While Civil War Emancipation celebrates the end of African-American slavery in the Civil War, the fact remains that unfree labor persists around the world in the 21st Century, including sadly in the United States. Every June, the U.S. State Department issues a report on this issue. Here are some sobering statistics from the Trafficking in Persons Report 2010.
- Adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world: 12.3 million
- Successful trafficking prosecutions in 2009: 4,166
- Successful prosecutions related to forced labor: 335
- Victims identified: 49,105
- Ratio of convicted offenders to victims identified, as a percentage: 8.5
- Ratio of victims identified to estimated victims, as a percentage: 0.4
- Countries that have yet to convict a trafficker under laws in compliance with the Palermo Protocol: 62
- Countries without laws, policies, or regulations to prevent victims’ deportation: 104
- Prevalence of trafficking victims in the world: 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants
- Prevalence of trafficking victims in Asia and the Pacific: 3 per 1,000 inhabitants
Source: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/142980.pdf
