Navigating the index

The Global Slavery Index (GSI) 2023 by Walk Free identifies modern slavery in various forms, such as forced labour, servile marriage, debt bondage, commercial sexual exploitation, and human trafficking. It presents a detailed picture of modern slavery as it exists across industries and countries today. It also indicates the actions governments are taking to combat modern slavery and the risks that populations face around the world.

The study utilises tools and methods to: identify factors explaining or predicting the prevalence of modern slavery; assess legal, policy, and programmatic actions taken by governments; identify promising practices across regions; and evaluate business compliance with Modern Slavery Acts.

Global findings

The report notes that nearly 10 million more individuals have been forced to work or marry since 2016. Key drivers include armed conflicts, environmental degradation, and the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery are North Korea, Eritrea, and Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

The 10 countries with highest prevalence share some political, social, and economic characteristics, including limited protections for civil liberties and human rights. Many of these countries are in volatile regions, which have experienced political instability, conflict, and/or authoritarianism. Many are home to large numbers of vulnerable people, such as refugees or migrant workers.

Governments with the strongest responses to modern slavery are traditionally characterised by having more resources at their disposal, relatively strong political will, and a strong civil society to hold government to account. The strongest responses were found in the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United States.

Importing risk

G20 nations contribute significantly to global supply chains, importing US$468 billion worth of at-risk goods annually. Most G20 governments are still not doing enough to ensure that modern slavery is not involved in the production of goods imported into their countries and within the supply chains of companies they do business with. The highest-risk products include electronics, garments, palm oil, solar panels, and textiles. The report offers a breakdown of at-risk products by source country for each G20 member, to understand the movement of risk through supply chains to the end consumer.

Recommendations

The report recommends several actions:

• Governments and the international community should integrate modern slavery responses into humanitarian efforts and strengthen social protection for vulnerable communities.
• Governments must focus on prevention and protection for those already vulnerable by, increasing access to primary and secondary school for all children, especially girls, ensuring survivor support services are covering all populations, and protect vulnerables on the move by repealing hostile migration policies that place national security above human rights.
• Governments must raise the legal age of marriage to 18 without exceptions, provide protections for survivors, and tackle underlying drivers of forced marriage.
• Governments must introduce mandatory human rights due diligence for businesses and governments, extend labour laws to all workers, and prohibit recruitment fees.
• When engaging with repressive regimes, governments and businesses must prioritise human rights by ensuring trade and investment do not contribute to state-imposed forced labour and ensure survivors of state-imposed forced labour have access to remediation.

Conclusion

The Global Slavery Index 2023 underscores the urgent need for comprehensive action to eradicate modern slavery. It calls for coordinated global efforts, robust legislation, and the integration of survivor voices in developing solutions. The report highlights the interconnectedness of modern slavery with broader social and economic issues such as climate change, conflict, poverty, gender inequality, and racial injustice. Recognising this interconnectedness, and resolving to act on it, presents a huge opportunity to ensure the resources mobilised go further and have lasting impact for the world’s most vulnerable people.