According to a report by a global human rights organisation, governments have been criticised for failing to shield their citizens from contemporary slavery.
According to the Global Slavery Index (GSI) 2023 report, which was produced by the international human rights organisation Walk Free, based in Australia, 50 million people were subject to modern slavery on any given day in 2021 across the 160 nations that were included in the study.
With an estimated seven million adults and children being held in modern slavery worldwide, Africa has the fourth-largest incidence of the abhorrent practise, amounting to 5.2 individuals for every 1,000 people.
"More than 3.8 million people were found to be engaged in forced labour, and more than 3.1 million Africans were found to be engaged in forced marriages throughout Africa," it emphasised.
As a tool to mobilise influential forces for change against violations of human rights, the report was released last Wednesday by Challenging Heights on behalf of its partner, Walk Free.
Statistics
James Kofi Annan, the president of Challenging Heights, who introduced the report, stated that Eritrea had the highest prevalence of slavery, with 9% of its population being enslaved, followed by Mauritania with 3.2% and South Sudan with 1%, with Mauritius having the lowest prevalence at 0.2%.
In Ghana, the prevalence rate was 0.3%.
Additionally, he said that the continent was home to the four nations that were most susceptible to contemporary slavery of any continent.
"The research revealed 100% levels of vulnerability in South Sudan, 98.5% in Somalia, and 20.5% in Mauritius, while it was lowest in South Sudan at 100%. Ghana's vulnerability score was 45%, Mr. Annan explained.
According to Mr. Annan, human traffickers deceived African job seekers and students with false promises before subjecting them to forced labour overseas, such as in the Gulf States.
For instance, Togo's confiage (trust) system sends rural youngsters to cities to finish their education and live with family, who may subject them to forced domestic slavery.
"Nigerian girls seeking employment as domestic helpers to help pay for schooling are also subjected to domestic servitude," he continued.
One in every 300 females in the region, according to Mr. Annan, is coerced into marriage as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has also spread to portions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Egypt.
"Women and girls living in conflict zones also experience forced and child marriage, including as a negative coping mechanism by families to protect them from further violence by fighters who abduct, marry, and exploit women and girls as domestic and sexual slaves," he continued.
Way ahead
Therefore, the organization's president pleaded with governments to take prompt action to solve current slavery. Additionally, he stated that African countries must make sure that survivors of modern slavery, including men, women, and children, receive support services that are sufficiently resourced.
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