The International Labour Organization has disclosed that sex traffickers make $27,252 per victim as forced labour in the private economy generates $236 billion in illegal profits annually.
This was disclosed in a new report on its website titled, ‘Profits and Poverty: The economics of forced labour’, from Geneva.
As seen by AMBusiness, ILO revealed in its report that forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for more than two-thirds (73 per cent) of the total illegal profits.
ILO added that the “total amount of illegal profits from forced labour has risen by $64 billion (37%) since 2014, a significant, attributed to a growth in the number of people forced into labour, as well as higher profits generated from the exploitation of victims.”
According to the report, from $8,269 a decade earlier, traffickers and criminals generate approximately $10,000 in revenue for each victim.
The highest illegal profits are in Europe and the lowest in the Arab countries.
“Europe and Central Asia account for the largest annual illegal profits from the forced labour of $84 billion, followed by Asia and the Pacific $62 billion, Americas $52 billion, Africa $20 billion, and Arab countries $18 billion,” the statement read.
When illegal profits are expressed per victim, annual illegal profits are highest in Europe and Central Asia, followed by the Arab States, the Americas, Africa and Asia, and the Pacific.
“Forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for more than two-thirds (73%) of the total illegal profits, despite accounting for only 27% of the total number of victims in privately imposed labour.
“Forced commercial sexual exploitation generates $27,252 profits per victim as against $3,687 profits per victim for other forms of non-state forced labour exploitation.
“Forced commercial sexual exploitation, is followed by illegal profits from industry, at $35 billion, followed by services ($20.8 billion), agriculture ($5 billion), and domestic work at $2.6 billion,” the statement continued.
These illicit profits are the wages that should rightfully belong to workers but which, as a result of their coercive practices, remain in the possession of those who exploit them.
The Director-General of ILO, Gilbert F. Houngbo said, “Forced labour perpetuates cycles of poverty and exploitation and strikes at the heart of human dignity. We now know that the situation has only got worse. The international community must urgently come together to take action to end this injustice.”
Houngbo stated, “People in forced labour are subject to multiple forms of coercion, the deliberate and systematic withholding of wages being amongst the most common. Forced labour perpetuates cycles of poverty and exploitation and strikes at the heart of human dignity. We now know that the situation has only got worse. The international community must urgently come together to take action to end this injustice, safeguard workers’ rights, and uphold the principles of fairness and equality for all.”
The report stresses the urgent need to invest in enforcement measures to stem the flow of illegal profits and to hold perpetrators accountable. The Commission recommends strengthening the legal framework, providing training for enforcement officials to extend labour inspections to high-risk sectors, and better coordination between labour and criminal law enforcement.
Unfortunately, forced labour cannot be eradicated through law enforcement measures alone, enforcement actions must be part of a comprehensive approach that prioritizes tackling the root causes and safeguarding victims, the report underlined.