The IOM said in April that it had documented reports of “slave markets” along the migrant routes in North Africa “tormenting hundreds of young African men bound for Libya.” “There they become commodities to be bought, sold and discarded when they have no more value,” Doyle said in the April statement. Although modern-day slavery affects a cross-section of the population, some groups are more vulnerable. Unsurprisingly, women and girls are more at risk than men and boys. Women make up the majority of those being exploited – 55% are women and girls, and account for the vast majority of sexually exploited people. This article is the seventh installation in an eight-part investigation into human trafficking called Underground Trade: From Boston to Bangkok. Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and eight. If you think slavery ended in 1865, think again. Human traffickers have picked up where Jim Crow left off.