India is home to the largest number of enslaved people in the world.
A little over 18 million people?equal to the entire population of Chile?are victims of modern slavery in Asia?s third-largest economy, according to the Global Slavery Index (pdf), published by Australia-based human rights group Walk Free Foundation. Such persons are often engaged in domestic work, construction, farming, fishing, manual labour, forced begging, and in the sex industry.
The index defines modern slavery as a situation where ?a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception, with treatment akin to a farm animal.? This also includes victims of human trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage, forced or servile marriage, and the sale and exploitation of children.
Across the world, nearly 46 million people are held as modern slaves, the report said. Of these, 58% are currently in India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan.
?Asia, the most populous region in the world, has an estimated two-thirds of the total number of people in modern slavery,? the report said. ?This region provides low-skilled labour for the production stage of global supply chains for industries including food production, garments, and technology.?
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India has 18 million modern slavesâ??at least five times more than any other country in the world â?? Quartz