Modern slavery surges, 50 million people are forced to work, marry worldwide

A girl works as a street vendor at Osh Bazaar, one of the largest bazaars in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in September 2021. Child labor remains one of the most serious and difficult problems in Kyrgyzstan. According to statistics, about 40% of children in the country are employed. File photo by Igor Kovalenko/EPA-EFE

“This figure is equivalent to nearly 1 in every 150 people in the world,” the report said.

Estimates show that on any given day in 2021, some 28 million people will be forced into labor, including sex trafficking, while 22 million will be trapped in forced marriages.

The figures also show that forced labor can last for years, while forced marriage is in most cases a life sentence.

The report finds that compound crises include Coronavirus disease Pandemics and armed conflicts around the world disrupt employment and educational opportunities, lead to poverty and forced and insecure migration, which together increase the risk of modern slavery.

UNICEF warned Children fleeing war in Ukraine face high risk of human trafficking and exploitation.

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted its Sustainable Development Goals, in which the international community committed to ending modern child slavery globally by 2025 and by 2030.

“This report underscores the scale of the challenges the international community faces in the short term in achieving these ambitious goals,” the report reads.

Not surprisingly, women and children are found to be extremely vulnerable.

Estimates show that 3.3 million forced labourers are children, more than half of whom are engaged in commercial sexual exploitation, generally accounting for about 23 per cent of all forced labour.

Nearly 80% of sexual exploiters are women or girls.

“It is appalling that the state of modern slavery has not improved,” said ILO director-general Guy Ryder. “There is nothing to justify the persistence of this fundamental violation of human rights.” in a statement.

“We know what needs to be done and we know it can be done. Effective national policy and regulation are the foundation. But governments cannot do this alone. International standards provide a good foundation, and an all-hands approach is needed.”

The report found that “no part of the world is free from forced labour”, with 15.1 million enslaved in Asia and the Pacific, 4.1 million in Europe and Central Asia, 3.8 million in Africa, 3.6 million in the Americas, and less than 1 million in the Arab countries. .

If slavery is taken into account as a percentage of the population, the Arab countries lead the world with 5.3 slaves per 1,000 people. Europe and Central Asia had 4.4 slaves per 1,000 people, and America and Asia had 3.5 slaves per 1,000 people. Africa has only 2.9 slaves per thousand people.