Worker-Driven Social Responsibility: Exploring a New Model for Tackling Labour Abuse in Supply Chains

NGO, reports

This scoping research explores ‘worker-driven social responsibility’ (WSR) as a tool for ensuring decent work in supply chains. WSR is an exciting new model for tackling labour abuse in supply chains that has demonstrably improved working conditions in a range of contexts. It is similar to collective bargaining in that it involves a group of workers jointly negotiating their rights, with the difference that it targets companies at the top of supply chains instead of direct employers. The report discusses why new models for addressing labour abuse in supply chains are needed and whether the WSR model could be suitable to the UK, especially to sectors where outsourcing is common.

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Child trafficking and child protection: Ensuring that Child Protection Mechanisms Protect the Rights and Meet the Needs of Child Victims of Human Trafficking

Government, reports

In light of the heightened vulnerability of children, combating trafficking in children has been at the forefront of the OSCE’s anti-trafficking agenda for many years. Since the adoption of the 2003 OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings and its subsequent Addendum on Addressing the Special Needs of Child Victims of Trafficking for Protection and Assistance, there has been notable progress in delivering adequate and effective responses to trafficking in children in the OSCE area. However, anti-trafficking stakeholders continue to face substantial challenges to the practical implementation of their national laws and policies. A full alignment with the OSCE anti-trafficking commitments, in particular related to children, remains to be achieved.

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The Critical Role of Civil Society in Combating Trafficking in Human Beings

Government, reports

The purpose of this Occasional Paper is to outline and analyse the role played by civil society in efforts to address the threat posed by the crime of human trafficking. This paper is an additional tool to assist the OSCE participating States in strengthening their response to trafficking in human beings, especially in the area of partnerships as a fundamental component of an effective anti-trafficking response.

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From Reception to Recognition: Identifying and Protecting Human Trafficking Victims in Mixed Migration Flows

Government, reports

The prolonged instability in the Middle-East, Sahel and North Africa has given rise to exceptional movements of migrants and refugees. Large mixed migratory flows have considerably affected receiving OSCE participating States, in particular countries along the Mediterranean and Balkan routes, making this essentially a European emergency. It is becoming increasingly evident that the current migration and refugee crisis creates a perfect market for the exploitation of migrants within transit and p destination countries by unscrupulous criminal syndi- cates and lone perpetrators.

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Model Guidelines on Government Measures to Prevent Trafficking for Labour Exploitation in Supply Chains

Government, reports

The aim of these model guidelines is to provide a practical tool to assist OSCE participating States and Partners for Cooperation to implement concrete measures to prevent trafficking in human beings in supply chains. It highlights how States can implement legislation and policies that promote transparency to ensure that public supply chains are free from trafficked labour; and promote the fair and ethical recruitment of workers.

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Compendium of relevant reference materials and resources on ethical sourcing and prevention of trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation in supply chains

Government, reports

The Compendium of Resources is divided into three sections. The first chapter includes State initiatives, such as laws, policies, national action plans, and guidelines developed by national authorities to address forced labour and human trafficking in supply chains. The second chapter looks at the work of NGOs, civil society, academia and the private sector regarding ethical sourcing and exploitation in supply chains. Finally, the third chapter reflects relevant initiatives of international organizations, including international treaties, political commitments, reports, publications, and others.

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IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS: Preliminary findings and messaging based on rapid stocktaking

reports, U.N.

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting the world under enormous strain, affecting the lives of everyone. The unprecedented measures adopted to flatten the infection curve include enforced quarantine, curfews and lockdowns, travel restrictions, and limitations on economic activities and public life. While at first sight, these enforcement measures and increased police presence at the borders and on the streets seem to dissuade crime, they may also drive it further underground. In trafficking in persons, criminals are adjusting their business models to the ‘new normal’ created by the pandemic, especially through the abuse of modern communications technologies

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NO WORKER LEFT BEHIND: PROTECTING VULNERABLE WORKERS FROM EXPLOITATION DURING AND AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC

NGO, reports

This briefing examines the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the risk of labour exploitation in low-paid and insecure employment in the UK. Drawing on interviews with workers and frontline services, it proposes emergency measures to ensure all workers are protected against financial destitution and exploitation while the UK works to contain the virus and its impact.

