A/HRC/33/46 V. Key drivers of debt bondage and challenges in relation to its full eradication A. Drivers Poverty, lack of decent work and barriers to education 39. Poverty is a key driver of debt bondage across the world. Bonded labourers are frequently reported to live in situations of poverty that are sustained through generations. They often do not own any assets and lack access to land, education, health care and/or decent work opportunities. The majority are trapped in debt bondage because the only source of credit they can obtain is from their employer or recruiter. Life events have been identified as triggering the need for the loans that can lead to debt bondage; these may include illness or accident, marriage, and death in the family. Loans are also commonly needed for subsistence, and for investments such as home improvements. 40. People in debt bondage tend to have experienced a low level of access to education, which frequently results in illiteracy and innumeracy. This leads to a lack of alternative employment options and makes them vulnerable to exploitation from their employers. Illiteracy and innumeracy allow employers or recruiters to manipulate loans, interest rates and wages. Poor remuneration in previous employment is considered to be a major cause of debt bondage, as workers are forced to take loans or advances to cover basic subsistence needs. Discrimination 41. Bonded labourers commonly belong to minority groups vulnerable to discrimination, such as certain racial groups, women, indigenous people, people of “low” caste and migrant workers. The discrimination suffered by these groups frequently prevents them from accessing education, health care, clean water and credit. Furthermore, demands from bonded labourers for fair treatment, or their resistance to exploitation, often cause them to face social sanctions and boycotts that further restrict their possibility of overcoming discrimination or of leaving the situation of bondage. The discrimination faced by bonded labourers comes in some cases not only from society at large but also from other members of the same minority groups. 42. Gender inequalities and discrimination make women vulnerable to bondage, as they are often excluded from the labour market and consequently are involved in unskilled and poorly paid jobs. Furthermore, discrimination against children belonging to minority groups is a factor that limits their full access to education and thus increases their vulnerability to exploitation. Many bonded labourers, including women and children, face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, which significantly increases their vulnerability to debt bondage and at the same time limits their opportunities for escaping such abuse. Precarious labour migration 43. Precarious labour migration has been identified as a driver of debt bondage. Migrant workers are also often vulnerable to exploitation because of barriers they face in accessing the protections provided to nationals of the country to which they have migrated and because of generalized social hostility towards foreigners. The choices made by migrants about securing employment abroad are often based on misinformation and false promises concerning conditions of employment in destination countries. A lack of financial literacy can lead to a poor understanding of the loans taken out to pay fees, and a lack of alternatives in their home countries can incentivize migrants to take out loans on which extortionate rates of interest are charged. Furthermore, a lack of effective regulation of the GE.16-11363 15