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NEWS ALERTS | New Shame: Modern Slavery Thriving in India
New Shame: Modern Slavery Thriving in India

New Shame: Modern Slavery Thriving in India

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published Published on Dec 1, 2014   modified Modified on May 9, 2016

Far from being dead and gone, slavery exists in many forms and is flourishing. A disturbing report on modern slavery compiles facts and figures and documents data about new forms of slavery all over the world. Even more disturbing is the fact that India figures in very high on slavery index. It says that almost 61% of those living in modern slavery are in 5 countries: India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. What is worse is that the governments of these ‘free' nations have no roadmap or seem to be in no hurry to take sufficient action to end modern slavery (See recommendations for govts below).

Modern slavery takes various forms such as slavery, forced labour, or human trafficking. All these forms involve one person depriving another person of their freedom: their freedom to leave one job for another, their freedom to leave one workplace for another, their freedom to control their own body.

Modern slavery implies one person possessing or controlling another person in ways that deprive individual liberty with the intention of exploiting that person through use, management, profit, transfer or disposal. In a way the report has questioned the classical notion of economic freedom that often negates the existence of inequality and power hierarchy in the society.

The report entitled The Global Slavery Index 2014 has identified the country as home to the largest number of people, among 167 nations, enmeshed in modern slavery (See link below for full report). India presently ranks 5th among 167 nations in terms of prevalence of population in modern slavery. It had a rank 4 among 162 nations in terms of the same last year. All this flies in the face of the claims that India has embraced policies that promote economic freedom in the form of free markets, free trade and private property rights.

Prepared by an international NGO The Walk Free Foundation, the report finds that nearly 1.43 crore people in India are estimated to be in modern slavery, which comes to 1.14% of the entire population. The country -- along with China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand -- accounts for 71% of the estimated 35.8 million people in modern slavery across the globe.

According to the report on modern slavery, the country ranks 59 among 167 nations with a rating CCC in terms of government response to end modern slavery. This means that the Indian government makes response to modern slavery, with limited victim support services, a criminal justice framework that criminalises some forms of modern slavery, has a national action plan and/or national coordination body, and has policies that provide some protections for those vulnerable to modern slavery. There is also evidence that some government policies and practices may criminalise and/or deport victims, and/ or facilitate slavery. Services may be largely provided by IOs/NGOs with international funding, with limited government funding or in-kind support.

Despite improved law enforcement efforts by establishing 215 anti-human trafficking units across the country to investigate human trafficking cases, the government data shows that only 13 offenders were convicted in 2013. Although the Ministry of Home Affairs has launched a ‘anti-trafficking portal' in 2014 that provides information on criminal justice statistics, anti-trafficking police units, government and law enforcement training, the anti-trafficking legislation, and reporting mechanisms, the portal does not appear to provide information on forced or bonded labour.

Except Karnataka, most Indian states are yet to implement the Supreme Court Order on October 15, 2012, which required District Vigilance committees to undertake surveys to identify and release those in bonded labour, as already required by the Bonded Labour Act.

In India, there are examples aplenty that entire families have been enslaved through bonded labour in construction, agriculture, brick making, garment factories and manufacturing. People who migrate for low and semi-skilled job opportunities, both within the country and abroad, are disproportionately vulnerable to forced labour. Cheap and low-skilled labour in South and South East Asia including India is used at the production stage of global supply chains for various industries including food production, garments, and technology.

The report adds that migrant workers from South Asia including India are subjected to a range of exploitative practices that may amount to forced labour and domestic servitude - namely, extortionate recruitment fees, illegal confiscation of passports, withholding of salaries, excessive working hours, hazardous workplaces, unhygienic living conditions, and physical, psychological and sexual abuse from employers. India ranks 63 among 167 nations with a mean score of 56.7 in terms of vulnerability of enslavement.

Modern slavery in India exists in the forms of inter-generational bonded labour, trafficking for sexual exploitation, and forced marriage. Mainly members of lower castes and tribes, religious minorities, and migrant workers are disproportionately affected by modern slavery. Modern slavery occurs in brick kilns, carpet weaving, embroidery and other textile manufacturing, forced prostitution, agriculture, domestic servitude, mining, and organised begging rings. Dalits, women, children and people employed in the informal sector are vulnerable to modern slavery.

The report The Global Slavery Index 2014 has made the following recommendations for Government of India:

* Ratify and implement the Convention of the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the Domestic Workers Convention.
* Require all States to follow up on the Supreme Court Judgment of October 15, 2012, to identify and release those in bonded labour.
* Update regulations and processes for the implementation of the Bonded Labour Act, and report on its implementation.
* Implement a new National Action Plan that targets the full spectrum of modern slavery.
* Continue to strengthen protections for victims of modern slavery and ensure that they are not criminalised.
* Victims must be protected (including protecting their identities) throughout the duration of their court cases.

The key findings of the report titled The Global Slavery Index 2014 are as follows:

• There are 14 million people in modern slavery in India, which is equivalent to 1.14% of the entire population.

• India ranks 63 among 167 nations with a mean score of 56.7 in terms of vulnerability of enslavement.

• Dalits in India have the least social protections and are highly vulnerable to severe forms of exploitation and modern slavery.

• Approximately 90 percent of India's labourers are in the informal economy, presenting risks associated with a highly unregulated and unmonitored work environment.

• Women and girls face significant discrimination and high rates of sexual violence across India.

• India ranks 59 among 167 nations with a rating CCC in terms of government reponse to end modern slavery.

• In 2013, the Government of India amended the Indian Penal code to include specific anti-trafficking provisions.

• The judiciary and over 20,000 law enforcement have received training on victim identification, the new legal framework, and victim-centered investigations. Although the government's victim compensation scheme extends to human trafficking victims, the amount and efficiency of dispersal is largely dependent on the State administration, and is not available country-wide.

• The government response to bonded labour is monitored by the National Human Rights Commission that reviews existing policies and practices, and provides training to district Magistrates, Deputy Commissioners, and other government officials.

• As compared to first Global Slavery Index 2013 report, estimated prevalence of people in modern slavery has increased in 2014. The number of people in modern slavery has increased from 29.8 million in 2013 to 35.8 million in 2014, globally.

 

References:

The Global Slavery Index 2014, prepared by Walk Free Foundation (Please click here to access)

Methodology to prepare Global Slavery Index 2014 (Please click here to access)

Detailed Methodology to prepare Global Slavery Index 2014 (Please click here to access)

India is now the world's slave capital: Global Slavery Index 2014 -Kounteya Sinha, The Times of India, 17 November, 2014 (Please click here to access) 

Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2014 by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (Please click here to access) 

The Global Slavery Index 2013 (Please click here to access)

Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan



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