A new report from the ILO investigates the underlying factors that drive forced labour, of which a major one is illegal profits.  Figures will include a breakdown of profits by area of forced labour and by region. Per capita profits are highest in commercial sexual exploitation, which can be explained by the demand for such services and the prices clients ar willing to pay, and low capital investment and by the low operating costs associated with this activity.  Read more in  English    Spanish   French

How is forced labour defined?   A definition of forced labour enshrined in the ILO’s Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (29) adopted in 1930 reads ‘the definition encompasses all forms of work or service, whether formal or informal, legal or illegal. Forced labour also requires an element of coercion (“menace of penalty”) to distinguish it from labour exploitation more broadly. The free and informed consent of workers throughout the labour relationship is another important element of the definition. Convention No 29 requires member States to make forced labour a penal offense; hence the exaction of forced labour is not a minor labour law violation but a criminal act. As such, it is closely related to the concept of human trafficking as defined by the UN Protocol of 2000 to Prevent, suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. The Protocol makes trafficking in persona a criminal offence. All exploitative purposes of trafficking are covered by the ILO’s Forced Labour definition with the exception of trafficking for the purpose of the removal of organs. (page 3)