Modern Slaves: Nearly 46 Mln People Live in Shackles of Servitude Worldwide

About 45.8 million people are suffering from various forms of modern slavery worldwide in 2016, the Global Slavery Index report issued by the Freedom Fund on Tuesday said.

The report interprets the modern slavery as a form of exploitation when a person cannot refuse or leave "because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception, with treatment akin to a farm animal."

"In 2016, we estimate that 45.8 million people are in some form of modern slavery in 167 countries," the paper said.

Around 58 percent of modern slaves live in five countries: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. The largest number of people subjected to slavery live in India – more than 18 million.

At the same time North Korea is the country with the biggest proportion (about 4.8 percent) of people suffering from modern slavery.

"In North Korea, there is pervasive evidence that government-sanctioned forced labour occurs in an extensive system of prison labour camps while North Korean women are subjected to forced marriage and commercial sexual exploitation in China and other neighbouring states," the report said.

Iceland and Luxembourg are the two countries with the lowest number of people facing modern slavery (less than 500 people).

The report calls on the international community to take measures aimed at eradicating the problem of modern slavery.

"We call on Governments of the top ten economies of the world to enact laws, at least as strong as the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, with a budget and capability to ensure organisations are held to account for modern slavery in their supply chains, and to empower independent oversight," the report said.

The Freedom Fund founded in 2013 is dedicated to fighting various forms of modern slavery. It has been publishing annual Global Slavery Index reports since 2013.