Slavery: Still Legal in about Half the World’s Nations
In many parts of the world, slavery is still not considered a crime.
By: Jeff Charles | February 20, 2020 | 371 Words
For thousands of years, slavery has been an evil that spread across the world. These days, many believe the practice has been abolished in most nations. But a recent research by the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab shows that slavery is still legal in a surprisingly large number of nations.
Slavery Is Legal in Half of the World’s Nations
In the majority of Western nations, it is a crime to force a person to work without being paid. According to a Nottingham University researcher, however, slavery is legal in about half of the countries in the world. The researcher and lecturer, Katarina Schwarz, said: “It will surprise many people to learn that in all of these countries there are no criminal laws in place to prosecute, convict and punish people for subjecting people to the most extreme forms of exploitation.”
The research finds that 94 countries have not implemented laws forbidding slavery. This number accounts for almost half of the states that are a part of the United Nations. According to the International Labour Organization, over 40 million people are forced to be slaves; the actual number is likely to be far higher. While most of these victims are in Middle Eastern and African countries, plenty are secretly enslaved in Western nations that already have laws against the practice.
According to the U.S. State Department, almost a million individuals are trafficked across borders each year, with victims made up of around 70% women and girls, and up to 50% minors.
Slavery in America
Many Americans mistakenly believe that modern slavery only takes place in other countries, but this is not true. Many victims are trafficked over the southern U.S. border by cartels and other criminal gangs. In fact, in the state of Texas alone, about 300,000 people have been kidnapped and sold into slavery. The Walk Free Foundation estimated that in 2018, the U.S. was home to 403,000 individuals who were slaves or in slave-like conditions.
The United States government is working to find and arrest those in the country who enslave others. In 2016, federal authorities captured almost 2,000 people who were trafficking people over the southern border in order to put them under forced labor conditions. There is still much work to be done.
