Forty million victims of modern slavery in 2016

Forty million people around the world, mostly women and girls, were victims of modern slavery last year, according to a new report.

The study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that about 25 million were in forced labour, and 15 million were in a forced marriage in 2016.

The new estimates, released during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, also found that about 152 million children, aged between 5 and 17, were subject to child labour in the same period.

Guy Ryder, ILO director-general, said that the world will not be in a position to achieve its sustainable development goals unless the international community dramatically increase efforts to fight the scourges put in the report.

Andrew Forrest, founder of the The Walk Free Foundation, said: "We all have a role to play in changing this reality - business, government, civil society, every one of us."

UCJ, UNILORIN.