More than two-thirds of the profits come from it, although the aforementioned business only uses 27 percent of the total number of victims, indicated the International Labor Organization (ILO).

According to the study, sexual exploitation is much more lucrative than other forms of non-state forced labor plundering: $27,252 in annual benefits per victim compared to $3,687, the comparison illustrated.

The second activity with the highest dividends per year is industry, with 35 billion dollars, followed by services (20.8 billion), agriculture (five billion) and domestic work (2.6 billion), revealed the investigation.

According to the ILO, “these illegal benefits are wages that legitimately belong to the pockets of workers but that, instead, remain in the hands of their exploiters, as a result of their coercive practices.”

Overall, forced labor in the private economy generates profits of $236 billion a year; that is, the figure grew by 37 percent since 2014, the source explained.

The ILO report “Profits and Poverty: Economic Aspects of Forced Labor” estimates that traffickers and criminals generate close to 10,000 dollars per victim, compared to 8,269 dollars (adjusted for inflation) a decade ago.

According to the review, the total annual illegal profits from forced labor are highest in Europe and Central Asia ($84 billion), followed by Asia and the Pacific ($62 billion), the Americas ($52 billion), Africa (20 billion) and the Arab States (18 billion).

This phenomenon perpetuates cycles of poverty and exploitation and goes against the heart of human dignity, stressed the Director General of the ILO, Gilbert F. Houngbo.

“We now know that the situation has only gotten worse. The international community must urgently come together to take measures to end this injustice, safeguard workers’ rights and defend the principles of justice and equality for all,” he considered.

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