How many slaves?
31st May. More than 45 million people are trapped in modern slavery around the world, an annual report by The Walk Free Foundation pressure group has found.
Modern slavery includes people who are forced to work as prostitutes or domestics. It also includes people who become enslaved over debts and compelled to work in factories/farms.
Asia is the worst offender. With 18.35 million 'slaves', India tops the list, followed by China with 3.39 million and Pakistan with 2.13 million.
Walk Free chairman Andrew Forrest said: "One of the reasons why we chose to launch the Global Slavery Index 2016 in London was because of the leadership which Britain has made on the modern slavery issue.
"The Modern Slavery Act 2015 led the world and we are seeing this having a real impact in how companies and countries behave. We feel very strongly that if this leadership is adopted by the nine other major economies of the world then the world would be a much safer place."
A total of 45.8 million men, women and children are modern slaves, according to the study - 10 million more than the last survey in 2014.
According to the Home Office says, some 13,000 modern slaves are in Britain - they have been sourced primarily from Albania, Nigeria and Vietnam. There are however also British nationals - often overlooked. These are often teenage girls who have been groomed and then forced into sex work.
The situation is made worst by current immigration rules which leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation. Britain can only be praised for introducing the 'Modern Slavery Act 2015', however conviction rates in the UK are low.
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