The TOP 10 list of countries where slavery is most prevalent. DO YOU BENEFIT FROM SLAVERY? You might be shocked!

Some 36 million people around the world are enslaved.

Last week it was announced that some 36 million people around the world live in slavery, a number that is higher than at any time in history. While most Americans feel that slavery is a distant problem, which has little or no effect on their lives, the sad fact is that slavery impacts everything. The world economy is impacted by slavery. It is also a grave moral issue, one which the Church has taken pains to combat.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Thompson Reuters Foundation has released the top 10 list of countries where slavery is most prevalent. According to the Foundation, 36 million people around the world are enslaved, forced to work in factories, mines and brothels. Some are born into slavery, others fall into slavery by trickery or as a result of debt. Some children are even sold by their own families.

As Catholics, we have an obligation to oppose and resist the enslavement of others. Part of that resistance is knowing which nations and industries use slave labor to provide you with the products you use.

Pray for an end to world slavery, people are not things to be bought and sold!

Here is the top 10 list of nations where slavery is prevalent.

1.    Mauritania

About 155,600 people, or four percent, are thought to live in slavery in this West African nation. Slavery there is based largely on race and birth. Although the government has agreed to end slavery there, it makes sluggish progress and local officials often do nothing about cases they receive.

Most slaves in this country either perform domestic chores or help on farms or raise children. Since many are slaves from birth, they know little else besides their work.

2.    Uzbekistan

About 1.2 million people, about 3.97 percent of this population live in slavery. Enslavement in this nation is different in that children and young adults are forced by the government to work in the cotton industry. Mostly children between the ages of 15-18 are forced to work in the industry, meeting a quota of labor unless they can pay a fee to exempt themselves. According to the government these children are "volunteers" however there is a penalty for not "volunteering."

Complaints also include harsh working conditions and people forced to work with chemicals without protective gear.

People around the world may wear garments produced with cotton that comes from this country, making them inadvertent beneficiaries of slavery.

3.    Haiti

Some 237,700 people in Haiti, 2.3 percent of the population, are slaves. Commonly people are enslaved by their own families, sent away to work on farms because the family is poor. Wealthier family members commonly employ poorer family members as slaves. Children face forced labor as well as sexual abuse and exploitation. Although most victims of slavery in Haiti are children, adults are also enslaved in the construction and agriculture industries.

People who consume products from Haiti, particularly food products, are possible beneficiaries of slave labor.

4.    Qatar

Qatar is a small nation whose labor force is largely composed of immigrants from other nations. A large Catholic population is present in Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries. Most of the laborers are drawn from Southeast Asia including the Philippines.   

About 29,400 people are believed to be enslaved in that country, compelled to work against their will. The number represents about 1.4 percent of the population.

Many workers are extorted with "recruitment fees." Passports are confiscated making it difficult for many to return home. Workers are subject to long hours, as well as verbal, sexual and physical abuse. Although the global community has demanded Qatar improve conditions for workers, there has been little move towards compliance. Qatar exports petroleum and will host the 2022 World Cup. As such, oil consumers and those who watch the World Cup in 2022 will be the beneficiaries in some small part, of slavery conditions in Qatar.

5.    India

An estimated 14.3 million people are enslaved in India, the largest aggregate number of any country on Earth. The number equates to 1.1 percent of the population.

India retains a rigid caste system and those in the lowest caste as well as members of racial and religious minorities are most at risk for slavery. Slaves are used for a variety of purposes including manual and industrial labor, mining, sexual exploitation and more. Children are commonly trafficked and used for labor or sexual slavery. Children unfit for sexual slavery are put to begging. Some children are deliberately maimed to invoke sympathy.

People who use products from India may be the unwitting beneficiaries of slavery. The textile industry commonly employs enslaved people as well as brick kilns and mines. Slavery is often generational with children being born to enslaved parents and forced to work for life.

6.    Pakistan

Pakistan has 2.06 million people in slavery, which is 1.1 percent of that nation's population. Most of the slaves are bonded laborers, forced to work to repay debts. Brick making, carpet weaving and agriculture are the most likely industries to employ slaves in that country.

Children are also enslaved, about a third of all slaves in Pakistan are children. The vast majority of these children are trafficked for sex.

People who use manufactured products, particularly in the textile industry are possible beneficiaries of slave labor.

7.    Democratic Republic of Congo

About 792,900 people are enslaved in this central African country. That amounts to 1.1 percent of the population.

Many people are stuck in debt bondage as they work, primarily in mining. These workers are often forced to pay for their tools, food and housing to the mine itself, which comes at a very steep price, keeping laborers in financial bondage.

Approximately 300,000 children are also employed as soldiers in the country. Of those children, most are abducted and forced to fight. Girls are kidnapped as children and forced into marriages.

People who use products mined from the DRC may be unwitting beneficiaries of slavery.

8.    Sudan

This oil-exporting, Islamic country just south of Egypt has 1.1 percent of its population enslaved, around 429,000 people. Women and children are commonly enslaved. Women are forced into marriages and children are exploited for labor. There are also reports of kidnapping rings which extort money from families for the return of their children. While kidnapped, children can be enslaved or forced into sexual exploitation or even sold to Egypt where they are also enslaved. Many of these children are tortured to compel the parents to pay more money.

9.    Syria

Just over a quarter-million people, 258,200 are enslaved in Syria. Most of these enslaved people are children pressed into military service by the government or rebel groups in that country's ongoing civil war. Girls are sold as child brides. Christian women and children are also reportedly being enslaved as well as the women and children of other minorities.

Refugee children, although not technically slaves, have dropped out of school and work with their families in neighboring countries to survive.

Although child slavery and military service was banned by the Syrian government in 2013, it remains unclear if children fighting in government service have been released. Many children fight in pro-government militias, and are forced to do so.

10.    Central African Republic

Some 52,200 people are enslaved in the Central African Republic, mostly children. These children are forced to be soldiers, or are forced into marriages. About 6,000 children are known to be under arms in that country. Other children are forced into labor in support of military and rebel activity.

Some slaves, including both children and adults, are forced to work in the in mining industry.

These are the top 10 countries where slavery is most prevalent, per capita, however slavery exists in every country in the world in some form. In the United States, slavery also exists, especially sexual slavery. Many girls and women are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Immigrants can also be abused, compelled to work in low wage industries without being paid minimum wages.

Slavery is astoundingly common and exists in many forms. Wage slavery is common. It is a sad fact that many people benefit from the product of slavery, however this is chiefly because so few people realize that slavery is part of the production chain for the goods and services they consume.

Educating the public about the prevalence of slavery and identifying slavery in production chains is important if consumers are to make informed choices about their consumption and remove financial incentives for people to enslave others. Slavery will only be eradicated if people, especially consumers, demand it.

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