Modern Slavery - sometimes, I hate the world in which we live

I hate to do what I don't want. Imagine to be forced to do something against your will, such as prostitution, unpaid work... and other things that I cannot even think about.

You can read here a small part from Trafficking in Persons Report 2008, published by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State. The numbers are big, and the stories from the report paint only a small part of the entire suffering of the trafficked persons. I was shocked to see that one of the stories is about Lila - a 19 years old girl from Romania.

"The Scope and Nature of Modern-Day Slavery
The common denominator of trafficking scenarios is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit a person for profit. A victim can be subjected to labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, or both. Labor exploitation includes traditional chattel slavery, forced labor, and debt bondage. Sexual exploitation typically includes abuse within the commercial sex industry. In other cases, victims are exploited in private homes by individuals who often demand sex as well as work. The use of force or coercion can be direct and violent or psychological.

A wide range of estimates exists on the scope and magnitude of modern-day slavery. The International Labor Organization (ILO)—the United Nations agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues—estimates that there are 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude at any given time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million.

Annually, according to U.S. Government-sponsored research completed in 2006, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders, which does not include millions trafficked within their own countries. Approximately 80 percent of transnational victims are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors. The majority of transnational victims are females trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. These numbers do not include millions of female and male victims around the world who are trafficked within their own national borders—the majority for forced or bonded labor.

Human traffickers prey on the vulnerable. Their targets are often children and young women, and their ploys are creative and ruthless, designed to trick, coerce, and win the confidence of potential victims. Very often these ruses involve promises of a better life through employment, educational opportunities, or marriage.

The nationalities of trafficked people are as diverse as the world’s cultures. Some leave developing countries, seeking to improve their lives through low-skilled jobs in more prosperous countries. Others fall victim to forced or bonded labor in their own countries. Women, eager for a better future, are susceptible to promises of jobs abroad as babysitters, housekeepers, waitresses, or models—jobs that traffickers turn into the nightmare of forced prostitution without exit. Some families give children to adults, often relatives, who promise education and opportunity—but sell the children into exploitative situations for money. But poverty alone does not explain this tragedy, which is driven by fraudulent recruiters, employers, and corrupt officials who seek to reap unlawful profits from others’ desperation".

http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/

It's all about trust, money, poverty, dirty desires... and selfishness. It's painful. It hurts and makes me hate all those "no-heart beings" who sell these people and those who pay and use them. And what scares me even more is that just watching a porno movie or eating the cheapest fruits from Africa might transform you/us in "slave masters" too, because we encourage through our decisions/actions/money the slavery!