Human trafficking is a very profitable, low risk business venture. Photo: Samuel Ronnqvist (flickr)

Modern slavery takes many forms. Free the Slaves estimates that worldwide, there are 27 million people being forced to work without pay. In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Siddarth Kara says that human sex trafficking has become one of the most lucrative types of slavery, with much higher profit margins than those of top-performing companies like Google. Kara, a former investment banker with an MBA and a law degree, believes that the best way to fight human trafficking is to address its economic side:

Sex trafficking is probably the most profitable form of slavery the world has ever seen, in that you can acquire or transport someone for a few hundred dollars, maybe a couple thousand dollars, and generate tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands....That’s the essential functioning and logic of the business model: low cost and risk to transport the slave, and immense profitability on the exploitation side.

Because the sex trade involves such minimal risk, the cost to consumers has plummeted. Kara says that in some countries, sex costs the equivalent of one and a half to two hours of work — which many people can afford. If prosecution rates for traffickers were to increase, prices would go up and demand would fall. Kara also recognizes the importance of cutting off the supply of sex slaves:

The minute [you] pull someone out of a sex slave condition, [you’ve] cut off all future cash flows. In terms of a sex slave it’s 10, 15, 20, transactions a day, a week, a month, year after year. You’ve got to pull people out, care for them...and then prosecute and convict effectively. That means several things: fast track courts, judicial review, and an economic penalty regime that makes it uneconomic to be in this business. If you start to alter the landscape, then the perception by the offender is: This business doesn’t pay. Right now the perception is: Huge profit, almost no risk, I’m there. This is about money: It’s not cruelty for the sake of cruelty. I’ve met traffickers. Some of them are just mundane opportunists."

Kara estimates that his proposed reforms would cost about $400 million a year, which could be a relatively cheap solution to a major problem. To read Kara's full interview, click here.

A young girl in Nepal. Photo: Sam Grover (Flickr)

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. The average family scrapes by on $210 a year. So poor families often look to more drastic ways to earn money to get by. For some this means selling their daughters into domestic slavery for a mere $40 a year. Domestic slavery is illegal in Nepal, but the tradition still thrives in the country's western districts. These girls live in poor conditions, often working long hours and rarely having the opportunity to go to school. National Geographic recently posted a story on one of its blogs about the plight of these indentured girls and one organization's work to help them return home.

The Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation, or NYOF, has been working to eliminate domestic slavery in western Nepal since 2000. They certainly aren't the only group working on this problem - but they're using an inventive approach. NYOF volunteers travel to villages and offer parents a deal: if they don't sell their daughters into slavery, NYOF will give them a baby goat or pig.

In their first year 32 of 37 families accepted NYOF's offer. They'll also pay for school uniforms and school fees for that girl for several years to improve the likelihood that she won't be sold back into slavery. Since then, the NYOF and other organizations it has trained have brought over 10,000 girls home. And in one district slavery is gone. It costs the group about $100 per girl, per year to do this.

Many of the organization's most active volunteers are girls that were rescued from slavery though this program. Some of these girls run awareness campaigns to discourage parents from selling their daughters into domestic slavery. They also put on street plays and produce a weekly radio program to increase awareness within their community. (About two years ago PBS's NOW series profiled NYOF and showed footage of volunteers capturing large crowds with their street plays.)

Though slavery remains a problem in many areas of the world, the success of the NYOF shows just how far awareness and economic incentives can go to eradicate an age-old injustice.