No one knows the number. That’s what’s so scary.
It could be more than at any time in human history. It might be less (though that’s doubtful). What is true is that there are millions who are trapped, with virtually no recourse. And very few leaders are even paying attention, much less actively doing anything about it.
Yes, the State Department issues reports. They’ve issued one every year for the past 15 years. The United Nations issues reports. Both just issued their most recent reports. Pope Francis has recently highlighted the issue as one that deserves our utmost attention.
“I have high hopes, and believe that the United Nations must take a greater interest in this phenomenon, especially human trafficking caused by environmental issues, and the exploitation of people,” the pope said at a recent Vatican conference with mayors from around the world.
Yet, for all of the reports and the high-minded talk, we still don’t know the number. We don’t know the actual toll of suffering.
I’m talking about modern slavery — and it is beyond comprehension that in an era where virtually every CEO in any industry you can name knows the precise consumer habits of nearly all of us, we still don’t know how many people are actually subject to forced labor, human trafficking in sexual slavery, forced marriage and domestic servitude.
“At present, there is no sound estimate of the number of victims of trafficking in persons worldwide. Due to methodological difficulties and the challenges associated with estimating sizes of hidden populations such as trafficking victims, this is a task that has so far not been satisfactorily accomplished,” the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its most recent report on Global Trafficking in Persons.
The U.N. is certainly trying. It is now consulting widely with leading researchers on “hidden populations”, and how to truly identify them so that we can at least understand the magnitude of the problem. The U.N. has issued a bleak, mind-numbing report on the problems every year since 2010. But nothing much has improved. It’s too easy to be a criminal and get away with the crime of modern slavery. And the victims are silent.
“The exploitation of one human being by another is the basest crime. And yet trafficking in persons remains all too common, with all too few consequences for the perpetrators,” UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov wrote in the opening of its latest report.
Secretary of State John Kerry has said his office is serious about challenging countries like Russia on human trafficking. Senior officials at State claim great progress. They did so, again, in their latest report issued recently.
“Human trafficking infects key supply chains that produce the goods and services we rely on every day, and yet governments, businesses, and service providers are increasingly learning how to tackle and overcome slavery. We’re coming together to single-mindedly fight modern slavery and help victims recover with dignity and safety,” the State Department’s undersecretary for human rights, Sarah Sewall, told reporters at a briefing on its latest human trafficking report.
Her boss, John Kerry, spoke about eight NGO heroes from around the planet who have devoted themselves to fighting modern slavery. Their stories are inspiring. They are making a difference. But they are clearly and seriously outmatched by organized crime that sees immense profits in human trafficking, and by corporate interests that likewise see a profit motive in forced labor. It’s that simple.
Sewall says the State Department has a plan, at least, for putting pressure on government and corporate leaders outside organized crime to tackle modern slavery. “The report highlights how we can break our age-old reliance on forced labor in the industries and sectors that fuel our modern society, whether in agriculture or construction, manufacturing, or mining,” she said.
But the sad truth is that progress on modern slavery has been almost nonexistent for the past decade. We don’t know the number of global victims; criminal enforcement is virtually nonexistent; and hidden populations may be so vast that what we do know is just the tip of the iceberg.
Just look at the actual number of convictions for modern slavery — despite the fact that 90 percent of countries now have modern slavery criminal laws on the books. Between 2010 and 2012, 40 percent of countries reported that their modern slavery convictions were in the single digits. And 15 percent of the countries didn’t report a single conviction. Meanwhile, Fedotov said, child victims are on the rise, particularly girls under the age of 18, along with forced labor in certain industries.
And even the United States is hardly immune. Buzzfeed’s investigative unit recently reported on the staggering number of H-2 visa workers being exploited in parts of America, based on a comprehensive review of dozens of court and administrative cases.
Fedotov was blunt about what needs to be done. “It is…clear that without robust criminal justice responses, human trafficking will remain a low-risk, high-profit activity for criminals,” he wrote.
That enforcement also has to be local. Since human trafficking mostly occurs close to home, responses have to be tailored to regions, he wrote.
But even more than this, government leaders need to at least acknowledge the problem. “Governments need to send a clear signal that human trafficking will not be tolerated,” he wrote, adding that they need to identify actual ways in which modern slavery can be dealt with head on through “legislation, proper enforcement, suitable sanctions for convicted traffickers and protection of victims.”
An actual number of the global victims of modern slavery would be a good start.
More from U.S. News
Combat Human Trafficking By Disrupting Its Profit Cycle
Modern Slavery Emerges From the Shadows
Has State Department’s Human Trafficking Report Upgraded Countries for Political Reasons?
Modern Slavery: No One Knows the Extent originally appeared on usnews.com
Correction 07/28/15: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Sarah Sewall’s name.
