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Today, 27 million men, women and children are held, sold and trafficked as slaves throughout the world. In Slavery: A 21st Century Evil, Rageh Omaar embarks on a worldwide journey to uncover the truth about the flourishing 21st century slave trade. Episode by episode, his investigation will expose the brutal reality of modern slavery and unpick the reasons why this age-old evil persists.

Food Chain Slaves

In the opening episode of Slavery: A 21st Century Evil, Al Jazeera's Rageh Omaar investigates food chain slavery, considered the easiest form of slavery to stamp out, in the US.

The US has been leading the global fight against modern slavery. But, according to conservative estimates, there are between 40,000 and 50,000 slaves in the US today.

So in this episode, Rageh questions why a nation built on the abolition of slavery - a country that had to go through a painful civil war to formally bring an end to slavery - is failing to address the problem inside its own borders.

The investigation begins in the poor villages of Thailand, where agents for the US slave masters trick desperate peasants with promises of well-paid jobs abroad.

But far from fulfilling their American dream, many end up in slave labour farms in Hawaii, California and Florida - unable to return home and working to pay off the debts they incurred in the pursuit of a better life for themselves and their families.

Sex slaves

There are an estimated 1.4 million sex slaves in the world today; most of them are women, although there are some men and many thousands of children.

"They didn't listen. They kept bringing me clients and telling me that I had a huge debt towards them. For the fact they paid for my visa, passport and tickets." Dorina, a former sex slave from Moldova

These women do not voluntarily enter prostitution, but have been forced under the threat of violence to have sex with men who pay their 'owners'.

Sex slavery is present in every country of the world.

In some cases, categorised as 'domestic', women are sold into brothels within their own country. But international sex trafficking of women and children is on the rise.

In this episode, Al Jazeera's Rageh Omaar investigates the enslavement and trafficking of women from Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, to wealthier European countries, in particular to the red light district of Amsterdam, one of Europe's most profitable sex markets and a major international tourist attraction.

Bonded slaves

In this episode of Slavery: A 21st Century Evil, Al Jazeera's Rageh Omaar investigates slavery that is passed down from father to son, mother to daughter.

Although the practice of bonded labour is common in several parts of the world, in Pakistan and India, the systematic enslavement of generations of workers is widespread as governments fail to enforce their own laws against bonded labour.

Rageh meets men, women and children labouring in quarries and brick kilns, in dangerous conditions and for effectively no pay.

Most of these slaves have been held for generations, paying off a supposed 'loan' taken out by their grandparents.

Some have been lucky enough to escape but others have had to buy their way out of it by selling their organs to help pay off the 'debt'.

Child slaves

There are at least 8.4 million child slaves in the world today. Nearly two million of these are forced to work as prostitutes, while almost half a million are child soldiers.

But the largest proportion of child slaves - more than five million - are held as forced labour.

In some countries, these child slaves are simply juvenile victims of a thriving adult slave culture, but in other countries children are bought and sold specifically as child labourers.

In this episode of Slavery: A 21st Century Evil, Rageh Omaar investigates the plight of child slaves in Haiti.

They are known as 'restaveks' from the French words 'rester avec', meaning 'to stay with'. This is the practice of poor families giving their children as domestic help to wealthier acquaintances or relatives.

As well as taking place within Haiti, this form of slavery can also involve children being sold or trafficked to the US.

Our investigation exposes the slave traders who lure these children from isolated villages and then sell them to wealthy families.

Charcoal slaves^*

Brazil, once the world's largest importer of slaves from Africa, has taken the lead in fighting 21st century slavery with a raft of innovative laws aimed at stamping it out.

However, slave labour continues to thrive in the South American country - especially in the age-old practice of charcoal burning. The dirty and dangerous business is relied on by many international companies as one of the early stages in the manufacturing of pig iron.

Brazilian pig iron is shipped to some of the world's biggest companies, including household name car manufacturers - who use it to forge steel.

But the charcoal burning stage is usually done by forced labourers, including men from the poverty-stricken north of Brazil who are lured with false promises to remote camps.

They are forced into working and living in appalling conditions, and often tricked into amassing massive debts that are impossible to meet in order to pay for their accommodation and even work equipment.

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