Long hidden and often denied, the global epidemic of human trafficking and slavery is finally being exposed on the world stage. A five-year-old chained to a rug loom in India, a domestic servant enslaved and beaten in the Middle East and sex slaves trafficked within the United States are among the 21 million men, women and children held in some form of bonded labor, slavery or forced prostitution around the world today. With millions of vulnerable victims being trafficked across international borders, this inhuman crime racks up more than $32 billion in profits each year. As nations seek effective ways to combat what President Barack Obama recently called "a debasement of our common humanity," some experts say legalizing prostitution and some forms of child labor might remove financial incentives for the illicit trade. While some nations have cracked down on traffickers, resulting in increased prosecutions and convictions, many more need to join the fight, according to activists, who say the biggest obstacle to halting the trade in human beings is the lack of political will.

Robert Kiener is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in the London Sunday Times, The Cristian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, Reader's Digest, Time Life Books, Asia Inc. and other publications. For more than two decades he lived and worked as an editor and correspondent in Guam, Hong Kong, England and Canada and is now based in the United States. He frequently travels to Asia to report on international issues. He holds a M.A. in Asian Studies from Hong Kong University and an M.Phil. in international relations from Cambridge University.