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The Emperor Has No Clothes: Garment Supply Chains in the Time of Pandemic

NGO, reports

The COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging lives and livelihoods around the world – causing unprecedented socio-economic crises, massive displacement arising due to job losses, and at the same time, exposing the vulnerabilities of a highly globalised economy. As of April 9th, India has reported 5734 cases of COVID-19 while Indonesia has recorded 2956 cases, Sri Lanka 189 cases, and Cambodia 118 cases.

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Human Trafficking and Risky Migration Routes Data Collection: A Case Study From Kenya

NGO, reports

In August, 2019, Stop the Traffik Kenya (STTK) and Freedom Collaborative (FC), a project operated by Liberty Shared, launched a data collection effort with civil society organisations (CSOs) in Kenya to report known human trafficking and high-risk migration routes based on their work with survivors and at-risk populations. Data was gathered from partners over the course of one month to demonstrate how much knowledge can be made available when each organisation is sharing their individual data.

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World Migration Report 2020

reports, U.N.

IOM’s responsibility to provide an objective and balanced account of migration globally has never been more important. Not only is the political salience of migration high, and frequently fevered, but the capacity for rapidly disseminating disinformation to influence the public discourse has expanded. Twenty years ago, IOM published the first World Migration Report with the stated aim of providing an authoritative account of migration trends and issues worldwide. With the initial report published in 2000, the series has quickly become established as IOM’s flagship publication. The early World Migration Reports were framed around specific themes. They provided deep dives into topics such as labour mobility, migrant well-being and communication on migration. But, with time, there was a sense that the broader landscape and complexity of migration issues was being neglected.

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NON-PUNISHMENT OF VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING

reports, U.N.

Las infracciones de los derechos humanos son a la vez causa y consecuencia de la trata de personas. Por lo tanto, es indispensable que la protección de todos los derechos humanos ocupe un lugar central en las medidas que se adopten para prevenir esa trata y ponerle término. Las medidas para combatir la trata de personas no deben redundar en desmedro de sus derechos humanos y su dignidad y, en particular, de los derechos de quienes han sido víctimas de ella, los migrantes, las personas desplazadas internamente, los refugiados y quienes soliciten asilo.

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CONFRONTING THE GLOBAL FORCED MIGRATION CRISIS

NGO, reports

The size and scope of the global forced migration crisis are unprecedented. Almost 66 million people worldwide have been forced from home by conflict. If recent trends continue, this figure could increase to between 180 and 320 million people by 2030. This global crisis already poses serious challenges to economic growth and risks to stability and national security, as well as an enormous human toll affecting tens of millions of people. These issues are on track to get worse; without significant course correction soon, the forced migra- tion issues confronted today will seem sim- ple decades from now.

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Responding to the Human Trafficking–Migrant Smuggling Nexus

NGO, reports

Probably nowhere more than in Libya have the definitional lines between migrant smuggling and human trafficking become as blurred or contested. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have left Libya’s shores in the hope of a new life in Europe; tens of thousands have died in the process. The inhumane conditions migrants face in Libya are well documented. The levels of brutality and exploitation they experience in Libya’s turbulent transitional environment have led to smuggling and trafficking groups being bundled under one catch-all heading by authorities and policymakers, and targeted as the root cause of the migration phenomenon. In many respects, this would appear to conveniently serve the interests of EU leaders and governments, who choose to disguise the anti-migration drive they urgently seek support for behind a policy of cracking down on both trafficking and smuggling rings, which they conflate as a common enemy, and one and the same. Given the highly complex context of Libya, this report proposes instead that any intervention to address the so-called migrant crisis should place the human rights of migrants at its centre, as opposed to necessarily demonizing smugglers, who are often the migrants’ gatekeepers to a better existence elsewhere.

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Information and Decision-Making Among Sub-Saharan Migrants Traveling to Europe through Libya

Government, reports

Arrivals to Europe from Africa, especially across the central Mediterranean route from Libya and Tunisia to Italy, have fallen since mid-2017. Most observers believe that European Union (EU) migration policies, particularly EU and Libyan interdiction measures as well as agreements between the EU and various governments, are responsible for the falling numbers of arrivals. Yet EU officials and many experts also believe that the underlying drivers of migration, including migrants’ hopes for better lives in Europe and/or migrants’ desires to flee oppressive regimes and conflict zones, are still firmly in place.

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Los Derechos Humanos y la Trata de Personas

reports, U.N.

