Developed Countries Are Making $47 Billion A Year From Forced Labor

A recent United Nations report puts the amount of profits made from forced labor at $150 billion. It’s easy to assume that the money is made almost exclusively in countries with weak institutions and corrupt law enforcement. But the report estimates that developed countries are home to $47 billion worth of such labor exploitation.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that even today “20.9 million people are in forced labor globally, trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation, or held in slavery-like conditions.”

The ILO’s definition of forced labor is “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.” [...]