Modern slavery in Australia? The recently released, and latest, Global Slavery Index, found 50 million people worldwide now live in modern slavery, which is a increase of 10 million more than the study of five years previously. About one in four modern slaves globally are in forced prostitution, with 80 per cent of them women or girls. Forced labour accounts for 86 percent of slaves. The Sydney Morning Herald, extracts below, has a good summary of this.
In Australia, there is estimated to be 41,000 slaves. These are primarily migrant labourers, often on work visas, in agriculture, meat processing, construction, domestic work, hospitality and cleaning services. But, the sex industry is the most blatant, with many girls being held to repay “debts” that keep increasing over time, becoming migrants in the first place via deception, and/or to pay family debts. These girls are usually “locked” into the brothels, with limited freedom of movement.
