A United Nations report published on Monday revealed that around 50 million people worldwide were living in “modern slavery” at the end of 2021, marking a major setback in progress. The figures were a 25% jump from the previous report in 2017 for people who were either in forced labor or in marriages. A domestic worker as highlighted by the United Nations. (United Nations) “It is shocking that the state of modern slavery is not improving,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said in a statement. “Nothing can justify the persistence of this fundamental abuse of human rights.” The ILO and partners point to worrying trends such as “commercial sexual exploitation” which affects nearly one in four people subject to forced labor – with the poor, women and children disproportionately vulnerable. The ILO, along with the UN’s International Organization for Migration and the Walk Free foundation – a rights group focused on modern slavery – reported that 28 million people were in forced labor and 22 in forced marriage at the end of 2021. The report released on Monday said such numbers mark an increase of 10 million people living in modern slavery since the last such report was published in 2017, based on data from a year earlier. Two-thirds of the increase was in forced marriages alone, it said. UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ACCUSES CHINA OF ‘CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY’ Based on available data, the ILO and its partners found increases in child and forced marriage in countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Congo, Egypt, India, Uganda and Yemen. However, the report said richer countries are “not immune” to the problem, with nearly one in four forced marriages taking place in high- or upper-middle-income countries. Crises such as the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and armed conflict have fueled the rise of extreme poverty, unsafe migration and gender-based violence in recent years, increasing the risk of all forms of modern slavery. Another domestic worker appears on the UN website. (United Nations) Overall, more than two-thirds of all forced marriages were in the Asia-Pacific region – the world’s most populous region – but the highest number per capita was in Arab countries where almost 5 in 1,000 people were in forced marriages. Forced marriage, the report said, was closely linked to “long-established patriarchal attitudes and practices” – while 85% of cases were due to “family pressure”. In terms of forced labour, about one in eight of those affected were children and half of those in commercial sexual exploitation. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The director-general of the United Nations labor agency, which brings together workers, businesses and governments, called for “a comprehensive approach” and said, “trade unions, employers’ groups, civil society and ordinary people all have critical roles to play.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
