How Many Slaves Does It Take to Support Your Lifestyle?

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Nov 9, 2011 11:00PM

Did you know there are still enslaved people in the world? Did you know that there are more enslaved persons now, an estimated 27 million people, than ever before? A new website called Slavery Footprint has launched to demonstrate how your day-to-day life is supported by forced laborers around the world.

The site was created by the anti-slavery organization Call + Response and the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The website itself is beautifully done, colorful but not cluttered. The simple 11-question survey looks at housing, food, electronics and other aspects of a person's lifestyle to determine how many enslaved persons it takes to support his or her lifestyle.

The methodology is quite complicated, taking into account the products and the likely country of origin, and comparing that to reports by international NGOs and the U.S. government.