Putting a Price on the Cost of Forced Labor

A new report estimates the cost of forced labor. Millions of workers worldwide are denied more than twenty billion dollars a year in wages. And that does not even include people forced to work in the sex industry.

The report is by the International Labor Organization. The United Nations agency gives two main reasons for what it calls "the cost of coercion."

First, people in forced labor situations receive wages that are lower, sometimes far lower, than the market rate. Long hours of overtime work may go unpaid or underpaid. Also, victims may be overcharged for their housing, food and other items.

The second major cost mainly involves human trafficking. It includes the money that workers pay to be taken to another country.

Four years ago, the labor agency estimated that more than twelve million people were in some form of forced labor. About two and a half million cases were the result of trafficking.

The earlier report estimated profits from trafficking alone at more than thirty billion dollars a year. It said criminals earned all but four billion of that from the sex trade.

Experts say Asia has three-fourths of all forced laborers. A million are in Latin America and the Caribbean. But the problem affects almost all countries. Around fifty-six percent of people in forced labor are women and girls. Forty to fifty percent are under the age of eighteen.

Most countries have laws that make forced labor a serious crime. Yet the new report says in Africa, for example, it has generally received limited attention. Sometimes there is a strong focus on slavery but weak punishments, says I.L.O. official Roger Plant. He says child labor is an especially serious problem in West African countries.

Around the world, industries such as agriculture and the building trades are commonly considered at risk of forced labor. They have lots of temporary work and difficult conditions. But the report says the risk extends to all kinds of industries with long supply chains for the goods used in their products. Huge companies might not use forced labor, but they might work with smaller ones that do.

Why would people take a chance on getting involved with forced labor? The International Labor Organization points to increases in the unemployed, the working poor and people whose jobs are likely to be cut. In such times of economic crisis, it says, people take more risks.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson, with Lisa Schlein in Geneva. I'm Steve Ember.

一份新的报告估计了强迫劳动的成本。每年，全世界有数百万劳动者被拒绝支付200亿美元的工资。这甚至还不包括被迫从事性工作的人。

该报告由国际劳工组织发出。该联合国机构讲述了其所说的“强迫的成本”的两个主要原因。

首先，在强迫劳动环境下工作的人获得的工资低于，有时远远低于市场值。长期的超时工作有时可能得不到工资或者被少支付工资。同时，受害者的吃住和其他方面可能被收取过高的费用。

第二个主要的成本主要包括人力交通，包括将劳动者运送到另外一个国家的费用。

四年前，劳工组织估计超过1200万人从事某种形式的强迫劳动。其中有250万人是通过交通运输到达。

早期的报道估计仅仅是交通方面的收益每年超过300亿美元。据称，罪犯依靠性交易可以赚取40亿美元。

专家称，亚洲占所有强迫性劳动者的四分之三。一百万人在拉丁美洲和加勒比海。但是，几乎所有国家都受这个问题的影响。强迫性劳动中56%的人口是妇女和儿童。40%-50%的强迫性劳动者年龄在18岁以下。

许多国家的法律将强迫性劳动列为严重的犯罪活动。但是新的报告指出，以非洲为例，这个问题却受到很少关注。国际劳工组织官员Roger Plant称，有时会对奴役制进行强烈关注，但是惩罚力度却很轻。

全世界范围内，农业和建筑贸易等行业普遍被认为处于强迫性劳动的危险中。这些行业有很多临时工作，而且条件恶劣。但是该报告说，这种危险已经扩展到所有在该行业中使用的产品的供应链行业。大公司可能不会使用强迫性劳动，但是他们可以和更小的可以使用强迫性劳动的小公司一起合作。

人们为什么要冒险从事强迫性劳动呢？国际劳工组织的是失业人员，穷苦人民和可能面临被裁的人。在经济危机的时刻，人们会冒更大的风险。