Debt bondage remains the world’s leading form of slavery [press release] despite being outlawed in many regions, according to a report [text, PDF] presented Thursday by a UN human rights expert. UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery Urmila Bhoola explained that many people do not understand the complexities of debt bondage. She also reported that the experts at the International Labor Organization [official website] estimate some 21 million people are currently in forced labor because of the practice, which tends to target those in impoverished communities.

Since 2014, it has been estimated that approximately 36 million people in the world live in a form of modern slavery, which has been condemned by the UN for years [JURIST reports]. Global Slavery Index has defined slavery as: “one person possessing or controlling another person in such as a way as to significantly deprive that person of their individual liberty, with the intention of exploiting that person through their use, management, profit, transfer or disposal.” Modern slavery also includes [JURIST report] the increase in human trafficking of migrants and the refugee population. With a vote of 14 in favor, the UN Security Council introduced a resolution last October to allow the EU to inspect and seize vehicles suspected of smuggling migrants. Authorized under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the resolution permits certain nations to board ships in order to prevent human trafficking [JURIST report]. The previous month, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch had announced that the Department of Justice will fund [JURIST report] a $44 million grant to fight human trafficking.