Counting the cost of forced labour

THE idea of treating other humans like chattel seems as antiquated as it is barbaric. But it is big business. Forced labour produces profits of about $150 billion annually, according to a report published today by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Sexual exploitation accounts for a fifth of all victims but two-thirds of profits. The most lucrative region for this form of slavery, generating more than $30 billion in 2012 alone, is Asia. The average annual profits per victim of sexual exploitation are $22,000—more than four times those gained from non-domestic labour and almost ten times the profits from domestic work. The ILO defines forced labour as involuntary work as a result of force, fraud or deception when a penalty or the threat of a penalty is used to coerce. It puts the number of people in these conditions at 21m. Others, such as the Global Slavery Index, place the number as high as 30m—a partially visible workforce that is about the population of Canada.