Factchecking the Oscars: 21 million slaves worldwide?

Millions of viewers from across the globe tuned in to watch Hollywood's brightest and best collect their Oscars at last night's annual Academy Awards.

British director Steve McQueen was generally thought to have had a good night, as his historical drama '12 Years a Slave' picked up three awards, including the coveted best picture.

Mr McQueen used his acceptance speech to dedicate the Oscar to "the 21 million people who still suffer slavery today."

While factchecking this claim might not have been front-of-mind for most of the great and the good assembled in Los Angeles, they might be interested to know that the estimate was made by the International Labor Organization back in 2012, and covers those subject to "forced or compulsory labour".

According to the research, most of these victims are located in China and south-east Asia, although the highest concentration of victims as a proportion of the local population can be found closer to home in central and south-eastern Europe and Africa regions.

(Source: International Labor Organization)

The report also notes that about 10% of these 'slaves' are  in state-imposed forms of forced labour, 26% are children and 55% are women. The researchers also claim that the 21 million figure "represents a conservative estimate, given the strict methodology employed to measure this largely hidden crime."

Another commonly-used definition of 'modern slavery' looks at the number of victims of human trafficking, with some claiming that there are 10,000 in the UK alone.