There Are Still 46 Million Slaves in the World
Slavery today is more hidden, but still affects millions—including in the U.S.
Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty
The American Civil War ended 150 years ago, but slavery is far from over, according to a new report—even within the United States.
The 2016 Global Slavery Index, released by the Walk Free Foundation on Tuesday, estimates that there are 45.8 million slaves in the world today, including 57,700 in the U.S.
“Slavery is not a thing of the past, and we must stop thinking that it is,” the Foundation told CNN. “The very nature of modern slavery means it is clandestine and hidden from view, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t everywhere. Every country in the world is affected.”
The Walk Free Foundation defines modern slavery as “situations where one person has taken away another person’s freedom” to control their own body or to refuse to work.
By this definition, the United States has about 0.02 percent of the world’s modern slave population.
Most of the world’s slavery, according to the report, is concentrated in just five countries: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan. Those five nations combined are home to 58 percent of the world’s slaves.