British Chief Enlists Vatican in Pact to End Slavery

Britain's anti-slavery commissioner received the backing of the Catholic Church on Saturday for a campaign to push for a global pact vowing to eradicate slavery in the next 15 years. Kevin Hyland, who took up the new role last year, is lobbying world leaders to support a commitment to end forced labor and slavery of all forms in a set of global development goals to be adopted at the United Nations in September. While slavery is illegal in every country on earth, an estimated 36 million people are trapped in modern slavery. Conditions can range from sex slavery to domestic servitude to being tricked into forced labor through debt bondage. Hyland, a former senior police officer, said the problem seems to have become worse in the past 15 years as cheap transport, the Internet and globalization allowed criminals to move people more easily for the purposes of exploitation.