"What ILO report on forced labour means for India", 2 October 2022

The number of people caught up in forced labour or forced marriages ballooned by 10 million between 2016 and 2021. In other words, one out of every 150 people in the world is caught up in modern forms of slavery, says a latest International Labour Organization (ILO) report, Global Estimate of Forced Labour.

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The report further estimates that there are 22 million people in forced marriages—more than two-thirds of them women—and many of the victims are under 15 when the marriage takes place, putting them at greater risk of sexual exploitation and violence. The overwhelming majority of forced marriages (more than 85 per cent) were driven by family pressure, with most cases occurring in Asia and the Pacific and across the Arab states.

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Further, as per the latest National Family Health survey (NFFHS-5, 2022) data...48 per cent of girls with no education were married below 18 years of age...The analysis of the NFHS-5 further shows that a staggering 40 per cent of the girls from the lowest quintile were married before they turned 18 years of age.