. Some experts estimate that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 slaves in the U.S. today.

Poverty is one major cause of slavery. Suffering families, if desperate enough for food, will sometimes sell a child into slavery. The most common form of slavery is debt bondage, in which a human being becomes collateral against a loan; for example, a child might be provided as collateral for a loan. Because of high interest, family debts can be inherited, causing future generations to be destined to slavery as well.   

--Adapted from Education for Justice

All over the world slaves are forced to work and supply us with the things we buy. Raw materials and commodities like cotton, sugar, iron, gold, diamonds, coffee, timber, fish, cocoa, as well as goods like clothing, shoes, toys, and bricks come from slave labor. These commodities and goods flow into the global product chain and arrive in our homes. Businesses can help stop slavery by taking responsibility and cleaning up their products chains. As consumers, the last step in that product chain, each of us has to take responsibility as well. 

--Adapted from Free the Slaves

Learn more

• Watch, Taken http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/
http://www.cargoinnocencelost.com/home.html 

Other films on Human Trafficking http://www.ungift.org/ungift/knowledge/resources.html  

Websites to visit


• Look Beneath the Surface http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/index.html

• 21st Century Slaves http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0309/feature1/

• Anti-Slavery http://www.antislavery.org/

• Children of the Night http://childrenofthenight.org/home.html

• Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking http://www.castla.org/

• Free the Slaves http://www.freetheslaves.net/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=183&srcid=183

• Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force
http://www.ochumantrafficking.org

• Rescue and Restore Campaign http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/

• Stop Human Trafficking Newsletter http://homepage.mac.com/srjeanschafersds/stoptraffic/index.html

Prayer

God of Justice,

You have given all of your childrenhuman dignity and human rights.

Help us recognize the dignity and the rightsof all of human kind.

Open our hearts to hear your teachings,open our eyes to the sufferingof those who are deniedtheir basic economic, social, political and social rights.

Let our voices join in declaring all humanity is sacred, all human rights must be respected.      

                                                            Amen                                                             

--Adapted from Education for Justice

< Back to Issues

Other Issues

Women > read more

Water > read more

Immigration/Migration/Refugees > read more

Migrant Deaths on US/Mexico Border > read more

Mountain Top Removal/Mining > read more

Common Good > read more

Peace > read more

Ecological Justice > read more

Death Penalty > read more

Human Rights > read more

Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery > read more

Health Care > read more

Fair Trade > read more

Unity/Reconciliation > read more

Responsible Investing > read more

Eradicate Poverty and Hunger > read more