1 in every 150 people lives under modern slavery: UN report

ISTANBUL (AA) – There are 50 million people trapped in modern slavery, as one in every 150 people are “either forced to work against their will or in a marriage that they were forced into,” a UN report has revealed.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Walk Free, an international rights group, jointly released the report named the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage.

The 2021 global estimates showed that many more men, women and children have been forced to work or marry in the period since the previous estimates released in 2017.

It said 27.6 million people, or 3.5 people in every 1,000 worldwide, are in situations of forced labor.

While women and girls share were 11.8 million, more than 3.3 million children also face forced labor, according to the report.

It said the figure rose by 2.7 million versus the previous report.

Out of the total, Asia and the Pacific host more than half with 15.1 people facing forced labor in the region, while 4.1 million people are forced to work in Europe and Central Asia, 3.8 million in Africa, 3.6 million in the Americas, and 900,000 people in the Arab States.

In proportion to population, however, forced labor is highest in the Arab States with 5.3 per thousand people.

It was followed by Europe and Central Asia with 4.4 per thousand, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific – both at 3.5 per thousand and Africa with 2.9 per thousand.

The report also showed that migrant workers face higher risks in forced labor than other people.

Some 6.3 million people are expected to be in situations of forced commercial sexual exploitation at any point in time.

Meanwhile, the number of men, women, and children facing forced marriages has risen globally.

“An estimated 22 million people were living in situations of forced marriage on any given day in 2021,” the report said, adding: “This is a 6.6 million increase in the number of people living in a forced marriage between 2016 and 2021.”

While Asia and the Pacific rank first globally in a forced marriage with 14.2 million people, Africa, Europe, and Central Asia followed it with 3.2 million and 2.3 million people, respectively.

“When we account for the population in each region, the prevalence of forced marriage is highest in the Arab States (4.8 per thousand population), followed by Asia and the Pacific (3.3 per thousand population),” it added.

More than two-thirds of these people are female – 14.9 million women and girls, the report said.

It added: “Three in every five people in a forced marriage are in lower-middle income countries; however, wealthier nations are not immune, with 26% of forced marriages in high or upper-middle income countries.”