Modern day slavery is one of those issues that people can collaborate on and agree it is evil-there is no debate on its legality or morality. However, it is one of the those issues that is forgotten and shoved aside. People do not see it as a pressing reality. Studies have shown that Americans are woefully ignorant of slavery's prominence today, and therefore, it continues to happen (Itoh, 2005). Slavery can take many forms. "Chattel slavery" is one of the most common, where people are born, captured, or sold into permanent service. Debt bondage is a common form for immigrants; they must work off an insurmountable debt to their captors and endure horrific conditions. They cannot complain or leave and experience physical and mental abuse and no wages and poor living conditions (Itoh, 2005). .
Modern slavery disproportionately affects women, from selling them in the sex industry to using them as indentured servants or birthmothers. Millions of women worldwide and in the United States have been forced into slavery and human trafficking of women is a growing trade. Half of the cases of slavery in the United States are for prostitution, many of which are made up of young girls kidnapped or exploited in a state of poverty. 25% of the country's prostitutes forced into slavery are United States' citizens; the rest are brought into the country from places like Asia, Russia, and Africa. Prostitutes are sold and put to work as young as nine years old (De Angelis, 2014).
Women in disadvantaged counties, such as parts of Africa, are especially vulnerable. In their countries of origin, there are limited possibilities available to women-they often cannot receive an education or be employed outside the home. In cases of poverty and want, these women see leaving their homes as the only way to help their families survive. They are prime targets for human traffickers who play upon their sense of duty and then exploit them.