Las infracciones de los derechos humanos son a la vez causa y consecuencia de la trata de personas. Por lo tanto, es indispensable que la protección de todos los derechos humanos ocupe un lugar central en las medidas que se adopten para prevenir esa trata y ponerle término. Las medidas para combatir la trata de personas no deben redundar en desmedro de sus derechos humanos y su dignidad y, en particular, de los derechos de quienes han sido víctimas de ella, los migrantes, las personas desplazadas internamente, los refugiados y quienes soliciten asilo.

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Human Rights and Human Trafficking

reports, U.N.

This Fact Sheet seeks to provide a brief but comprehensive overview of human rights and human trafficking. In exploring the applicable legal and policy framework, it draws on two major outputs of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): the 2002 Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking and its extensive Commentary.

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Abolishing Slavery and its Contemporary Forms

reports, U.N.

The definition of slavery has caused controversy since the beginning of the abolition process, yet is of paramount importance for the international community in working towards its effective eradication. Definitions have caused controversy for two reasons: first, there are differences of opinion about which practices should be categorized as slavery and thus designated for elimina- tion; second, definitions have often been accompanied by obligations on States to carry out particular remedial measures. There has invariably been disagreement about the most appropriate strategies to eradicate any form of slavery.

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Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking

reports, U.N.

The Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, which are included as an addendum to my report to the Economic and Social Council (E/2002/68/Add.1), have been developed in order to provide practical, rights-based policy guidance on the prevention of trafficking and the protection of victims of trafficking. Their purpose is to promote and facilitate the integration of a human rights perspective into national, regional and international anti-trafficking laws, policies and interventions.

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RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING: COMMENTARY

reports, U.N.

Over the past decade, human trafficking has moved from the margins to the mainstream of international concern. During this period we have witnessed the rapid development of a comprehensive legal framework that comprises international and regional treaties, as well as a broad range of soft-law instruments relating to trafficking. These changes confirm that a fundamental shift has taken place in how the international community thinks about human exploitation. It also confirms a change in our expectations of what Governments and others should be doing to deal with trafficking and to prevent it.

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THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS OF MIGRANTS IN AN IRREGULAR SITUATION

reports, U.N.

Today, there are more than 232 million international migrants in the world. If they came together to form a country, it would be the fifth most populous country on the planet. Yet, this remains a largely invisible population. Many migrants, particularly those who are in an irregular situation, tend to live and work in the shadows, afraid to complain, denied rights and freedoms that we take for granted, and disproportionately vulnerable to discrimination and marginalization.

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Behind closed doors: Protecting and promoting the human rights of migrant domestic workers in an irregular situation

reports, U.N.

Around the world more than 50 million people, many of them women, are domestic workers. Of these, a significant number are migrants, including migrants who are in an irregular situation. The work they do is invaluable. Among a myriad other tasks, domestic workers clean, iron clothes, cook, garden, provide home health care, drive, and take care of children and older persons. This is necessary work, but work that often goes unnoticed, particularly when it is undertaken by irregular migrants who work unseen behind closed doors.

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Modern Slavery Act 2018 and associated matters

Government, reports

The task of this inquiry was to examine the New South Wales Modern Slavery Act 2018, which was passed by the NSW Parliament on 21 June 2018 and has yet to be proclaimed. The committee was also tasked with examining consultation drafts prepared by the NSW Government of the Modern Slavery Amendment Bill 2019 and Modern Slavery Regulation 2019. The committee expresses its support for the NSW Act, based on the evidence in this inquiry as to its many world-leading features. These include a robust supply chain transparency scheme for both business and government, an Anti-Slavery Commissioner, the creation of new modern slavery offences, support for victims and the establishment of a parliamentary committee to provide oversight of this important policy area.

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Legal and Ethical Issues in Data Collection on Trafficking in Persons

NGO, reports

Discussions about human trafficking data sometimes seem surprisingly abstract, as if research is most centrally about counting things from some distance: approximating “head counts” of global prevalence, formulating statistics, calculating metrics or constructing maps to illustrate geographic “hot-spots”, “routes” or “hubs”. All of these exercises, done well, can play a role in contributing to our understanding of human trafficking. But, even at their best, they are only a partial path to improved understanding and, moreover, sometimes seem to obscure the fact that human trafficking is, first and foremost, about human beings.

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