What is Modern Slavery?
Modern slavery (MS) is an umbrella term that describes several forms of abuse and violations of basic human rights. Although there are national and international laws and conventions designed to prohibit it, the prevalence of the crime is growing. Some of the most relevant local legal responses, voluntary standards, and international frameworks will be described on this publication. Global supply chains are one area in which there is a high risk for cases of modern slavery and present an opportunity for incidence that places the burden on non-state actors to address the issue.
Problem Scope
Many people erroneously believe that slavery is part of our collective past. Actually, modern slavery is one of the fastest growing crimes and one of the most profitable ones (Drezner 2005; Jones and Winterdyk 2017). It is estimated to affect over 45 million people worldwide (Global Slavery Index 2016) and generates an estimated $150 billion USD in illegal profits per year (ShareAction 2016). Modern slavery disproportionately affects women (Ethical Trading Initiative and Ergon 2018). Regional macroeconomic characteristics and different government capacities result in varying trends and prevalence across the globe.
Said briefly, modern slavery involves the “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery” (Department of State 2018). Modern slavery is a broad term that includes sex trafficking, forced labor, bonded labor, domestic servitude, and child soldiers, among others. Since it operates like an umbrella term, it is a continuum with boundaries that are sometimes difficult to ascertain precisely. The vagueness of the term and the multitude of forms in which it appears present a methodological and strategic challenge in the fight against it: how to pinpoint what we are seeking to address (Quirk 2006)? The dilution of the concept can lead to inaction and paralysis simply because interested actors fragment their efforts or fail to have consensus on what the key objective is. In lay terms, modern slavery refers to the exploitation of a person by violence, threats, or manipulation (Machura et al. 2019). Some policies specifically target a single element of modern slavery. For example, US policy efforts have focused on countering human trafficking specifically (Department of State 2018). Although narrowly focused in target, USAID does recognize regional variations and produces specific summaries that bring together industry trends and efforts for certain areas (U.S. Agency for International Development 2019). The UK and Australia have both adopted more encompassing policies.
Today’s global market has meant a transition towards sourcing practices that bring together players from all over the planet. These complex flows of goods and services employ over 450 million people (Human Rights Watch 2016), often take place in low-capacity areas, involve vulnerable populations (specifically migrants), and have had historically low levels of transparency and traceability. These factors contribute to turning global supply chains into one of the arenas in which modern slavery unfolds today.
References
Department of State. 2018. “2018 Trafficking in Persons Report.” : 486.
Drezner, Daniel W. 2005. “Slavery Is Alive and Well.” Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2005/03/10/slavery-is-alive-and-well/ (October 4, 2019).
Ethical Trading Initiative, and Ergon. 2018. Managing Risks Associated with Modern Slavery A Good Practice Note for the Private Sector. https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/485fd322-d01a-474a-b447-3ed9c40c4f88/Global+Practice+Note_Managing+Risks+Associated+With+Modern+Slavery_Draft+For+Consultation_14.08.2018.pdf?MOD=AJPERES (June 20, 2019).
Global Slavery Index. 2016. “Findings.” Global Slavery Index. https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/ (April 30, 2019).
Human Rights Watch. 2016. “Human Rights in Supply Chains: A Call for a Binding Global Standard on Due Diligence.” Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/05/30/human-rights-supply-chains/call-binding-global-standard-due-diligence (September 30, 2019).
Jones, Jackie, and John Winterdyk. 2017. Introduction: Human Trafficking: Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. SSRN Scholarly Paper. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3081022 (November 8, 2018).
Machura, Stefan et al. 2019. “Recognizing Modern Slavery.” Journal of Human Trafficking 5(3): 201–19.
Quirk, Joel Forbes. 2006. “The Anti-Slavery Project: Linking the Historical and Contemporary.” Human Rights Quarterly 28(3): 565–98.
ShareAction. 2016. “Forced Labour: What Investors Need to Know.” https://shareaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ForcedLabour-InvestorBriefing.pdf (April 30, 2019).
U.S. Agency for International Development. 2019. “Countering Trafficking in Persons.” Democracy, Human Rights and Governance. https://www.usaid.gov/trafficking (June 20, 2019).
