A/HRC/24/43 slavery is that of 21 million victims of forced labour worldwide. 1 This obviously does not include other forms of slavery that the Special Rapporteur has covered such as servile marriage, domestic servitude, child slavery and bonded labour which would show in a much higher number of victims. 8. Contemporary forms of slavery can be found around the world, but there are certain regions where it is more prevalent. For the 2012 International Labour Organization (ILO) estimate, the number of persons in conditions of forced labour are broken down by region: the Middle East had 600,000 persons in forced labour, “developed economies and the European Union” had 1.5 million, Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States had 1.6 million, Latin America and the Caribbean had 1.8 million, Africa had 3.7 million, and Asia and the Pacific had 11.7 million. Despite having the second lowest number of victims of forced labour, Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States registered the highest rate of forced labour, at 420 per 100,000 inhabitants. 2 9. Women are also more often in charge of children, which adds pressure on them to work and provide for their households. Owing to the need to work, women may be financially obliged to remain in undesirable jobs and thus forced to endure less than ideal working conditions. In many countries, women are also at a disadvantage due to cultural traditions. Finally, women and girls are often denied equal access to education, which makes them less attractive in the labour market and fuels the cycle of poverty and vulnerability to slavery. 10. Servile marriage and domestic servitude are two forms of contemporary slavery that disproportionately affect women and girls. In a previous report, the Special Rapporteur defined servile marriage as an arrangement “in which a spouse is reduced to a commodity over whom any or all the powers of ownership are attached” (A/HRC/21/41, summary). Practices such as polygamy and “bride price”, especially when coupled with the prevalence of domestic violence, are possible indicators of servile marriage. Women’s bodies are directly tied to a family’s honour in many cultures, and if a girl refuses to marry, “she can be subject to character assassination or kidnapping by the man or his family to force her into marriage or to rape her” (ibid., para. 71). There is little to no legal protection for women in these situations in many countries. Some countries have gone so far as to enact legislation that acquits perpetrators of rape if they marry their victim. If a woman enters into a servile marriage, she essentially becomes a slave to her husband and his family. 11. Servile marriages are still practised today; for example, in Papua New Guinea. According to a 2012 report by The Projection Project, “women are victims of forced, fraudulent, servile, fraudulently brokered, and temporary marriages. Children may also become victims of exploitative marriage”.3 12. Domestic work is one of the largest service industries in the world, but it is among the least visible due to its location in the private sphere. Many women in domestic work find themselves physically and socially isolated and their right to organize is significantly restricted. Live-in workers are often expected to work 16–17 hours a day, frequently without a day off or vacation time. The work can be extremely taxing, including carrying heavy loads and handling toxic substances. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse occur in situations of domestic servitude. Employers often confiscate domestic workers’ passports or 1 2 3 4 International Labour Organization (ILO), ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour: Executive Summary (2012), p. 1. Ibid., p. 2. The Protection Project, The Protection Project Review of the Trafficking in Persons Report (Washington, D.C., 2012), p. 39. Available from www.protectionproject.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/07/TIP-Review-2012-Final.pdf.