Forced labor is far from a thing of the past – and it brings exploiters billions. The illegal profits from forced prostitution are particularly high.
According to a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), illegal profits from forced labor are increasing rapidly. It estimates the exploiters’ profits at $236 billion (around €217 billion) a year, as the organization reported in Geneva.
That is 37 percent more than in 2014. The estimate is based on figures from 2021. Two thirds of the profits came from forced prostitution. According to EU anti-trafficking coordinator Diane Schmitt, the increase is alarming, but could also be explained by better monitoring and detection of forced labor.
Profit refers to the difference between what people were paid and what they would have been entitled to under correct working conditions. The increase is due to both the increasing number of those affected and the fact that profits per person have increased. These are particularly high in the Europe and Central Asia region, which includes a good 50 countries from Iceland to Turkey to Russia.
Over 27 million people affected every day
The ILO defines forced labor as: “Any work or service required of a person under penalty of punishment and for which that person has not volunteered.”
On any given day in 2021, 27.6 million people worldwide would have been in forced labor, for example in mines, agriculture or domestic work, statistically 3.5 people per 1,000 people on earth. 6.3 million of them were forced into prostitution. According to the ILO, the total number was 2.7 million higher than five years earlier. More than half of those affected live in the Asia and Pacific region (15.1 million). The Europe/Central Asia region comes in second place with 4.1 million.
“Forced labor perpetuates the cycle of poverty and exploitation and touches the core of human dignity,” said ILO Director General Gilbert Houngbo. The ILO calls for better monitoring of economic sectors vulnerable to exploitation and urges that exploiters be consistently held accountable.
The ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations in which governments, employers and employees are represented.
Source: Stern
