Although slavery and the slave trade were abolished in the 19th century, they have not been eradicated.
Indeed, it is one of the most flourishing and profitable businesses world wide, often quoted as the third most profitable business for organized crime after drugs and the arms trade. Modern human trafficking does however differ from the 19th century slave trade in a number of ways, including great regional variations, but it is difficult to get a precise overview over the industry due to its clandestine nature.
What is human trafficking?
Today, we refer to the slave trade as human trafficking, or trafficking in persons. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, human trafficking “involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them”, and constitutes a crime against humanity.