The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the plight of many people around the world who were already living and working in slavery-like conditions and has made many more susceptible to such exploitation. For companies with extensive operations and supply chains, the risk of human trafficking taking place within their value chain is on the rise, an issue the Global Business Coalition Against Human Trafficking (GBCAT) and many other anti-trafficking initiatives have elevated to the business community throughout the year. In response, many organizations are partnering with the private sector to help prevent, identify, mitigate, and address human trafficking in business operations and supply chains around the world.
Why Modern Slavery Risks Should Be Top of Mind for Businesses during COVID-19
Businesses today are facing tough decisions on how to protect their financial viability, serve rapidly changing customer needs, and protect their workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter the landscape of the global workforce, forcing millions of vulnerable workers out of work and requiring businesses to make quick and difficult decisions on retaining their workforce and supporting their supply chains through the crisis.
GBCAT urges companies to protect workforces against modern slavery risks when responding to COVID-19
Three Ways Business is Combating Modern Slavery
It may come as a surprise to many people that slavery, forced labor, and human trafficking continue to be critical issues for business in the twenty-first century: there are over 40.3 million people globally that are victims of modern slavery today, and at least 16 million of them are being exploited in the private sector in conditions of forced labor.
Why Businesses Should Care about the Use of Forced Labor in Xinjiang
The world was shocked when reports emerged in late 2017 that several hundred thousand, now likely over one million, individuals from the Xinjiang region of China were being held in so-called political “reeducation” facilities. As more information surfaces, the reality of what is going on there couldn’t be further from educational. Instead, an unknown number of individuals may be subject to forced labor, among other abuses, simply for being a Muslim living in Xinjiang, China.
Jobs Must Be Part of the Solution to Human Trafficking
Human trafficking doesn’t just happen in faraway places like India’s brick kilns or Cambodia’s brothels. Over 8,500 victims of human trafficking cases were reported in the United States last year, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. There is no greater blow to human dignity than a person being forced to perform work or sex acts against their will.
Clarity, Consensus, and Corporate Action on Human Trafficking
The classic movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” is about a man who speaks truth to power in the morass of national politics—even as his voice weakens. Well, another Mr. Smith is leaving Washington: Lamar Smith of Texas is retiring after three decades in Congress. His example offers lessons about what corporations, citizens, and public leaders must understand about human trafficking.
A Map to Help Business Collaborate with Anti-Slavery Organizations
Undoing Slavery: Business Coalition Tackles Unmet Needs
As a practitioner and academic specializing in global institutions and partnerships, I know first-hand that both are at their best when they articulate a clear vision of how they benefit people and of their particular comparative advantage and value add. These imperatives are especially true for collaborations in the private sector.
GBCAT Advisor Mark Lagon Quoted in CNN Article
Amb. Mark Lagon was quoted in a recent CNN article on an anti-sex-trafficking bill.
Please read the article here.