are currently estimated to be victims of modern slavery.
Where Do Trafficking Victims Come From? Where Are They Moved?
Select a country below
Click on each for more information.
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Trafficking: A Regional View
This visualization displays regional data related to the gravity of human trafficking and the effectiveness of world governments in mitigating the effects of the crisis. To view data belonging to a particular region, hover your mouse over different sections of the chord diagram, which represents the volume of victims trafficked between regions.
| Number of Nations | 168 |
| Mean Vulnerability (/100) | 38.7 |
| Mean Trafficking (% of Pop.) | 0.54% |
| Mean Government Responsiveness (/100) | 39.7 |
The crime of trafficking in persons affects virtually every
country in every region of the world. Between 2010 and
2012, victims with 152 different citizenships were identified
in 124 countries across the globe.
Transregional trafficking flows are mainly detected in the
rich countries of the Middle East, Western Europe and
North America. These flows often involve victims from
the ‘global south’; mainly East and South Asia and SubSaharan
Africa.
How Severe is the Problem?
Of the millions entrapped in forced servitude, only some are supported to exit slavery. Adjust the slider above to display countries with the corresponding proportion of slaves who are supported to exit slavery (sorted by estimated enslaved population).
Depicting countries in which
30% or more are supported to exit slavery.
out ofHow do Victims Experience Trafficking?
United States
"Entrapped in that little house, the man beat and raped me regularly." - Maria Suarez
With her family struggling to survive on their small farm in Mexico, Maria Suarez left for the United States. A lady offered Maria housework at an elderly couple’s house. Arriving at the house, Maria sensed something was not right as the phone had a lock on it. Maria was held captive for 6 years, consistently raped and beaten. She had no idea where she was (Azusa, California) and couldn’t even speak English.
Cote d’Ivoire
“In 1850, an average slave in the American South cost the equivalent of $40,000 in today’s money. Today a slave costs about $90 on average worldwide.” - Free the Slaves NGO
60% of Cote d'Ivoire's export revenue comes from cocoa. The industry relies on cheap, “disposable” slave labor. There are approximately 2.3mm children working on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. The majority of these children come from poor neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso. These children - as young as 5 - are abducted or tricked into coming by promising false rewards, and then subjected to harsh labor conditions.
Mali
“When people eat chocolate, they are eating my flesh.” - Mali Chocolate Slave
India
"I just pray to god that my child will be found." - Chichay
Chichay’s son went missing at the age of 6. His son was found 5 years later thanks to a NGO assisted raid of the carpet loom that enslaved Chichay’s son. Bonded labor slavery is common in India, affecting an approximated 15 million people. The “Dalit” class - known as the “untouchables” - are saddled with insurmountable debt and forced to work in sub-human conditions for as little as 11 cents an hour.
Indonesia
“The Captains forced us to drink unclean water and work 20-22 hours shifts with no days off” - Benjina Fisherman Slave
In 1993, Myint Naing was 18-years-old and looking to support his family in Mynammar. He agreed to work in Thailand as a fisherman and was promised modest financial reward. Instead, he was taken to the remote island of Benjina, Indonesia where he was enslaved. Working conditions were unbearable, for example needing to work in the ship’s giant freezer without proper clothes. Myint - along with thousands of others - was rescued in 2015, 22 years after he left home.
Myanmar
Returning home after 22 years of slavery
Lebanon
Several countries have banned their citizens from working as domestic helpers in Lebanon given the slave-like conditions.
Beatrice Fernando left Sri Lanka for Lebanon to work as a housemaid. A divorcee, Beatrice was desperate to support her three year-old son. The employer in fact acted more like a slave owner, having Beatrice work 20-hours a day polishing floors and shampooing carpets. Food was not even provided, leaving Beatrice to scavenge through trash. Desperate to escape, Beatrice jumped from the fourth story balcony. Incredibly, she survived.
Russia
Russia has the largest incidence of slavery in Europe. Forced labour and commercial sex exploitation are the most common forms here.
What Can I Do?
Know how to spot the indicators. There are a number of red flags that might be used to identify when victimization is occurring. Trafficking is incredibly difficult to monitor and detect, so authorities often rely on communities to be vigilant. If you suspect that trafficking may be occurring in your community and you live within the United States, you can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888.
Be a conscientious consumer. Consider the origins of the food, clothing, and other products that you consume. Encourage the companies that you purchase from to investigate sources of labor exploitation in their production pipelines.
Be aware of human trafficking laws in your region, and support legislative efforts to criminalize and reduce trafficking.
About Us
We are four M.S. students at the Institute for Applied Computational Science at Harvard University. We would like to thank the teaching staff of CS171: Visualization, and in particular our project mentor, Zona Kostic, for their continued support and training in data handling and visualization.
Sarah Mohamed
Omar Abboud
Laura Ware
