On 10 July 2012, the International Labour Organization (ILO) launched its new estimate on forced labour and trafficking in the European Union (EU).
The launch took place in Brussels and was hosted by a member of the European Parliament Ms. Edit Bauer, Co-Rapporteur on the EU Directive to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings and protect its victims.
The estimate is part of the ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour, launched in June 2012, and contains a number of striking figures regarding the severity of this problem in the EU. It reveals that about 880,000 people are currently in forced labour in the EU, statistically 1.8 persons per 1,000 inhabitants. The estimate also reports a gender imbalance in forced labour in the EU, with women making up 58% of all victims.
The panel of speakers at the launch included Michaëlle de Cock, ILO Senior Consultant, whom we talked to for our website.
Michaëlle de Cock on the highlights of the ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour
Michaëlle de Cock on the ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour Statistics for the EU Member States
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More information on this issue can be found at http://www.ilo.org/forcedlabour and http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking.
