LAW ENFORCEMENT
Women make up highest proportion of modern slaves
Shocking new figures have highlighted that almost three quarters of modern slavery victims are women.
The figures from the International Labour Organisation come at a time of heightened campaigning to tackle the issue with British Prime Minister Theresa May raising the issue at the 72nd General Assembly of the United Nations.
The ILO figures, which include global estimates of modern slavery and child labour, say that on any given day in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people were victims of modern slavery, of whom 71 per cent were women.
Executive Director of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), Peter McAllister and Head of Knowledge and Learning, Cindy Berman were also in New York to contribute to the debate and discuss solutions.
Modern slavery is an umbrella term, covering the various forms of coercion prohibited in international instruments on human rights and labour standards.
This means slavery, and institutions and practices similar to slavery including forced labour and trafficking.
Cindy Berman says: “It will end the confusion about which statistics to quote – the Global Slavery Index or the International Organisation on Migration.
“I hope it will also help with definitional clarity about what we mean by modern slavery, forced, child labour, sexual exploitation and trafficking.”
