Do we know our Slaves?

I was reading an article in Forerunner Magazine, and stumbled across these horrifying statistics, you can read more here if you'd like- written from an interesting viewpoint...

International Statistics

» There are at least 27 million slaves worldwide.

» Worldwide at least 1.2 million children are trafficked every year, and at least 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year.

» Human slaves are cheap. In 1850, the average slave cost $40,000 in today's dollar. Presently, a slave costs $90 on average.

» At the extreme fringe, children are kidnapped, held in remote camps, and chained at night to prevent their escape. They are put to work on road-building and stone-quarrying. Such child labor, often hard and hazardous, damages health for life, and deprives children of education and the normal enjoyment of their early years.

» Forcible recruitment of children into military service occurs in many parts of the world. The consequences are devastating. Many have died or been disabled in armed conflict, while others have been interrogated, tortured, beaten, or kept as prisoners of war. An estimated 300,000 child-soldiers, some younger than 10 years old, are involved in over 30 areas of conflict worldwide.

» Some children between 7 and 10 years of age work 12 to 14 hours a day and are paid less than one-third of the adult wage. In addition, 126 million children work in the worst forms of child labor— one in every 12 of the world's 5-17 year olds.

» Child domestic servants not only work long hours for a pittance, but are particularly vulnerable to sexual as well as other physical abuse.

» Worldwide, the multibillion-dollar sex-trade industry involves an estimated two million children—including Cambodia, Thailand, and Costa Rica, where "sex tourism" is big business. The average age of women entering into prostitution is 14. The profits to be made are immense when 12- to 15-year-old children can be purchased for $800 to $2,000—and used for five to ten years before they are cast away.

American Statistics

» The United States is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking in persons. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates that 50,000 people are trafficked into or transited through the country annually as sex slaves, domestics, and garment and agricultural slaves, of which 80% are women and children.

» Research conducted with Free the Slaves found documented cases of slavery in over 90 U.S. cities. States with the greatest concentration of trafficked persons are New York, California, and Florida. Washington, DC, also has a large trafficked population.

» Between 100,000 and 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk for sex trafficking each year. As many as 2.8 million children live on the streets, a third of whom are lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. The average age of a person's entry into pornography and prostitution in the U.S. is between 12 and 14.

» Forced marriage is another form of slavery, and at least 200 "matchmaking" organizations operate in the U.S., arranging prospective "brides" for male clients.

Child labor, military service, domestic servants, sex-trade industry, prostitution, forced marriage - horrors of our society, horrors that happen every day, even as we are blind to them. The injustice agitates my spirit- what happens to those children's playtime, to tickling wars with their siblings, to baking cookies with their mothers, why should these small joys be stolen away from them? Why should we allow this to happen right under our noses? Do you notice how much slavery has to do with sex? All slavery is a form of selfishness, but I feel sexual slavery is the most selfish thing to force upon a child. Can you imagine it? A young girl, only thirteen years old, skipping home from school, her parents are out working so she goes to play in the streets, hopelessly lost she doesn't find the way back home that night. The next day passes, her parents are concerned, but think perhaps she had a sleepover with one of her friends. Night comes and she is still on the streets alone, and afraid. Next thing you know someone offers her warm place to stay, disoriented and hungry she accepts. Before she knows to scream "help!" she is threatened into prostitution. Do we think they want this? They don't know their "options" they are frightened, and they are children,they are psychologically bonded to those who enslave them, and we allowing this to happen! We don't know the filth of the crimes committed in our own nation. It is time to get educated!

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that well over 100,000 children and young women are sex trafficked every day. Many victims are not runaways or kids who have been abandoned but rather have been lured or coerced by clever predators."

Read more at Suite101: Sex Trafficking of Children in America: Girls Lured or Kidnapped into Prostitution