On Poverty’s Coattails, Slavery Thrives

Impoverished girls from Eastern Europe and Africa are prime targets for pimps and smugglers. As many as 5,000 youth have been sold into prostitution and literal domestic slavery in the United Kingdom, according to a new study. In India, participants in the Global March Against Child Labor decried what they say is a $32 billion worldwide industry that mostly preys upon women and children. And Reuters reports that Myanmar, a police state that formerly branded emigrant laborers “traitors,” has established new rules protecting them after 66 Myanmar citizens were rescued from a Thai factory where some were imprisoned for seven years. Sources:
“‘Human trafficking is a $32 bn worldwide business'”
Indo-Asian News Service, February 24, 2007
“Sex traffic: Danielle was 15 when she was sold into slavery in the U.K.”