This is the second of a series of four articles examining recent trends of modern slavery, the political risks associated with this phenomenon, and the tools available for companies to prevent and address it.

As defined in the previous article, the notion of modern slavery encompasses both forced labour and forced marriage. The contribution the private sector can make to tackling forced marriage is overall limited to providing training and employment opportunities for women and girls; therefore, the rest of this series will focus on the “forced labour” component of modern slavery - in which the role of businesses is multifarious.

Most Impacted Regions

According to the recent data provided by the International Labour Organization, on average, the Arab states have the highest prevalence of forced labour among their population (5.3‰), followed by Europe and Central Asia (4.4‰), the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region ex æquo (3.5‰), and Africa (2.9‰). Inside these regions, the international human rights group Walk Free identifies two high-risk breeding grounds for modern slavery: 

• Situations of conflict undermine the rule of law and put people in dire straits.
↳ Examples: up to one fifth of families in Afghanistan were forced to put their children to work in the months following the Taliban takeover; descent-based slavery endures in Mauritania.

• Although 86% of forced labour worldwide is imposed by private actors, the risk of state-imposed forced labour is high in repressive regimes.
↳ Examples: North Korea has the highest prevalence of forced labour in the world (104.6‰, i.e. more than 1 out of 10 people); forced labour of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, especially in the cotton industry; forced labour of children in multiple sectors in Burundi, including agriculture and gold mining.

Most Impacted Social Groups

​​• As explained in the previous article, poverty restricts freedom of movement and employment alternatives, making people more vulnerable to falling into traps that will result in their enslavement.

↳ Examples: debt bondage in Brazil; various forms of bonded labour in India, including inter-generational bondage. 

​​• Except for state-imposed forced labour where they represent 40% of victims, there are more female than male victims in every component of forced labour (99% in the commercial sex industry, and 58% in other private sectors). 

• Migrant workers are much more likely to fall victim to forced labour compared to non-migrants: the International Labour Organization estimates that, worldwide, forced labour affects 13.8‰ of migrant workers, against 4.1‰ of non-migrant workers.
↳ Examples: forced labour of migrants in Libya; forced labour of migrants in the Gulf states due to abuses of the kafala system, including for major events such as Dubai’ Expo 2020 and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

• In addition to benefiting Western companies that relocate their supply chains in foreign countries, forced labour is present within the borders of so-called “developed” countries, among groups who tend to be neglected by governments - in addition to migrants, this affects the homeless, the informal economy workforce, prisoners, and social minorities. This also applies, of course, to underprivileged groups in developing countries.
↳ Examples: an investigation by Al-Jazeera uncovered several cases of forced labour in suburban Britain, including of Eastern European migrants at carwashes and Vietnamese migrants on cannabis farms; leaders of a California-based ministry were arrested for using homeless people as forced labour.

Most Impacted Sectors

While forced labour can theoretically be found in any economic sector, the industries most at risk are services (excluding domestic work), which represent 32% of worldwide adult forced labour; manufacturing, 18.7%; construction, 16.3%; agriculture (excluding fishing), 12.3%; and domestic work (8.2%). The remaining 12.5% include, inter alia, mining and fishing, and represent 2.1 million victims. As highlighted by the OECD, the vulnerability of industries tends to be tied to their informality; for example, the construction sector is becoming increasingly informal “with the use of contractors, intermediaries and others to hire workers, often for short periods”.

Most Impacted Products

According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, US$354 billion worth of products annually imported (collectively) by G20 countries are at risk of having involved forced labour. The two largest categories are electronics ($200.1 billion) and garments ($127.7 billion). 

• COTTON: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

• BRICKS: Afghanistan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan

• GARMENTS – APPAREL & CLOTHING ACCESSORIES: Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam

• CATTLE: Bolivia, Brazil, Niger, Paraguay

• SUGARCANE: Brazil, Dominican Republic

• GOLD: Democratic Republic of the Congo, North Korea, Peru CARPETS: India, Pakistan

• COAL: North Korea, Pakistan

• FISH: Ghana, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia

• RICE: India, Myanmar TIMBER: Brazil, North Korea, Peru

• BRAZIL NUTS / CHESTNUTS: Bolivia

• COCOA: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana

• DIAMONDS: Angola

• ELECTRONICS – LAPTOPS, COMPUTERS, & MOBILE PHONES: China, Malaysia

List of products at risk of forced labour by source country.
Source: Walk Free, based on 2018 data.

How Does The Pandemic Play Into These Trends? 

The 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, published in September 2022, include an analysis of the role of the ongoing pandemic in recent modern slavery trends. The COVID-19 Recession has made workers more vulnerable to falling victim to forced labour, while the working conditions of those already enslaved have deteriorated. The closing of borders has driven more migrants to use irregular routes and to resort to smugglers, thereby putting themselves at greater danger of human trafficking. Pandemic-related legal and material constraints have also lowered the efficiency of public and private actors in identifying and addressing cases of forced labour.