Report: 40 million enslaved around the world

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Around the world, 40 million people are living in slavery.
Around the world, 40 million people are living in slavery.
When you hear the word “slavery,” you think, naturally, of history.

     But a report released this week finds that slavery remains entrenched -- with 40 million living in slavery throughout the world. (To put this in perspective, that’s roughly the population of California.)
       The report, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, Forced Labor and Forced Marriage,was developed by the International Labor Organization, an agency of the United Nations, the Walk Free Foundation, an international human rights organization, and the International Organization for Migration. So, who are the world’s slaves? Here is an overview of estimates as of 2016:

Modern slavery: The report defines modern slavery as “situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.” It distinguishes between two types of slavery:

  • Forced labor --25 million people are in this category.
  • Forced marriage -- 15 million are in this category.

Forced labor: These are people forced to work in a variety of settings, including domestic and construction projects, along with clandestine factories, farms, fishing boats and the sex industry. “They were forced to work by private individuals and groups or by state authorities. In many cases, the products they made and the services they provided ended up in seemingly legitimate commercial channels,” the report finds. Examples given include clothing and food.

Debt and slavery: An estimated 16 million people were in forced labor in the private economy in 2016, according to the report. “Half of these men and women (51 percent) were in debt bondage, in which personal debt is used to forcibly obtain labor. This proportion rises above 70 percent for adults who were forced to work in agriculture, domestic work or manufacturing.”

Forced marriage: The report defines forced marriages as another form of slavery. Most of the victims -- 88 percent -- were women and girls. Indeed, “37 percent (5.7 million) of those forced to marry were children.” Among the children, 44 percent were not yet 15 years old.

Sex exploitation: “An estimated 3.8 million adults were victims of forced sexual exploitation and 1 million children were victims of commercial sexual exploitation in 2016,” the report says. Most -- 99 percent -- were women and girls.

    Related:

    Syrian refugees by the numbers

    A crisis of refugees (not migrants)

    Child refugees: U.S. on wrong side of history         

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