21 million in slavery
Nearly 21 million people are enslaved today, tricked into sexual captivity, fighting as child soldiers, or toiling as forced laborers. The problem isn’t limited to distant, foreign lands. Massachusetts too is a source, a destination, and a transit point for modern-day slaves, experts say. “Women are trafficked, men are trafficked, children are trafficked, for labor and for sex. U.S. nationals are trafficked in our state, foreign nationals are trafficked in our state,” said Anne Stetson, a senior research fellow and visiting scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. “We actually hit all three categories of trafficking activity as defined by the U.S. State Department. … We are a source state for trafficking victims. We are a transit state. Victims pass through our state. And we are a destination state, where victims are exploited.” Stetson spoke Wednesday evening at Harvard Medical School’s Countway Library of Medicine...