Latest estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show that forced labour and forced marriage have increased significantly in the last five years. The ILO has adopted a legally binding protocol to strengthen global efforts to eliminate forced labour, which entered into force in November 2016…

10 million more people were in modern slavery in 2021 compared to 2016 global estimates, bringing the total to 50 million worldwide. Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable.

Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. Essentially, it refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.

Modern slavery occurs in almost every country in the world, and cuts across ethnic, cultural and religious lines. More than half (52 per cent) of all forced labour and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle income or high-income countries.

No region is exempt from the problem, with Asia and the Pacific having the highest number (15.1 million), followed by Europe and Central Asia (4.1 million), Africa (3.8 million), the Americas (3.6 million) and the Arab States (0.9 million). However, in terms of prevalence, forced labour is most common in the Arab States (5.3 per thousand), followed by Europe and Central Asia (4.4), the Americas and Asia and the Pacific (both 3.5) and Africa (2.9)…

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