A/HRC/33/46 source of vulnerability to trafficking and is one of the mechanisms used to force victims to work in exploitative or abusive conditions. III. Trends in the prevalence of debt bondage A. Global 9. Debt bondage occurs worldwide and is not confined to any one country or region and it occurs across various sectors of the economy. A global trend can be seen whereby vulnerable people, including those belonging to minority groups, indigenous people, women, children, people determined as being of low caste, and migrant workers, are disproportionately impacted by debt bondage. As will be discussed below, many victims of debt bondage face multiple and intersecting sources of discrimination which make them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. 10. ILO estimated in 2012 that 20.9 million people worldwide were victims of forced labour. These figures refer to all forms of forced labour, however given the close interrelationship with debt bondage, the figures offer some insight into debt bondage prevalence trends globally. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the highest absolute number of victims of forced labour: 11.7 million, or 56 per cent of the global total. The second-highest number is in Africa, with 3.7 million (18 per cent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.8 million (9 per cent). Developed economies and the European Union account for 1.5 million victims of forced labour (7 per cent), while the non-EU countries of Central, South-East and Eastern Europe and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States have 1.6 million (7 per cent). In the Middle East, there are an estimated 600,000 victims (3 per cent). ILO has noted that the average period of time that victims spend in forced labour is approximately 18 months, with significant variation according to the forms of forced labour and across regions. The ILO data also illustrates that forced labour affects international migrants, internally displaced persons and people in their home countries. ILO estimates that there are 9.1 million victims (44 per cent) who have moved either internally or internationally, and 11.8 million (56 per cent) who are subjected to forced labour in their place of origin or residence. 3 B. Regional Africa 11. In Africa, debt bondage has been reported in sectors such as mining and agriculture, particularly in countries that are members of the Southern African Development Community, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 12. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe have been identified as being home to adults and children who are subjected to debt bondage or trafficking while working in the mining sector. 4 Forced labour in the mining sector has been reported to 3 4 GE.16-11363 International Labour Organization, ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labour: Results and Methodology (2012), pp. 13, 16 and 17. Available from www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@declaration/documents/publication/wcms_182004. pdf. ILO, “Draft report on forced labour and human trafficking in the Southern African Development Community”, paper prepared for the Subregional Conference on the Ratification and Implementation 5