Trafficking in Persons, as Pope Benedict XVI reminds us, is a real ‘scourge’ of our time and is generally referred to as ‘Modern Day Slavery'. It is difficult to comprehend that in this day and age slavery still exists; that people are bought and sold and transported all over the world. Yet, it has been suggested that slavery is more common now than at any time in world history and that hardly any country is untouched by it. Due to the underground nature of trafficking, there are no official records of trafficked persons, therefore, estimates vary widely. Some estimate that there are 27 million in slavery worldwide; that approximately 800 000 people are trafficked across national borders. This does not include the millions trafficked within their own country. Child trafficking is said to be on the increase. The United Nations estimates that child-trafficking alone generates 7 to10 billion US dollars annually for traffickers. It cites trafficking in persons as the second most lucrative crime around the world next to the drug trade and that 30% of trafficking victims are below the age of 18.
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