The prevention and prosecution of modern slavery and trafficking is of relatively recent interest to private philanthropy; its metrics are still not fully defined. The Global Slavery Index, a project of the Walk Free Foundation, recently agreed with the UN’s International Labor Organization on a total of 40.3 million victims (71% are women and girls), that includes forced marriages as well as forced and child labor (25% in domestic service), trafficking, and sexual exploitation (12% of the total).

But if one considers the “flow” figure  —  the number of humans who have experienced slavery at some point in their lives  — numbers shoot up to 89 million. Half the victims are in some form of debt bondage, including the 400,000 Nepalese working abroad who will never manage to repay their recruiters. Half the victims are in the Asia-Pacific region: Cambodians in Thai brothels, Indonesians on Korean fishing boats, children in Indian brick kilns, unpaid cotton pickers in Uzbekistan or garment workers in Chinese factories in Myanmar. But many labor under our noses on construction sites, in nail parlors, sweatshops, brothels and even in fine homes.

Read the full article about ending modern slavery by Sylvia Brown at medium.com.