The data released by the General Control Coordination for the Eradication of Work Analogous to Slavery and Human Trafficking of the Ministry of Labor and Employment also reveals that the releases occurred as a result of 598 operations.

The discovered employers paid 12.8 million reais (approximately 2.5 million dollars) in labor compensation.

Since 1995, Brazil has rescued a total of 65 thousand workers tied to these chains of servitude and marked by the experience of living in fear.

85 percent of the people released worked in rural areas.

Most of those that were rescued worked in coffee cultivation (302 people), sugar cane (258), cleaning services (249) and land preparation (210).

Subjecting someone to slavery is considered a crime in Brazil. The punishment is two to eight years of imprisonment and a fine, with aggravating circumstances provided for in article 149 of the Penal Code.

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