"Modern slavery in Germany: Preying on the vulnerable", 23 August 2018

More than 40 million people around the world currently live in modern slavery —167,000 of them in Germany...

Modern slavery in Germany is centered primarily around migrants in the construction and catering industries, according to the country's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). However, examples of forced labor and exploitation can also be found among domestic workers, as well as in the meat processing, agriculture and transportation industries. Last year, authorities identified 180 forced labor victims [...] — most of them from Eastern Europe...

In Germany, sexual exploitation is much more widespread...

Many people around the world also contribute indirectly to the practice of slavery. Economist Evi Hartmann contends in her 2016 book Wie viele Sklaven halten Sie? (How many slaves do you have?) that the average German today indirectly holds about 60 slaves. [...] "By buying clothing or products containing resources from conflict zones, I promote slavery-like working conditions in other parts of the world," Roller [chairman of the German office of the International Justice Mission] explained. This is also the case with goods such as seafood from Thailand, where forced labor on fishing boats is widespread...