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The British Empire banned slavery in 1833; the United States…

The British Empire banned slavery in 1833; the United States followed suit in 1865.  But according to Anti-Slavery International (ASI), as many as 400 million men, women, and children (almost 7 percent of humanity) live today in conditions that amount to slavery.  ASI distinguishes four types of slavery. First is chattel slavery, in which one person owns another. The number of chattel slaves is difficult to estimate because the practice is against the law almost everywhere. But the buying and selling of slaves still take place in many countries in Asia, the Middle East, and especially Africa. A second, more common form of bondage is child slavery, in which desperately poor families let their children take to the streets to do what they can to survive. Perhaps 100 million children—many in poor countries of Latin America—fall into this category.   Third, debt bondage is the practice by which employers hold workers captive by paying them too little to meet their debts. In this case, workers receive a wage, but it is too small to cover the food and housing provided by an employer; for practical purposes, they are enslaved. Many workers in sweatshops fall into this category. Finally, servile forms of marriage may also amount to slavery. In India, Thailand, and some African nations, families marry off women against their will. Many end up as slaves performing work for their husband’s family; some are forced into prostitution