On December 2, the world celebrated the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. The UN estimates that 50 million people are victims of modern slavery today.
Of the total, more than 50% are engaged in forced labor, one eighth (3.3 million) are exploited children. More than half of them are sexually exploited for commercial purposes.
In just the last 5 years, the number of victims of modern slavery has increased by a quarter. Migrants are three times more likely to be involved in forced labor. More than half of forced labor cases occur in upper-middle-income countries.
Forced marriage is one of the forms of modern slavery – 22 million victims. As a rule, such marriages are concluded under the pressure of relatives. In the high-risk group, girls under 15 years old, 25% of such marriages are in prosperous countries.
The United Nations has set an ambitious goal of ending slavery in all its manifestations by 2030. Expansion and strengthening of social protection, legal support – the most important, according to experts of the international labor organization, measures that will make significant progress towards the eradication of modern slavery. However, there are numerous obstacles on the way to achieving this goal – a pandemic, armed conflicts, increasing poverty.
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