The global Slavery index is out highlighting the living standards, condition and human rights issue of people living and working all over the world. Modern slavery takes many forms, and is known by many names: slavery, forced labour or human trafficking. The Index provides a quantitative ranking of 162 countries around the world according to the estimated prevalence of slavery, that is, the estimated percentage of enslaved people in the national population at a point in time. The Index also provides an estimate of the size of the modern slavery problem, country by country reflecting a combined measure of three factors:
- Estimated prevalence of modern slavery by population,
- A measure of child marriage,
- A measure of human trafficking in and out of a country.
The measure is heavily weighted to reflect the first factor, prevalence. A number one ranking indicates a more severely concentrated modern slavery situation.
According to the report, “It is estimate of 29.8 million slaves worldwide is higher than other attempts to quantify modern slavery. The International Labor Organization estimates that almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor.
Countries with highest prevalence of modern slavery:
- Mauritania
- Haiti
- Pakistan
- India
- Nepal
- Moldova
- Benin
- Côte d’Ivoire
- The Gambia
- Gabon
Countries with highest estimated number of population in modern slavery
- India
- China
- Pakistan
- Nigeria
- Ethiopia
- Russia
- Thailand
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Myanmar
- Bangladesh
Countries with lowest prevalence of modern slavery
- Denmark
- Finland
- Luxembourg
- Norway
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- New Zealand
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Iceland
The Index is endorsed by political leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Tony Abbott, Gordon Brown, Gareth Evans and Julia Gillard; philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Mo Ibrahim; and expert humanitarians such as Muhammad Yunus, Luis C’deBaca and Louise Arbour. This is the first year of the Global Slavery Index. A key finding from this inaugural Index is that there are an estimated 29.8 million people enslaved around the world. The index was compiled by Australian-based rights organization Walk Free Foundation using a definition of modern slavery that includes debt bondage, forced marriage and human trafficking.
According to the Walk Free Foundation, ” We believe the pathway to ending modern slavery involves building public awareness and channeling this into the kind of mobilisation and campaigning required to encourage decision- makers to respond to consumer and constituent demand.”