Slavery alive and well worldwide

Sexual exploitation, forced labor and other ills affect 35.8m people

Forced to pick cotton, grow cannabis, prostitute themselves, fight wars or clean up after the wealthy - some 35.8 million people are currently trapped in modern-day slavery, a new report said on Monday.

The 2014 Global Slavery Index, the second annual report, said new methods showed that 20 percent more people were enslaved across the world than originally thought.

"There is an assumption that slavery is an issue from a bygone era. Or that it only exists in countries ravaged by war and poverty," said Andrew Forrest, chairman of the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation that produced the report.

The foundation's definition of modern slavery includes slavery-like practices such as debt bondage, forced marriage and the exploitation or sale of children, as well as other human trafficking and forced labor.

The report, which covers 167 countries, said modern slavery contributed to the production of at least 122 goods from 58 countries.

The International Labor Organization estimates profits from this forced labor are $150 billion a year.

"From the Thai fisherman trawling fishmeal to the Congolese boy mining diamonds; from the Uzbek child picking cotton to the Indian girl stitching footballs ... their forced labor is what we consume," the report said.

Africa faces some of the biggest challenges, the report said, with armed forces and rebel groups using child soldiers and forcing children and adults to "labor in dangerous mines".

Mauritania tops list

The biggest offender, with the highest proportion of its population enslaved, remains West Africa's Mauritania, where the enslavement of black Moors by Berber Arabs is an entrenched part of society.

Mauritania has anti-slavery legislation, but it is rarely enforced. A special tribunal set up in March has yet to prosecute any cases, the report said.

Countries such as Qatar are a major destination for men and women from Africa and Asia who are lured with promises of well paid jobs, only to find themselves exploited as domestic workers or in the construction industry.

The countries doing the most to combat the problem are the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Georgia and Austria, the report said.

Europe, while at the bottom of the list - with Iceland and Ireland the best ranked - has 566,000 people involved in forms of modern slavery, with people trafficked into Ireland to grow cannabis, or forced into begging in France.

"Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation accounted for almost 70 percent of identified victims while trafficking for forced labor accounted for 19 percent," the report said. "The global economic crisis and austerity measures of the European Union have meant that increasing numbers of Bulgarians and Romanians migrate in search of jobs."

The highest numbers of modern slaves are found in India, with an estimated 14.29 million people enslaved.

India had recently taken important steps to combat the problem, strengthening its criminal justice framework through legislative amendments and increasing the number of police units dedicated to stopping human trafficking.

Nigeria is a major source of human trafficking to Europe. In one example, Nigerian women get trapped in a cycle of debt bondage in the Italian sex industry.

"These findings show that modern slavery exists in every country," Forrest said. "We are all responsible for the most appalling situations where modern slavery exists and the desperate misery it brings upon our fellow human beings."

(China Daily 11/19/2014 page10)