The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says as of 2021, 49.6 million people were living in modern slavery, of which 27.6million were in forced labour while 22 million were in forced marriage.
Out of the 27.6 million people in forced labour, 17.3million are exploited in the private sector; 6.3million in forced commercial sexual exploitation, and 3.9million in forced labour imposed by the state.
The Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage report, released in early September, indicated that women and girls account for 4.9 million of those in forced commercial sexual exploitation, and for 6 million of those in forced labour in other economic sectors.
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It said 12 percent of all those in forced labour were children and more than half of the victims were in commercial sexual exploitation.
The report said Asia and the Pacific Region had the highest number of people in forced labour (15.1million) and the Arab States, had highest prevalence (5.3 per thousand people). The report said addressing decent work deficits in the informal economy, as part of broader efforts towards economic formalization, was a priority for progress against forced labour.
