The Global Slavery Index, published by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation, lists India as the country with by far the most slaves, with an estimated nearly 14 million, followed by China (2.9 million) and Pakistan (2.1 million).
The top 10 countries on
its list of shame accounted for more than three quarters of the 29.8
million people living in slavery, with Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh completing the list.
In terms of countries with the highest of proportion of slaves, Mauritania in West Africa topped the table, with about 4% of its 3.4 million people enslaved, followed by Haiti, Pakistan, India and Nepal.
The index, whose authors
claim it contains the most authoritative data on slavery conditions
worldwide, is the product of Australian mining magnate and
philanthropist Andrew Forrest's commitment to stamp out global slavery.
Forrest, ranked by Forbes
as Australia's fifth richest man, with an estimated net worth of $5.7
billion, adopted the cause after his daughter volunteered in an
orphanage in Nepal in 2008, coming into contact with child sex
trafficking victims. Forrest is a signatory to the Giving Pledge started
by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, whose members commit to
donating at least half their wealth to philanthropic causes.
The index, which draws on
10 years of research into slavery conditions around the world and was
produced by a team of 4 authors supported by 22 other experts and
advisers, is the inaugural edition of what will be an annual report into
slavery. It ranks 162 countries according to the number of people
living in slavery, the risk of enslavement and the robustness of
government responses to the problem.
Walk Free policy and
research manager Gina Dafalia told CNN the report was intended to shine a
spotlight on the issue, and quantify the extent of the problem in
different countries before programs were put in place to tackle the
problem. So far, she said, Walk Free -- and its partners Humanity United
and the Legatum Foundation -- had pledged a total of $100 million to
stamp out the practice.
The index gives a higher estimate of the global number of slaves than other reports -- a report by the International Labor Organization last year pegged the number at 20.9 million.
Dafalia said this was a
result of the Global Slavery Index using a broader definition of
slavery, which included human trafficking, forced labor, as well as
practices such as forced marriage, debt bondage and the exploitation of
children.
Asked why 30 million
continued to live in conditions of slavery in 2013, Dafalia said the
reasons varied from country to country, but one constant was that it
remained a "hidden problem."
In some of the worst-hit
countries, the report said, the affected parties were citizens ensnared
in endemic, culturally-sanctioned forms of slavery -- "the chattel
slavery of the Haratins in Mauritania, the exploitation of children
through the restavek practice in Haiti, the cultural and economic
practices of both caste and debt bondage in India and Pakistan, and the
exploitation of children through vidomegon in Benin."
In other examples, including Nepal,
Gabon and Moldova, it was migrants who were most vulnerable to
exploitation. In many examples, noted the report, child and forced
marriage was prevalent and child protection practices weak.
It noted that in India, the country with the most slaves, the risk of enslavement varies markedly from state to state.
The Middle East and North Africa,
it said, showed the highest measured level of discrimination against
women, with one result being a high level of forced and child marriages
within the region, and widespread exploitation of trafficked women as domestic workers and prostitutes. Vulnerable male migrants also frequently found themselves in exploitative working conditions.
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