Nearly 50 million people forced to work or marry in 2021: modern slavery is on the rise around the world, the UN said on Monday. Thus, 10 million more people were in a situation of modern slavery last year compared to global estimates for 2016, according to the latest report published by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – two UN agencies – with the NGO Walk Free Foundation.
Of the 50 million modern slaves, nearly 27.6 million were people subjected to forced labor and 22 million were people married against their will.
Women and girls make up more than two-thirds of those forced into marriage and almost four out of five of those in situations of commercial sexual exploitation, according to the report. In total, they represent 54% of cases of modern slavery.
Multiplication of crises
In recent years, the proliferation of crises, such as armed conflict and climate change, has caused unprecedented disruption to jobs and education. They have also led to the aggravation of extreme poverty, the multiplication of forced and dangerous migrations, the explosion of cases of gender-based violence. All of which contribute to increasing the risk of modern slavery. The pandemic, on the other hand, has caused a deterioration of working conditions and an increase in the indebtedness of workers.
Around the world, nearly one in 150 people is considered to be a modern slave. These data – which come mainly from nationally representative household surveys – also indicate that situations of modern slavery are by no means transitory, but last for years.
Present in almost all countries
Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable. Thus, almost one in eight forced laborers is a child and more than half of them are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Migrant workers are more than three times more likely to be subjected to forced labor than non-migrant adult workers.
Modern slavery is present in almost every country in the world. More than half (52%) of all cases of forced labor and a quarter of all forced marriages are in upper-middle or high-income countries. The report also reveals that the number of people in forced labor increased by 2.7 million between 2016 and 2021, an increase solely due to forced labor in the private economy, both in commercial sexual exploitation and in other sectors. Asia and the Pacific are home to more than half of the world’s total of forced labourers.
A “fundamental violation of human rights”
In a press release, the Director General of the ILO, Guy Ryder, considers it “shocking that the situation of modern slavery is not improving” and calls on governments but also on trade unions, employers’ organizations, civil society and ordinary people to fight “this fundamental violation of human rights”.
The report proposes a number of actions. These include improving and enforcing labor laws and inspections, ending state-imposed forced labor, expanding social protections and strengthening legal protections, including by raising the legal age of marriage at 18 without exception.