Every year on December 2nd, the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery draws attention to slavery that still exists in the world. This day also focuses on the eradication of contemporary slavery.
Many Americans think of slavery as something from history. This type of slavery involved the ownership and forced labor of African Americans. The country put an end to this type of slavery in 1865.
Unfortunately, however, slavery still exists. Today, modern slavery and human trafficking is a billion-dollar business. Global profits are believed to exceed $150 billion. According to the United Nations, slavery traps over 40 million people around the world. Modern slavery victimizes one in four children, globally. Additionally, victims of modern slavery experience unimaginable suffering.
The primary forms of modern slavery include:
- Forced labor – involves migrant workers who work in domestic servitude, agriculture, and the food and garment industry. Forced labor also includes prostitution.
- Child labor – involves children used for economic exploitation. It also includes any instance when work deprives children of their childhood or interferes with their ability to attend school.
- Trafficking – involves recruiting, transporting, forcing, or coercing individuals to exploit them in some way. It usually refers to prostitution but also includes labor, slavery, or servitude.
Vulnerable groups in society are usually targeted for modern slavery. These groups include tribal minorities, indigenous peoples, and those who belong in a low caste. Victims also include those who can’t fight back. These victims are children, women, and those with mental illness or physical disability.
Every year on June 12 the World Day Against Child Labor is observed to raise awareness of the plight of child laborers worldwide. Hundreds of millions of girls and boys around the world are affected.
Every year the world continues to get more and more crowded. While we’ve a tendency to pack ourselves into massive cities, and there are presently still long open stretches of countryside, every year that gets whittled away at more and more. The power and food needs of the world continue to place a greater and greater strain on our ability to meet them, and resources in general are becoming harder and harder to come by. World Population Day comes along each year to remind us that our present rate of population growth is unsustainable, and the present social and logistical issues we are experiencing to meet the demand of that population will only get worse if we don’t do something.
affected.