Context: Profits and Poverty: The economics of forced labour study by the International Labour Organization (ILO), released, has found that forced labour generates illegal profits worth $36 billion per year.
Key findings of the report:
- The total amount of illegal profits from forced labour has risen by US$64 billion (37 per cent) since 2014.
- Increase that has been fuelled by both a growth in the number of people forced into labour, as well as higher profits generated from the exploitation of victims.
- It estimates that traffickers and criminals are generating close to $10,000 per victim, up from $8,269(adjusted for inflation) a decade ago.
- Total annual illegal profits from forced labour are highest in Europe and Central Asia ($84 billion), followed by Asia and the Pacific ($62 billion), the Americas ($52 billion), Africa ($20 billion), and the Arab States (US$18 billion).
- Forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for more than two-thirds (73%) of the total illegal profits, despite accounting for only 27% of the total number of victims in privately imposed labour.
- After forced commercial sexual exploitation, followed by services (US$20.8 billion), agriculture (US$5.0 billion), and domestic work (US$2.6 billion).
- There were 27.6 million people engaged in forced labour on any given day in 2021, meaning 3.5 people for every 1,000 people in the world.
Recommendations given by this report:
- Urgent need for investment in enforcement measures to stem illegal profit flows and hold perpetrators accountable.
- It has recommended for strengthening legal frameworks, providing training for enforcement officials extending labour inspection into high-risk sectors, and better coordination between labour and criminal law enforcement.
- Enforcement actions must be part of a comprehensive approach that prioritises addressing root causes and safeguarding victims