27 MILLION ENSLAVED
Experts estimate that there are 27 million people around the world living as slaves today. That number is overwhelming, so here is a comparison. Let’s look at New York City, the most populous city in the U.S., with 8,244,910 inhabitants. That number means there are 3.72 New York Cities worth of slaves around the world. These people are forced by their traffickers to work, most in inhumane circumstances, for little to no compensation. Victims of trafficking harvest our cotton and produce, make our clothing in sweatshops, mine our precious metals and minerals, work as domestic servants, serve as forced prostitutes, and the list goes on. While slavery is legal nowhere, it happens everywhere. Although 27,000,000 is a staggering number, it is comprised of individuals, each with his or her personal stories, pains, dreams, and hopes.
