The UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) stated in a report on Tuesday that forced labor in the private economy generates annual illegal profits of US$236 billion per year. This has risen by US$64 billion since 2014.

Forced labor is a criminal offense and violation of fundamental human rights. It is defined in the Forced Labor Convention, 1930 (No. 29) as “all work or service that is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”

According to the report, the number of people in forced labor increased by 2.7 million from 2016 to 2021. In addition, the forced labor population of the private economy increased by 27 percent over the last ten years. Nearly 86 percent of forced labor were imposed by private actors, wherein forced labor exploitation accounted for 63 percent and forced commercial sexual exploitation accounted for 23 percent.

Forced commercial sexual exploitation generated the largest share of 73 percent of total illegal profits. Annual total illegal profits from forced commercial sexual exploitation totaled US$58.6 billion in Europe and Central Asia, US$48.4 billion in Asia and the Pacific, US$34.9 billion in the Americas, US$16.1 billion in Africa and US$14.6 billion in the Arab States.

The report stated that the number of prosecutions for the crime of forced labor is very low in most jurisdictions. Victims of commercial sexual exploitation have limited or no recourse to justice as commercial sexual exploitation is illegal in most countries. Approximately 1 million of commercial sexual exploitation victims are children and 99 percent are women and girls.

ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo pointed out that individuals in forced labor face various forms of coercion, including the most common form of withholding wages. He called upon the international community to safeguard the rights of workers and uphold the principles of fairness and equality.

ILO senior research officer Federico Blanco also expressed concerns over the increase in forced labor. He said that “the human toll [of forced labor is incalculable]. These illegal profits represent wages, resources [and] livelihoods [that are] effectively stolen from workers[.]”

The ILO highlighted the importance of strengthening and ensuring legal frameworks of forced labor meet international legal standards. The ILO wrote:

Ensuring adequate enforcement capacity is … critical, including through enhanced training programs to equip key enforcement actors with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively identify and prosecute forced labor cases. Extending the reach of labor inspectorates into high-risk sectors and building more effective bridges between labor and criminal law enforcement is also critical in this regard. Improving access to remedies so that perpetrators are obliged to pay compensation to those they have harmed can also serve a punitive function and act as a deterrent for would-be offenders … The Protocol to the Forced Labor Convention and the Forced Labor (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation, 2014 (No. 203) provides a strategic framework for comprehensive action against forced labor.

Relatedly, on January 12, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery Tomoya Obokata warned the UK government that forced labor could amount to breaches of international law. On October 22, 2023, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism said that the UK’s government lack of action in relation to mistreating seasonal workers violate its obligations to prevent modern slavery.