A recent survey on modern slavery has revealed that two out of three Indian citizen have been subjected to modern slavery. The survey revealed that an estimated 50 million people were living in modern slavery on any given day in 2021, an increase of 10 million people since 2016.
What is modern slavery?
According to the report, Modern slavery refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, or deception.
Modern slavery includes forced labour, forced or servile marriage, debt bondage, forced commercial sexual exploitation, human trafficking, slavery-like practices, and the sale and exploitation of children. In all its forms, it is the removal of a person’s freedom — their freedom to accept or refuse a job, their freedom to leave one employer for another, or their freedom to decide if, when, and whom to marry — in order to exploit them for personal or financial gain.
Modern Slavery drivers
The report states that Modern slavery is inextricably linked with global challenges such as climate degradation, gender inequality, Covid-19, and conflict.
The report has also indicated how modern slavery manifests. Chalking out some incidences, the report notes- forced and child marriage, orphan trafficking, state imposed forced labour, and orphanage trafficking.
The survey found that in 2021, an estimated 3.9 million people were forced to work by state authorities. State-imposed forced labour takes many forms, including abuse of conscription, compulsory prison labour, or as a means of racial, social, national, and religious discrimination.
Further an estimated 5.4 million children worldwide live in orphanages and other institutions.
Country ranking for Modern Slavery
The report divided countries into two categories- most prevalent and least prevalent.
According to the report, most prevalent includes countries estimated to have the highest prevalence of modern slavery tend to be conflict-affected, have state-imposed forced labour, and have weak governance.
Least prevalent includes countries with strong governance and strong government responses to modern slavery.
Notably North Korea recorded the highest prevalence of modern slavery and Switzerland recorded the least.
Government action on Modern slavery
The report revealed that the United Kingdom government registered a 67.9% action against modern slavery, which is also the highest by any country. Iran was seen to have taken the least action, registering just 7.7% on the index.
North Korea registered a negative 2.6% on the index.
Among Asian countries, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Phillipines also registered a higher percentage of action taken by the government against modern slavery. These countries registered 48.7%, 48.7%, and 59% respectively.
India’s ranking was below its neighbours, but above China, South Korea, and Japan. India registered a 46.2 per cent of action taken by the government to curb modern slavery.
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Updated: 13 Jun 2023, 10:21 PM IST
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