The International Labor Organization (ILO), a UN agency, disclosed in a recent
report that forced labor in the private economy gives rise to an estimated US$236 billion in annual unlawful profits, an increase of US$64 billion since 2014.
Forced labor, an illegal practice and breach of basic human rights, is characterized – according to the
Forced Labor Convention, 1930 (No. 29) – as “all work or service that is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”
The number of individuals subject to forced labor has surged by approximately 2.7 million from 2016 to 2021, according to the report. Furthermore, the population of forced labor workers in the private sector has risen by 27 percent over the past decade. Predominantly by private actors, forced labor consists of 86 percent of the total forced labor, with 63 percent resulting from labor exploitation and 23 percent from forced commercial sexual exploitation.
Forced commercial sexual exploitation is accountable for 73 percent of the total unlawful profits. The highest earnings equating to US$58.6 billion hail from Europe and Central Asia, followed by Asia and the Pacific, at US$48.4 billion. The Americas account for US$34.9 billion, Africa stands at US$16.1 billion, and US$14.6 billion comes from the Arab States. The number of prosecutions for coerced labor remains disproportionately small in the majority of jurisdictions, the report reveals.
Victims of commercial sexual exploitation, with
approximately 1 million children and 99 percent women and girls, generally have limited possibilities for seeking justice since commercial sexual exploitation is largely outlawed in most countries.
Emphasizing the wide-ranging forms of coercion faced by individuals subjected to forced labor, ILO’s Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo,
underscored that wage withholding is the most common form of coercion. He called on the global community to protect workers’ rights and uphold fairness and equality.
Federico Blanco, a senior researcher at the ILO, also
conveyed concerns regarding the rise in forced labor. He emphasized that the misappropriation of wages, resources, and livelihoods inflicted by these unlawful profits on labourers is immeasurable.
The ILO underscored the significance of improving and ensuring that the legal frameworks regarding forced labor meet international legal standards. An excerpt from the agency’s report reads:
“Ensuring adequate enforcement capacity is… critical, including through enhanced training programs to equip key enforcement actors with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively identify and prosecute forced labor cases. Extending the reach of labor inspectorates into high-risk sectors and building more effective bridges between labor and criminal law enforcement is also critical in this regard. Improving access to remedies so that perpetrators are obliged to pay compensation to those they have harmed can also serve a punitive function and act as a deterrent for would-be offenders… The
Protocol to the Forced Labor Convention and the
Forced Labor (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation, 2014 (No. 203) provides a strategic framework for comprehensive action against forced labor.”
In a related development, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata,
warned the UK government in January that forced labor could equate to infringements of international law. This follows an October 2023 statement by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism asserting that the UK government’s inaction, evidenced by its neglect of seasonal workers’ well-being, may violate its obligations to prevent modern slavery.