Women, girls are at greater risk for forced labour

The International Labor Organization (ILO) released a report on Friday, saying that women and girls are at higher risk of being forced into labor. "Women and girls represent a greater share of the total, 55 percent (of force labor), as compared to 45 percent from men and boys," UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters during the daily news briefing. According to the report, the global estimate of forced workers is that of 20.9 million people. With 14.2 million were subjected into forced labor, 4.5 forced into sexual exploitation, and another 2.2 million forced into state-imposed forced labor. ILO also reports that the Asia Pacific region is where the highest number of forced laborers can be found. With an estimated 11.7 million people, or 56 percent of the total findings, either being coerced or deceived into a working environment they cannot leave from. While a significant progress has been made to combat forced labor, the director of ILO's Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, Beate Andrees stressed in the report that the " successful prosecution of individuals who bring such misery to so many remains inadequate." Andrees also stressed that the system needs to be changed. In the report, Andrees also notes that the need to decrease the numbers of people subjected to forced labor is dire, and a proactive approach during the economic hardships must be made to ensure the numbers do not continue to increase. "We must also ensure that the numbers of victims does not rise, during the current economic crisis, where people are increasingly vulnerable to these heinous practices," Andrees said.