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Report: Global Slavery Is More Profitable Than Tobacco and Google—Combined

Report: Global Slavery Is More Profitable Than Tobacco and Google—Combined

A heartbreaking new report from the U.N.’s International Labor Organization (ILO), shows just how prominent—and just how profitable—human slavery remains around the world. According to their estimates, modern day slavery brings in more than $150.2 billion a year; that’s more than tobacco ($35B), Google ($50B), Big Oil ($120B) and even the U.S. banking system ($141.3B). Their report shows that there are at least 21 million people trapped in forced labor—26 percent of whom are children. The group’s research also found that most of the profits that traffickers and capturers take in is through sexual exploitation. As The Huffington Post reports, the ILO says that because slavery “remains a low risk and high gain industry,” it will continue to be a terrible global problem unless governments make top-level changes to take the fight against forced labor more seriously …

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