In Brazil, it is estimated that 1,053,000 people live in a scenario of contemporary slavery, which places the country in 11th place in the world ranking, in absolute numbers, in the comparison between 160 countries. And what you have, as a response from the authorities, in terms of the level of protection for victims, is a robust set of measures. These are some of the statements contained in the report Global Slavery Index 2023, by the international human rights organization Walk Free. Contemporary slavery encompasses a range of factors such as forced labor, debt bondage, forced marriage, slavery and slavery-like practices, and human trafficking. It is a term to classify situations that may be present in different segments of economic activity, that is, it can range from the clothing sector to agriculture and mining, for example. Other contexts in which it can be installed are residences and spaces intended for the reception of refugees, highlights the entity. According to the report, Brazil occupies the 9th place in the ranking of the American continent, in terms of response from the Public Power, in the context of rescuing victims of this type of exploitation. Although Walk Free qualifies the Brazilian actions as “strong”, the organization points out that the country, like the United States, ends up sabotaging this set of measures, by forcing people into situations that go “beyond the circumstances that international conventions consider acceptable ” of abuse, such as compulsory labor imposed on detainees. Still within the framework of the Americas, Brazil enters the intermediate category, when the analysis concerns the level of vulnerability to slavery. To compare the structure used by governments, faced with the problem of contemporary slavery, the organization takes into account aspects such as mechanisms that the Judiciary maintains to avoid more cases and the support offered to victims, so that they can break out of the cycle of violation of rights. Another element that can affect the placement of countries in the ranking is the way in which the government and business community that operates in the country react to the cases, if they stop providing goods and services involved with the chain of slavery, boycotting those who feed it. In the group with the best conduction of the issue, there are countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Holland, Portugal and the United States. Contemporary slavery In September 2022, Walk Free had already disclosed that, worldwide, it is estimated that 50 million people were subjected to conditions that constituted contemporary slavery, in 2021, with 12 million children and the majority (54 %) of women and girls. Of this total, it is thought that 27.6 million were victims of forced labor and 22 million were in a context of forced marriage, also seen by the United Nations as a form of slavery. In total, data from 160 countries are tabulated. Ten countries account for two thirds of the victims: India, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Bangladesh and the United States. The most prevalent countries, considering the population, are North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Those with the least occurrences are Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Holland and Sweden. In the case of North Korea, it is estimated that there are 104.6 people per 1,000 in contemporary slavery. In Brazil, labor inspector Lucas Reis, who works in Santa Catarina, comments that a sequence of events over the last few years has weakened the safeguarding of workers’ rights. One of the references he has in mind when making the criticism is the labor reform, articulated and consolidated by former President of the Republic Michel Temer, which, for him, “lowers” working conditions. “There was no positive data from the labor reform”, he summarizes. The lack of public tenders for the position of tax auditor is another particularity that goes against the grain of the fight against human rights violations. As reported by Agência Brasil, last month, the most recent list of jobs analogous to slavery included 132 employers, including individuals and companies. Agência Brasil requested a position from the Public Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Labor and Employment on the Walk Free document and is awaiting a response.
Agência Brasil
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