More than 12 million are slaves, Sect members charged with abusing children

More than 12 million are modern slaves, U.S. says 6/14/10 A sobering new report from the State Department finds that more than 12 million people worldwide are victims of "trafficking in persons" - trapped in forced labor, bonded labor or forced prostitution. But just 4,166 people were convicted of trafficking last year, the report says. Even so, awareness of the reach of modern slavery has made such crimes easier to report and police, the study says. Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca, who heads the State Department's anti-slavery efforts, noted that 116 countries have adopted anti-trafficking laws since the United Nations enacted a law against modern slavery 10 years ago. Last year marked a high-water mark, both in identifying trafficking victims and in mounting successful prosecutions....But there's still much work ahead, the report says. The State Department estimates that only 0.4 percent of all modern slavery victims were identified last year. Human trafficking is a multibillion-dollar business - and will probably grow so long as global governments fail to crack down on it more forcefully. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100614/wl_ynews/ynews_wl2569
Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/index.htm

describes abuse
Sect members charged with abusing children to 'protect them' Leader of the 'Ithaca' who allegedly ordered the children be hit to 'save their souls' committed suicide in his prison cell days after being arrested. By Ofra Edelman 6/13/10 Three members of the "Ithaca" cult were charged with the severe abuse of their children, according to an indictment submitted to the Peta Tikvah District court on Sunday. According to the indictment, sect leader, Shay Abramov instructed members to physically abuse their children, in what he called a "treatment" against accidents and illnesses, so to save their lives and prevent their souls from going to hell....The state prosecutor's office wrote in the indictment that the allegations "uncover a horrifying tale of abuse during a period of six months, for the purpose of preventing them from becoming felons and to 'take the evil out of them," adding that the reported abuse was "severe and systematic."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/sect-members-charged-with-abusing-children-to-protect-them-1.295860