Senate Resolution Highlights Modern-day Slavery

On December 9, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution (S. Res. 549) calling for the abolition of modern-day slavery to be a priority in U.S. foreign and domestic policy.

Sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), the resolution includes a number of findings, including:

• in the 21st century, as many as 27 million people are suffering as slaves throughout the world and in the United States;
• an estimated 800,000 persons are trafficked across international borders each year;
• an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 victims are trafficked into the United States each year;
• approximately 80 percent of victims are female and an estimated 40 to 50 percent of victims are children;
• many of the victims are trafficked into the international sex trade, which includes sexual exploitation of persons involving activities, including prostitution, pornography, sex tourism, and other commercial sexual services;
• trafficking brutalizes men, women, and children, and exposes them to rape, torture, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, violence, dangerous working conditions, poor nutrition, drug and alcohol addiction, and severe psychological trauma from separation, coercion, sexual abuse, and depression;
• the Department of Health and Human Services states that human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry worldwide; and
• modern-day slavery also includes bonded labor, forced labor, forced marriage, chattel slavery, and child labor.