A lot of us think slavery is already a thing of the past. Sadly though, slavery is still very much a reality all over the world, and it is affecting millions of individuals.
Over 45.8 million people are currently enslaved across the globe, a human rights group called The Walk Free Foundation announced last week.
Through its report measuring the 2016 Global Slavery Index, the organisation showed that this year's figure was higher by 28 percent compared to the last estimate made two years ago. The group, however, attributed this increase to improved research methodology and data collection.
After conducting 42,000 interviews in 53 languages, the foundation found out that some forms of slavery still exist in 167 countries at present. These forms include human trafficking, forced labour, bondage from indebtedness, forced or servile marriage or commercial sexual exploitation.
Based on the report, the hermit state North Korea has the highest per capita level of modern slavery, at 4.37 percent of the population. This is followed by Uzbekistan, at 3.97 percent, Cambodia, 1.65 percent, India, 1.4 percent, and Qatar, 1.36 percent.
The report nevertheless revealed that India is the country with the most enslaved people at present, with a total of 18.35 million people.
The Walk Free Foundation nevertheless acknowledged that the predominantly Hindu country already made "significant progress" in combating modern slavery by increasing penalties for forced marriages and child prostitution.
The foundation's report also showed that half of the total number of modern slaves nowadays is located in five Asian countries: India, China (3.39 million), Pakistan (2.13 million), Bangladesh (1.53 million) and Uzbekistan (1.23 million).
The following countries, mostly in Europe, were meanwhile found to have the lowest per capita rates of modern slavery: Luxembourg, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Spain, Britain, France, Germany and the United States.
