Theresa Urbainczky argues in "Slave Revolts in Antiquity" that many successful slave revolt took place concurrent with other social and political unrest. I would add to this definition the inclusion of other events that stirred unrest, specifically the Helot Uprising in the 5th Century BC. Thucydides, in "The History of The Peloponnesean War" adds an earthquake to this list of factors encouraging success. In a modern context, the success of slaves' escapes is also increased by social factors.
Four years ago a 20-year-old university student signed up with a friend to study English abroad in a program that involved waitressing in Virginia Beach, but the girls would never reach Virginia. And they wouldn't be waitresses. Instead they ended up being forced to work as sex slaves at the Cheetah Club in Detroit. They eventually escaped from the traffickers holding them against their will, and were eventually represented by a University of Michigan Law School Clinic Professor.
I argue that the girls were successful in their escape, similar to the heightened success of ancients revolts concurrent with social upheavals, because of a) An increased public awareness of human trafficking in the U.S., and b) Publicity of the incident. Here is a link of a transcript from an MSNBC interview with one of the victims: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22056066/ns/msnbc_tv-documentaries/
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