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The Cost of Coercion

Document number
2046
Date
2009
Title
The Cost of Coercion
Author/publisher
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Human trafficking, Slave Labour, Sexual Exploitation, Slavery, Servitude, Forced Labour, Debt bondage, Labour exploitation, Domestic labour, Slavery-like practices; Agricultural labour; Global Report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE, 98th Session 2009, Report I(B)
Summary
Entitled "The Cost of Coercion", it details, among other aspects, the growing number of unethical, fraudulent and criminal practices that can lead people into situations of forced labour, and calls for increased efforts to eradicate these forms of exploitation. The report also charts the significant international and national progress in reducing and preventing forced labour, but warns of the possible negative impacts of the global economic and jobs crisis on efforts to eliminate it. the report's USD 20 billion estimate of the "opportunity cost" of the coercion of workers affected by these abusive practices, in terms of lost earnings, puts the economic case alongside the clear moral and egal imperatives to eliminate forced labour.

It also points out that among intensified international and national efforts to reduce and prevent forced labour, are new laws and policies at national and regional levels as well as growing provision of social protection for those most at risk of forced labour and trafficking.  In addition, it offers much-needed guidance and expertise on effective means to combat these practices.
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