(19 September 2017) – More than 40 million people were trapped as slaves last year in forced labour and forced marriages, according to the first joint effort by key anti-slavery groups to estimate the number of victims worldwide of the international crime.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), human rights group Walk Free Foundation, and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said 40.3 million people were victims of modern slavery in 2016 – but added this was a conservative estimate.
They estimated 24.9 million people were trapped working in factories, on construction sites, farms and fishing boats, and as domestic or sex workers, while 15.4 million people were in marriages to which they had not consented.
Almost three out of every four slaves were women and girls and one in four was a child, with modern slavery most prevalent in Africa followed by Asia and Pacific, said the report. (EurActiv)