Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage

In 2021, close to 50 million people lived in conditions of modern slavery – 27.6 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriages. This report, published in September 2022, includes both labour and marriage within the ambit of modern slavery since both are “situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or cannot leave because of threats, violence, deception, abuse of power or other forms of coercion”. Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage has been published by International Labour Organization (ILO), Walk Free (a human rights group based out of Australia) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The report presents estimates for the year 2021. It states that the Covid-19 pandemic, armed conflicts, climate change have all increased the vulnerability of the most marginalised sections of the society. This often results in forced labour or drives people into forced marriages. The increase in the number of people living in conditions of forced labour was primarily due to its rise in private economy, the report adds. This 144-page document has been divided into two parts, in addition to an introduction: Scale and manifestations of modern slavery (Part I); Ending modern slavery: the part of 2030 (Part II).