Fighting slavery remains a global challenge, whatever the numbers say

Zoe Fortune welcomes the fact leading organisations have worked together to produce a combined estimate – 40.3 million – for people in forced labour and forced marriage. But given that this is a global issue, do the exact figures really matter?

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An Indian boy works in a brick kiln on the outskirts of Jalandhar on September 18. Many brick kiln workers in India are trapped in a cycle of bonded labour and regularly cheated out of promised wages, according to anti-slavery groups. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:26am, 22 Sep 2017Updated: 1:12pm, 22 Sep 2017

A new report released this week has revised the number of people in modern slavery, estimating it at 40.3 million people worldwide today. This means that, on any given day in 2016, there were 25 million people in forced labour and 15 million in a forced marriage. This equates to 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world – 71 per cent of whom are women and one in four of whom are children. There are therefore estimated to be more people living in modern slavery than currently living with HIV.

This new figure represents the first time leading organisations have worked together to produce a combined estimate. The most quoted statistics until now have come from two separate sources – the Global Slavery Index and the International Labour Organisation. The slavery index previously produced a figure for 2016 of 45.8 million, whereas the ILO figure placed the number of people in forced labour at 20.9 million – clearly a vast difference. Now, those two organisations have combined their efforts to produce a figure of 40.3 million.

Does this mean we have either lost – or found – vast numbers of people living in modern slavery? This has huge implications for the people involved – not to mention the estimated US$150 billion a year in profits. Questions are being asked as to whether this figure can be relied on, given that the figures have been revised. The answer is yes, and here’s why.

Modern slavery, and the American photographer who is doing her bit to abolish it

First, the definitions. This week’s figure covers the number of people in modern slavery, including forced marriage. The ILO previously estimated the number of people in forced labour at 20.9 million, which is a subtle but important distinction. However, even when looking at forced labour alone, the number in forced labour is now estimated to be 25 million – so this figure has still gone up by 4 million.

Eliza, now 17, of South Sudan, was forced by her father to marry a 35-year-old man from their village when she was only 13, in exchange for 50 cattle. Photo: AP

Fighting slavery remains a global challenge, whatever the numbers say

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Modern slavery, and the American photographer who is doing her bit to abolish it

Modern slavery, and the American photographer who is doing her bit to abolish it