Contents
- Modern slavery affects 50 million people worldwide.
- The number of people affected has increased by ten million within five years.
- Modern slavery pervades every aspect of our society.
Legend:
The import of palm oil is viewed critically by human rights activists.
Keystone/Dedi Sinuhaji
The human rights organization Walk Free has published the latest “Global Slavery Index”. This shows that around 50 million people worldwide are trapped in modern slavery. People who have to leave their homes due to climate change, conflicts or intense weather events are particularly at risk.
In the past five years, the number of people affected is said to have increased by 10 million. This is due to a worldwide restriction of women’s rights and the economic and social effects of the corona pandemic.
In important emerging countries, many people are being exploited
According to the report, modern slavery is most widespread in North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Afghanistan and Kuwait. But many people are also exploited in large industrialized and emerging countries. In India and China alone, 16 million people lived in precarious conditions. Even in the US, 1.1 million people would suffer from modern slavery.
Selection of the G20 countries | victims of modern slavery |
India | 11 million |
China | 5 million |
Russia | 1.8 million |
Türkiye | 1.3 million |
USA | 1.1 million |
Walk Free also considers the import of certain goods to be critical. Electronics, clothing and palm oil would be produced in ratios based on coercion or dependence. Every year, the G-20 countries would import so-called risk products in the amount of 468 billion US dollars. Therefore, according to the report, half of all victims of modern slavery can be indirectly attributed to the world’s largest economies.
women disproportionately affected
54 percent of all victims of modern slavery are women. In addition, according to the report, 22 million women are in forced marriages. Today, slavery not only affects adults, one in four affected people is still a minor.
In Switzerland, for example, nail salons were already suspected of being slaves. The living conditions of the nail designers are sometimes precarious. At the beginning of the year, inspections at 12 out of 15 nail salons in Bern brought grievances to light.