The Walk Free Foundation, a global organization aimed to end modern slavery, released its 2016 Global Slavery Index in London, England on Tuesday, shedding light on slavery in 167 countries.
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Andrew Forrest, the founder of the Walk Free foundation said that the rise of slavery was due to data collection – and he feared that the situation has been getting worse due to global displacement and migration increasing vulnerability to people. The Index defines modern slavery as a situation in which an individual can not escape his/her exploiters due to threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. In terms of absolute numbers, Asian countries occupy the top five for people trapped in slavery.
India however ranked fourth in the index in terms of prevalence of slavery as a percentage of the population – at 1.4 percent – after North Korea, Uzbekistan, Cambodia.
The 2016 index was based on interviews with about 42,000 people by pollster Gallup, conducted in 53 languages in 25 countries.
According to surveys conducted in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Ethiopia by the foundation, the most common forms of modern slavery in sub-Saharan Africa were forced labour and forced marriage.
“It is reported that in some instances, girls are forced into marriage and then used as unpaid laborers – local day laborers cost $140 for a season but a bride can cost only $100 as a once off payment”, the Global Slavery Index report said. Some 124 countries have criminalized human trafficking in line with the UN Trafficking Protocol and 96 have developed national action plans to coordinate the government response.
Australia, with a population of 23.7 million had an estimated 4300 people in slavery. That includes children and adults forced into labour, often unpaid or to pay off a debt.
In addition to the United Kingdom, index showed that governments taking the most action to combat modern slavery include the Netherlands, United States, Sweden, Australia, Portugal, Croatia, Spain, Belgium, and Norway.
LONDON (AP) – About 45.8 million people around the world are trapped in modern slavery, a charity said Tuesday – nearly a third more than it estimated two years ago.
Forrest was using the report to lobby leaders of the world’s largest economies – United States, China, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Brazil, Italy, Russia and India – to enact legislation on supply chain transparency for all goods and services imported or sold in their countries.
In India, the problem of slavery including child marriage and bonded labor has always been a challenge and cause for shame.
“This region provides low-skilled labor for the production stage of global supply chains for industries including food production, garments, and technology”, the study said.
However, the index, which also rates governmental response to tackling slavery, based on support for victims, the strength of the criminal justice system and accountability, said India had improved in this regard in recent years.
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Government response for the GCC countries ranked from B for the UAE, to CCC for Qatar, Bahrain and Oman and CC for Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
