Nearly 36 million men, women and children are enslaved around the world
By RYAN GORMAN
A staggering number of people are enslaved around the world, according to a new study, and poorer nations tend to have more slaves than wealthier countries.
Nearly 36 million men, women and children are living in modern slavery, Gallup has revealed. More than 14 million of them can be found in India alone.
About 35.8 million people are found to be in slavery through the deprivation of individual liberty for the purpose of exploitation, according to Gallup.
Forms of slavery range from human trafficking, forced labor and debt bondage, to forced marriage, commercial sexual exploitation and the sale and exploitation of children, said the polling agency.
In addition to India, high-risk countries include Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan and Russia, said Gallup, which made the findings in collaboration with Walk Free, a non-profit that produces the Global Slavery Index.
Among individual countries, China places second with 3.2 million slaves, Pakistan third with 2.1 million and Russia fourth with 1 million.
A further 15.2 millions are spread mainly across the remaining high-risk nations and other countries.
A direct correlation was made by Gallup and Walk Free between a country's wealth and the percentage of its population that become enslaved.
"Poverty is a clear risk factor behind modern slavery," said Gallup. "Poorer countries tend to have more slaves."
As a percentage of population, Pakistan's 2.1 million slaves make up one percent of all people.
Nepal has roughly 200,000 slaves, but they make up almost one percent of the small country's population.
All numbers are estimates, and Gallup admits it can be hard to identify victims .
"Most modern slavery is not visible to the general public, and victims may not be easy to identify using standard survey methods," said the pollster.
Less-obvious examples of slavery cited by Gallup include Nepalese factory workers unable to leave their jobs because of threats of violence or legal action and Pakistani farmers forced to work to repay debts.
Both known-victims of slavery and non-victims were interviewed in many countries, including those deemed high-risk.
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