DUSHANBE, November 19, 2014, Asia-Plus — The 2014 Global Slavery Index presents a ranking of 167 countries based on the percent of a country’s population that is estimated to be in modern slavery. A ranking of one in the Index indicates the most severely concentrated modern slavery situation; a ranking of 167 indicates the least severely concentrated modern slavery problem.
Global Slavery Index 2014 estimates there are 29,500 people living in some forms of modern slavery in Tajikistan.
The report notes that in Tajikistan, which has the population of more than 8.2 million people, 29,500 people (0.359 percent) live in some forms of modern slavery. Tajikistan is ranked 95th among 167 countries in terms of modern slavery.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is ranked 93rd (63,000 people live in some forms of modern slavery), Kyrgyzstan is ranked 97th (21,000 people), and Turkmenistan is ranked 98th (19,000 people).
Uzbekistan, whose economy relies heavily on cotton production and export, is second in the Index. The rise in Uzbekistan’s ranking is a direct reflection of government-imposed forced labor. In 2014, an estimated 3.97 percent of the population – approximately 1,201,400 people – approximately 1,201,400 people – of the Uzbek population is subjected to modern slavery during the annual cotton harvest.
As was the case in 2013, the West African nation of Mauritania ranks number one in the Index. In 2014, an estimated four percent of the population – approximately 155,600 people – are enslaved in Mauritania, a country with deeply entrenched hereditary slavery.
The 2014 Global Slavery Index estimates there are 35.8 million people living in some form of modern slavery globally. The estimated prevalence of people in modern slavery has increased from 2013. The report, however, is not asserting that there has been an increase in modern slavery around the world over the last year.
The Global Slavery Index notes that modern slavery is a hidden crime. It takes many forms, and is known by many names: slavery, forced labor, or human trafficking. All forms involve one person depriving another person of their freedom: their freedom to leave one job for another, their freedom to leave one workplace for another, their freedom to control their own body. Modern slavery involves one person possessing or controlling a person in such as a way as to significantly deprive that person of their individual liberty, with the intention of exploiting that person through their use, management, profit, transfer or disposal.
This is the second edition of the Global Slavery Index. The Index estimates the number of people in modern slavery in 167 countries. This year’s Index also includes an analysis of what governments are doing to eradicate modern slavery. In addition to measuring the extent of the problem and the actions taken, the Index increases our understanding of the contextual factors that make people vulnerable to modern slavery.
The Index is the flagship report produced by the Walk Free Foundation, a global human rights organization dedicated to ending modern slavery. The Walk Free Foundation was founded by Australian philanthropists, Andrew and Nicola Forrest. The methodology for the Index was developed by an internal research team and through external consultations with an international and independent Expert Advisory Group.
