COVID-19 and Modern Slavery

Introduction to the COVID-19 and MODERN SLAVERY Issue
Helen McCabe

Almost 18-months on from the first official case of a novel coronavirus being reported to the World Health Organisation, COVID-19 remains of grave concern, affecting almost every country in the world. As this special edition shows, the global pandemic has had significant consequences for people at risk of human trafficking; those involved in trafficking; those who have survived trafficking; and those seeking to end it. The pandemic is still on-going. On the day of writing, 638,247 new cases were reported in the last 24-hours across the globe, and almost 3.5 million people have died (13,247 in the last 24-hours). We are a long way from properly understanding the multiplicity of ways in which COVID-19 has, and will continue to, affect human trafficking and the global community’s efforts to end it by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. This special edition highlights some of these effects, in a range of countries and sectors.

COVID-19’s Impact on Anti-Trafficking Efforts: What do we know?
Idel Hanley and Jean-Pierre Gauci

Early analysis indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency public health measures, and the consequent socio-economic context have increased individual vulnerability to human trafficking. It also indicates an impact on anti-trafficking efforts both in the short and the longer term. This article explores some of those impacts, identifies issues to look out for moving forward and examines the applicability and resilience of existing legal frameworks.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Identification of Victims of Modern Slavery and Their Access to Support Services in Australia
Nerida Chazal and Ms Kyla Raby

This article examines how COVID-19 impacted the identification and access to support of modern slavery victims in Australia during 2020. It is the first comprehensive analysis of the pandemic’s impact on modern slavery victimisation in Australia. The key finding of the research is that COVID-19 exacerbated existing barriers to identifying victims of modern slavery in Australia and referring them to government funded support, related to the linkage of the provision of support with criminal justice processes. The reliance on policing capacity to identify and refer victims meant that when police and other government resources were diverted into the large-scale COVID-19 emergency response, there was less capacity for police to undertake this vital function, resulting in the under-identification and referral to support of victims of modern slavery.

Fluid Vulnerabilities: Narratives of Modern Slavery in India during Lockdown
George Byrne, Professor Tamsin Bradley, Elizabeth Khumallambam, Sutirtha Sahariah

Before and since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the impact of various forms of labour exploitation in India has been felt disproportionately among those who are marginalised or experience social discrimination, particularly on the basis of religion, caste, or gender (see e.g., Srivastava, 2019; Accountability Hub, 2021). Though this article considers how vulnerability to labour exploitation in general has changed due to COVID-19, the socio-economic and cultural context of India, a key characteristic of which is extreme gender inequality, means that to properly address this it is important to do so through a gendered lens (see Bradley, 2020) and using a woman-centred approach. As such, we focus mainly on the narratives of women who work (or had worked until recently) in two urban centres in India: Delhi and Bangalore.

Ripped at the Seams: RMG Sector Workers During a Global Pandemic
Christopher Hansen, Jafar Iqbal, Maansi Parpiani, Ridhi Sahai, Vaiddehi Bansal, Mithila Iyer, Michelle Davis, and Kareem Kysia

Authors from NORC at the University of Chicago conducted a five-month rapid assessment of COVID-19’s impact on the Ready Made Garments industry (RMG) in Bangladesh and India with funding from the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS). The research presented here highlights the increased risk of forced labor among vulnerable working populations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid assessment addresses descriptive and normative questions about the short- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Bangladesh and India’s RMG industries. Qualitative data collection methods included 19 semi-structured key informant interviews (KIIs) with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and actors across the RMG supply chain. KIIs were informed by a systematic review of recently published media articles, reports, white papers, and other online content. RMG sector stakeholders, including private sector supply chain actors, policy actors, and implementing partners, can use this research to adapt programs and address the multi-faceted challenges facing apparel workers during a global pandemic.

Shattered Dreams: Bangladeshi Migrant Workers during a Global Pandemic
Ridhi Sahai, Vaiddehi Bansal, Muhammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, Kareem Kysia, and Sharon Shen

Overseas labor migration (OLR) is currently one of the most important contributors to Bangladesh’s economy and is a highly profitable form of labor for Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries. Despite the high rate of migration between these countries, the OLR sector remains complex and often leaves migrants susceptible to human trafficking, forced labor, and modern slavery. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed migrant workers to additional adverse situations, increasing their vulnerability to forced labor and COVID-19 related health risks. This rapid assessment addresses critical questions about the short- and long-term impacts of the pandemic on Bangladesh’s OLR industry. Findings from this assessment will inform migrant rights protection policies and programs.

Underlying Conditions: The Increased Vulnerability of Migrant Workers Under COVID-19 in Israel
Maayan Niezna, Yahel Kurlander, Hila Shamir

This article considers the impact of key policies introduced in response to the spread of COVID-19 on migrant workers’ vulnerability through a specific case study: temporary migrant workers and other ‘unskilled’ non-citizen workers in the Israeli labour market. We explore the link between restrictive policies and measures resulting from COVID-19 and the increased risk of severe forms of labour market exploitation, in some cases amounting to forced labour, slavery and trafficking in persons. We argue that the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in the Israeli context has generally manifested not in the emergence of new forms of exploitation and coercion, but rather in the exacerbation and intensification of ‘underlying conditions’ that were already present, i.e., existing structural vulnerabilities to severe forms of labour market exploitation. However, we also find that the intensification of vulnerabilities has presented new opportunities for solidarity and resistance

