In Depth India becomes Capital of Slaves Global Slavery Index 2014

In Depth India becomes Capital of Slaves Global Slavery Index 2014

Second Edition of Global Slavery Index
Released - 17 November 2014

The 2014 Global Slavery Index presents a ranking of 167 countries based on the percent of a country’s population that is estimated to be in modern slavery.
This year Index has also ranked countries based on what actions their governments are taking to end modern slavery.

Around the world today, there are an estimated 35.8 million men, women and children trapped in modern slavery

Out of this, 61% people are living in top five countries.

Five countries are appearing in the Global Slavery Index for the first time: Taiwan, South Sudan, North Korea, Kosovo and Cyprus.

The Index ranks 167 countries in terms of the percentage of a national population and the total number of people living in modern slavery – country by country, region by region.

In absolute terms, the index was topped by India followed by China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Russia.

India and Modern Slavery –

There are an estimated 14,285,700 people in modern slavery in India – this is equivalent to 1.1409% of the entire population

India’s modern slavery challenges are immense.
Across India’s population of over 1.2 billion people, all forms of modern slavery, including inter-generational bonded labour, trafficking for sexual exploitation, and forced marriage, exist.

Evidence suggests that members of lower castes and tribes, religious minorities, and migrant workers are disproportionately affected by modern slavery.
Modern slavery occurs in brick kilns, carpet weaving, embroidery and other textile manufacturing, forced prostitution, agriculture, domestic servitude, mining, and organised begging rings.

Bonded labour is particularly prevalent throughout India with families enslaved for generations.

There are reports of women from India and neighbouring countries being recruited with promises of non-existent jobs and later sold for sexual exploitation or forced into sham marriages.

In some religious groups, pre-pubescent girls are sold for sexual servitude in temples.

Recent reports suggest that one child goes missing every eight minutes; it is feared that some are sold into forced begging, domestic work, and commercial sexual exploitation.

Bangladeshis and Nepalese, particularly women and children, migrate to India in search of work.

Young Nepali women banned from traveling to the Gulf for domestic work also pass through India as an alternative route. Some of these migrants then experience abuse and exploitation.

Other migrants are fraudulently sent by recruiters to India to be transported to jobs in the Gulf, only to remain in India in positions of forced labour or commercial sexual exploitation.

Reports suggest that most States are yet to implement the Supreme Court Order which required District Vigilance committees to undertake surveys to identify and release those in bonded labour, as already required by the Bonded Labour Act.

The rates of forced and servile marriage continue to trap women and girls in cycles of domestic servitude with few opportunities for education, meaningful employment or access to reproductive rights.

In 2014, almost two-thirds (65.8%) of the estimated 35.8 million people in modern slavery globally are in the Asia Pacific region.

Within the Asia Pacific region, the combined totals of India, Pakistan and Thailand equal almost 50 percent of the total number of people living in modern slavery globally.

The high prevalence of modern slavery in the region reflects the reality that many countries in South and South East Asia provide the low-skilled labour at the production stage of global supply chains for various industries including food production, garments, and technology.


Below are the ten countries with the highest estimated prevalence of modern slavery by population are:
1-Mauritania
2-Uzbekistan
3-Haiti
4-Qatar
5-India
6-Pakistan
7-the Democratic Republic of the Congo
8-Sudan
9-Syria
10-the Central African Republic

Below is the list of ten countries with the largest estimated numbers of people in modern slavery are:
1-India
2-China
3-Pakistan
4-Uzbekistan
5-Russia
6-Nigeria
7-the Democratic Republic of the Congo
8-Indonesia
9-Bangladesh
10-Thailand

Taken together, these ten countries account for 71 percent of the total estimate of 35.8 million people living in modern slavery.


The regions with the lowest estimates of people enslaved are Europe and North America

Below is the list of countries with lowest enslaved people
Iceland
Ireland
Norway,
Finland
Denmark

Canada has the lowest estimated prevalence in the Americas

Asia Pacific Region lowest number of slaves
1-New Zealand
2-Taiwan
3-Australia

Below are the Names of countries whose government is trying hard to end the slavery from their countries

1-Netherlands
2-Sweden
3-United States
4-Australia
5-Switzerland
6-Ireland
7-Norway
8-United Kingdom
9-Georgia
10-Austria

Common characteristics of each of these countries are a strong political will to respond to the issue and a strong rule of law.
These countries are also starting to take ownership of the link between business and modern slavery.

In Brazil, companies that profit from slave labour are named and shamed.

In the US, the government has taken steps to ensure its procurement practices are not contributing to modern slavery.

In Australia, public procurement rules identify modern slavery as an important issue when considering the ethical behaviour of suppliers, but it is not clear if this has translated to action yet.

Globally, only three governments are making some efforts to prevent the use of forced or slave labour in their supply chains, and in the supply chains of businesses operating in their country.

These include the United States, Brazil and Australia. These countries have either made a public commitment to address modern slavery within their own supply chains, such as Australia, or have taken more active steps to ensure supply chain transparency, such the United States’ Executive Order, or Brazil’s Register of Companies (the Dirty List).

The Netherlands has the strongest response to modern slavery of the 167 countries examined, scoring highly across victim assistance programmes, criminal justice responses, and responding to institutional risk.

The Netherlands includes the private sector in its National Action Plan and conducts independent evaluations

Uzbek cotton, produced with forced labour, is exported to Bangladesh, South Korea and China.

In North Korea, prisoners in the gulag system – or forced labour camps – produce hardwoods for export to Japan.
The forced labour systems in both Uzbekistan and North Korea are major contributors to their national economies.

Hong Kong, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia each have either a strong or middle range economy, but have a particularly poor response to modern slavery. The kafala system, which ties an employee to an employer, has facilitated significant abuses of domestic and construction workers in the Middle East.

Hong Kong is part of a small group of countries in South East Asia, such as Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, who, despite their relative wealth, have done little to respond to the problem within their borders.

The Index is produced by the Walk Free Foundation, a global human rights organization dedicated to ending modern slavery.

The Walk Free Foundation was founded by Australian philanthropists, Andrew and Nicola Forrest.

Reality views by sm –

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Tags – India No. 1 Modern Slave Country List