March 24, 2014 The Honorable Dan Coats United States Senate 493 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510-1405 Dear Senator Coats; As a senior in high school I had to do an injustice over a certain topic and I choose to do Child Slavery. This project has thought me a lot about a topic I knew hardly anything about. From my research I have found that child slavery happens way more than people realize. But on the other hand there are a bunch of people who do know and don't do anything at all about it. Which this is what bothers me the most that people can just sit around and let something so horrible to happen. Now obviously this does not happen a lot around us but it happens in small countries that nobody really pays attention to. Some small facts about my topic:

There are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world todaymore than any other time in history. 218 million children aged 5 - 17 are involved in child labor worldwide. Globally, 1 in 6 children work. Children below the age of 18 years represent between 40 to 50 percent of all forced labor victims. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that more than two thirds of all child labor is in the agricultural sector. Children in rural areas begin agricultural labor as young as 5-7 years old. 126 million children work in hazardous conditions, often enduring beatings, humiliation and sexual violence by their employers. The highest numbers of child laborers are in the Asia/Pacific region, where there are 122 million working children. The highest proportion of child laborers is in Sub Saharan Africa, where 26 percent of children (49 million) are involved in work.

After doing my project I really wanted to do something that would make an impact or doing something to change the situation. The only bad thing about this is that with this not being a big issue around here it was hard for me to find something to do on time. So I figured the best thing I could do was get in contact with someone in power and see if maybe they do something to make a difference. I think maybe an idea is trying to get companies in our country that benefit from child slaves to be banned from doing this. And also try to pass stricter international laws regarding child slavery and get this issue stopped. So if there is anything you can do as senator that would be greatly appreciated

Sincerly, Taylor McNew 1218 Creekstone Way Franklin, IN. 46131 (317)474-9436.