The Finance of Sex Trafficking and Impact of COVID-19
Phoebe Ewen

This paper examines how COVID-19 has impacted the lives of sex workers and how changing circumstances may make them and others even more vulnerable to exploitation into sex trafficking. It explores the perceptions and policies that keep sex workers from receiving the financial support needed to keep them safe at this time. It considers how sex work may be driven further underground, and the implications of this on the security of the workers involved. It also considers how the behaviour of clients may change as a result of the virus, examining the supply and demand drivers of online sexual exploitation of adults and children. This paper also outlines the fluidity of criminal nature, how criminals are adapting to changing circumstances and finding new ways to identify, groom, and exploit victims into sexual slavery. Finally, it analyses the implications that COVID-19 has had on the nature of money laundering and the related effects on the ability of financial institutions to operate as the ‘eyes and ears’ in the fight against global sex trafficking. It concludes with recommendations that can be made to financial institutions and related agencies, to respond rapidly to emerging risks and new trends in sexual exploitation and money laundering.

Red Light Refracted: Impacts of COVID-19 on Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Maharashtra, India
Erika Keaveney, Mithila Iyer, Xiran Liu, Rachael Jackson, and Kareem Kysia

NORC conducted a mixed-methods rapid assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in Maharashtra, India, with funding from the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS). Findings show that while demand for commercial sex has dropped since the start of the pandemic, vulnerability to CSE has increased and there is early evidence that this supply-demand gap is leading to deflation in the price of sex. With a larger pool of potential victims and low demand, price deflation may lead to poorer living conditions and heightened abuse of victims. Furthermore, the pandemic is accelerating shifts in the channels through which people buy and sell sex, making CSE harder to identify and shut down over the longer-term.

Pivoting technology: understanding working conditions in the time of COVID-19
Hannah Thinyane, Michael Gallo

State lockdowns and travel restrictions introduced in response to COVID-19 have limited the ability of frontline responders to conduct on-site visits and inhibited their efforts to assess working conditions and monitor for labour exploitation within global supply chains. These challenges have increased multinational corporations’ reliance on remote technologies to assist in their supply chain due diligence processes. Our research investigates the use of one such example, Apprise Audit, which is a digital solution used for worker interviews in social compliance auditing that was modified to enable remote data collection. Based on a series of interviews with implementing partners and industry experts, our research finds that Apprise Audit Remote helps to overcome the difficulties of gathering worker feedback in the presence of COVID related constraints. Using this work as a case study, we then further elaborate on the practical opportunities and limitations associated with ICT-enabled remote auditing.

Australia’s Modern Slavery Act and COVID-19: a get out of jail free card?
Fiona McGaughey

The COVID-19 pandemic increased modern slavery risk around the world, including in the operations and supply chains of Australian businesses. This article thematically analyses a sample of available business statements under Australia’s Modern Slavery Act to assess how they engaged with modern slavery risks due to COVID-19. Overall, the statements acknowledged that COVID-19 had increased risks through rapidly altered supply chain profiles, urgent demand for items such as PPE, and yet there were widespread reports of reduced capacity to fully execute planned modern slavery risk assessment, training, and audit activities.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on survivors of human trafficking in the Philippines
Laura Cordisco Tsai, Jonna Eleccion, and Ankita Panda

Pandemics disproportionately devastate those who are most vulnerable, including people who have experienced human trafficking. While numerous stakeholders have raised concerns regarding the potential effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on trafficked persons, very limited research exists documenting the effects of Covid-19 upon survivors. To understand the cross-cutting impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic upon human trafficking survivors, we must first listen to survivors themselves about how their basic safety, security, and health have been affected. We present findings from a rapid assessment conducted with human trafficking survivors in the Philippines regarding their experiences, needs, and priorities during the Covid-19 pandemic (n=233). Results of the rapid assessment revealed four primary concerns and priorities from the perspectives of survivors: food insecurity, loss of employment, mental health concerns, and an escalation in crisis incidents, with greater impact reported among those trafficked for sexual exploitation. Findings reinforce the need to broaden definitions of safety and facilitate emergency interventions that prioritize the most urgent needs articulated by survivors themselves.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Survivors of Human Trafficking in Kenya: A Participatory Approach
Emily Brady, Aisha Ali Haji, Rehema Baya,Yasmin Manji, Helen McCabe, Muthoni Muhunyo, Sophie Otiende, and Ruth Sorby

Researchers and practitioners are increasingly calling for the involvement of survivors of human trafficking at all levels of, and in all areas of, anti-trafficking research, policy, work and legislation. Although it is now quite common for survivors to be called on to share their stories, if not done sensitively, this risks re-traumatising survivors, impeding or undoing progress in their recovery and side-lining them away from decision-making and the opportunity to exercise agency in the anti-trafficking sphere. Survivors may be used (a term we employ deliberately) by a third party to engage emotionally with policymakers, funders and members of the general public, and their narratives are often shaped into expected contours – especially of innocence and victimhood – and sometimes even re-purposed without their consent. To counter this, NGOs and practitioners are increasingly engaging with participatory research methods in order to platform survivors. As an emerging field of research and practice, there are nonetheless power dynamics within these collaborations, as well as expectations from survivor narratives which impact how survivors are engaged with and the roles they are allowed to perform.