On the occasion of International Girl Child Day, the United Nations (UN) came up a report ‘Stacked Odds’ based on Modern Slavery. For the term Modern Slavery or contemporary form of slavery, there is no specific universal definition, rather it is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. It is considered as a situation of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or use of power as defined by UN.

 According to the Stacked Odds report, one in every 130 females globally is living in modern slavery. It means countries are still nowhere near the rate of change needed to meet the goal of ending slavery by 2030 as highlighted in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global estimates were studied and reported by Walk Free which is an international human right group focussed on eradication of modern slavery in all its forms and the two UN agencies- the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which are considered as powerful advocacy tools to deal with slavery.

Among all the victims of modern slavery, women and girls accounts for nearly three quarters (71 per cent). Females outnumber males as victims of modern slavery in four of the five world regions. They account for 73% of victims in the Asia and Pacific, 71% in Africa, 71% in Europe and Central Asia, and 63% in America. The Stacked odds report also highlighted that 99 percent of the victims of forced sexual exploitation are women. And 84 percent of all victims of forced marriage and 58 percent of all victims of forced labour are also women. 

As oppose to men, women are more vulnerable to modern slavery due to various factors:

• Women are considered as a disadvantaged section of the society and face various socio-economic problems like poverty, lack of access to education and less opportunities in the political field. 
• In many countries, laws can exacerbate, rather than protecting from modern slavery. They prevent women from inheriting land and assets, conferring citizenship on their children, traveling freely and working without their husband’s permission.
• Women are underrepresented at all the levels of political leadership. On an average, just 25 percent of people in national parliaments in 2020 are female. 
• When it comes to workforce, women are paid less than men for the same amount of work and this gender discrimination financially penalises women.
• Normalisation of gender-based violence also increases female’s vulnerability to modern slavery.

Various factors which are responsible for the modern slavery are as follows:

• Absence of rule of law: Slavery become prevalent in the society where there is no enforcement of law. It is often abetted by police and other authorities. Without adequate enforcement of laws and strengthening of legal frameworks, human traffickers operate with impunity. 
• Poverty: About 765 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, making less than $1.90 per day. Those in destitute conditions have limited means to support their families. In the absence of alternatives, many people take risks which are lured by sham offers of better futures.
• Marginalized Groups: Certain groups face discrimination which includes, ethnic and religious minorities, women and children, and migrants and refugees are prone to enslavement.
• War and Conflict: War brings a kind of instability that can expose besieged communities to forced labour networks.
• Natural Disasters: Extreme weather, as well as resulting pandemics, can ravage a country’s physical infrastructure, displace communities and increase the desperation of already marginalised groups.
• State-imposed forced labour: It includes citizens recruitment by their state authorities to participate in agricultural or construction work for purposes of economic development, young military conscripts forced to perform work that is not of military nature, or prisoners forced to work against their will.

Modern Slavery in India

According to the Global Slavery Indexed report released by Walk Free, 8 million people are facing modern slavery in India. At the same time 6.10 out of 1000 are estimated proportion of population living in modern slavery and 55.49 people out of 100 are vulnerable to modern slavery.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicate that there were 8,132 reported cases of human trafficking across India. Most of the victims were trafficked for forced labour and prostitution. There have been many cases of contract violations and exploitation of India’s migrants living in the Gulf countries which have led people to become modern slaves. There are also reported cases of abductions and coercion of children by the Left-Wing Extremists to join Bal Dasta units which train children in front-line operations, and as couriers and informants against national security forces. 

In order to do away with modern slavery, India has criminalized most forms of modern slavery, including trafficking, slavery, forced labour, and child sexual exploitation in its Penal Code. For example- Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,2012. But currently, there is no legislation criminalizing use of children in armed conflict. There are various schemes like Ujjawala which is a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and re-integration of victims of Trafficking and Commercial sexual exploitation and Swadhar initiated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in order to provide shelter and rehabilitation services for rescued women. The Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded labourers was adopted by India in 2016 to recognise the needs of different groups trapped in bounded labour and provide cash compensation. The Indian Government also ratified two core ILO conventions in 2017, namely No. 138 on Minimum age to Employment and No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

Steps need to be taken to eradicate Modern Slavery at global level:

The report says, ‘At its core, the fight against modern slavery is about ensuring the most basic of human rights- freedom’. In order to ameliorate modern slavery, there is a need to strengthen criminal justice. It should be ensured that no child is born stateless by strengthening legal safeguards and ensuring birth registration. Laws and policies that prevent or make it difficult for workers to leave abusive employers without risk of loss of visa and deportation of security deposits must be addressed. There is a current need to overturn laws and policies that strip women of their rights or exacerbate their vulnerability to sexual violence and exploitation. States should improve coordination and accountability among national agencies by developing evidence-based national action plans and establishing national referral mechanisms involving civil society law enforcement agencies and other groups. Cross-border collaboration and data sharing should be improved to tackle modern slavery. Nation-states should improve support for modern slavery victims and survivors by providing regular, systematic training for all frontline service providers. Government should work with communities and civil society to create avenues for reporting crimes, improving access to protection and support services and changing the social norms around widow cleansing, witchcraft accusations and other harmful practices. 

Whereas, the UN report suggested six points to nation states that should be included in action plan to prevent the exploitation of women and girls:

• Government should criminalise all forms of modern slavery through bringing reforms in the laws.
• Girls Education should be on priority list.
• Steps needs to betaken by the state governments to abolish child labour.
• Socio-cultural norms such as male preference, restriction on freedom of movement of girls, lack of control over financial assets and other harmful societal practices must be challenged.
• There is also a need to amend certain laws and policies like inheritance rights, land ownership laws and the Kafala system.
• The governments should acknowledge the clear link between gender and risk of modern slavery in their gender and development programming and budgets.

In the words of Grace Forrest, the co-founder of the Walk Free anti-slavery organization, ‘there are more people living in slavery today than any other time in human history’. Therefore, the nation-states should take immediate steps to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery to make this world a better place for living.