Scope of Modern Slavery

According to a new survey by The Global Slavery Index, “Nearly 36 million people in 167 surveyed countries live in modern slavery,” which is almost double the estimates of a 2012 survey (The Washington Post, November 18, 2014). The number of enslaved people worldwide is roughly equivalent to the entire population of Argentina or Poland or the Sudan (The Global Slavery Index). Nations that enslave the largest number of people are India (14 million), China (3 million), Pakistan (2 million) and Uzbekistan and Russia (1 million each). Most nations enslave their own people and not foreigners. In Mauritania and Uzbekistan, nearly 4 percent of the population is enslaved. According to the survey, even leading Western nations have a slavery problem: the UK, France, and Germany each have roughly 10,000 slaves and the U.S. has roughly 60,000 (ibid.).

Factors that increase the likelihood of slavery include: political instability, lack of human rights protections, poor economic development, historical subjugation of and discrimination against women, and a lack of governmental policies against slavery (ibid.). Powerful government action is required to prevent slavery—something the entire world will finally experience when Jesus Christ returns. The prophet Isaiah gives a wonderful vision of this time: “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (61:1). God speed this time!

For more on this vision, read The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like?