Stacked Odds. How Lifelong Inequality Shapes Women and Girls' Experience of Modern Slavery

Women and girls account for 71 per cent – that is, nearly 29 million – of all victims of modern slavery globally. The gendered nature of modern slavery becomes even more apparent when examining the different forms in which it manifests. Women and girls are overrepresented in three out of the four types of modern slavery assessed by the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: they make up 58 per cent of all victims of forced labour, 84 per cent of all victims of forced marriage, and a staggering 99 per cent of all victims of forced sexual exploitation. In fact, women and girls are overwhelmingly at risk of sexual exploitation regardless of the form of modern slavery they are subjected to. These findings reflect highly gendered patterns of employment and migration and point to the relevance of broader patterns of human rights abuses that disproportionately affect women and girls.