Human Trafficking: The Modern Day Slavery of The 21st Century

Abstract

The transatlantic slave trade (ancient slavery) in which Africans were captured, chained and transported to Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States to work as slaves was officially abolished around 1807. Unfortunately, human trafficking appears to have replaced this abhorrent activity as the modern day slavery of the 21st century. This research discusses the similarities and differences between these two faces of slavery, differentiates human trafficking from human smuggling, outlines many dimensions of human trafficking, discusses the scope of the problem in several countries using the United States and Nigeria as prime examples, and identifies some of the factors that may foster human trafficking worldwide. This paper concludes that human trafficking constitutes a gross violation of human rights and a global threat to democracy and peace.