Alex Jacobs: Forced labor remains an issue around the globe

Modern day slavery exists every day, everywhere all over in the world. You may hear that there are more people in slavery, as sex workers and forced labor bondage, than at any time in history. According to the UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) 2015 report, “The Economics of Forced Labor”, the illegal profits obtained through the practice of human trafficking/sex slavery/forced labor, amount to an estimated $150 billion per year worldwide, an estimated $99 billion in the sex trade (mostly women and girls) and the rest in forced labor (mostly men and boys). The ILO report says, 20 million people are in forced labor, 4.5 million of them are in the sex trade, and another 14.2 million are forced unpaid or underpaid labor; some 59,000 of these workers are in the U.S. and 5800 in Canada. A forced laborer makes a profit of $30,000 for their owner in a developed country, compared to $4800 per worker globally; a sex slave makes their owner 10X as much as forced labor in other areas.

That’s where the current “30-35 million in slavery worldwide” number comes from, but unlike the “good old days of slavery” when apologists will give you a list of why it wasn’t that bad and actually was good for the workers, the value of slave labor was a long process over time where there was a possibility of freedom for the worker after so much “profit” was made. Today the owners get a quick and high return on their investment but can “replace” the young worker very easily and quickly. That euphemism means death, drug addiction, or abandonment and if the culture is conservative, they can be shunned, abused and never fit back in society.

As you can see that’s a pretty good way to get attention, loosen heart-strings and send money to the nearest organization that pledges another war on euphemisms. Make no mistake the problem exists all over the world, maybe near your neighborhood, maybe you purchase goods made by child labor and we all know stories of someone who was affected, missing, abducted or who survived. Unfortunately there are high-profile cases of purported sex slave survivors who have embellished their own experiences into money making ventures.