Varying forms of modern slavery have increased significantly in the last five years, according to the UN. This is despite global efforts to eradicate all forms of modern slavery. As the world marks International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, here are some of the places where the practice is still pervasive.
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00:00 So while slavery ended legally back in the 1800s in the US and later on in other countries,
00:05 the fight's far from over. Modern slavery is unfortunately on the rise. Modern slavery
00:12 includes forced labor, death bondage, forced marriages, and human trafficking. It is a grim
00:18 reality for about 50 million people worldwide. Shockingly, that number was 40 million just in
00:26 2016. Across Africa, the practice is pervasive. In Mali, people could be born into slavery if
00:33 their parents were slaves. That's called hereditary slavery. And in West Africa,
00:39 the chocolate industry has got a bitter side. Child labor and coercion are common. In Libya,
00:47 the UN has found overwhelming evidence of sexual slavery perpetrated on sub-Saharan African
00:53 migrants. The UN says the country's coast guards were responsible for the abuses. But the practice
01:00 is by no means restricted to Africa. More than half of all forced labor is in upper middle-income
01:07 or high-income countries, according to the UN. Ending modern slavery needs everyone.
01:13 Laws need to be enforced, education should be increased, and multinational companies
01:19 must source their raw materials ethically. But the first step is awareness.
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