The Rights Track

In this first of two special episodes of The Rights Track, Todd reflects on what has been learned about the advancement of human rights from our podcast since it was launched in 2015. 

How is the church leading the fight to end modern slavery?  Rt Rev Alastair Redfern

Crunching numbers: modern slavery and statistics Sir Bernard Silverman

Eye in the sky: rooting out slavery from space Doreen Boyd

Hating the haters: tackling radical right groups in the United States Heidi Beirich

Picture this: using photography to make a case for environmental rights Garth Lenz

Refugees: why hard times need hard facts Gonzalo Vargas LLosa

In the minority: the right to identity, culture and heritage Clare Thomas

Evidence for change: the work of Human Rights Watch Iain Levine

Advancing human rights the Amnesty way Meghna Abraham

Islam and the West: questions of human rights Akbar Ahmed

Pursuing justice: what role for research evidence? Dixon Osburn

Women and Trump: a question of rights? Monica Casper

Gay rights - how far have we come? Richard Beaven

Does America need a Truth Commission? Karen Salt and Christopher Phelps

Human rights: reasons to be joyful William Simmionds

Making human rights our business Shareen Hertel

How can statistics advance human rights? Patrick Ball 

A matter of opinion: What do we really think about human rights? James Ron

Beyond GDP: a measure of economic and social rights Sakiko Fukuda-Parr

Modern day slavery: counting and accounting Kevin Bales

How do we count victims of torture? Will Moore

Do NGOs matter? Amanda Murdie

Are we better at human rights than we used to be? Chris Fariss

In Episode 8 of Series 5  Todd is joined by Siddharth Kara and Hannah Lerigo-Stephens. Siddharth is an author, researcher, screenwriter and activist on modern slavery who has spent many years investigating the issue of forced labour in cobalt mining areas in the Congo. He recently supported 14 families in the Congo to launch a landmark legal case against Apple, Microsoft, Del, Google and Tesla for what they consider to be their complicity in the injuries and deaths of their children. Hannah has worked with leading food retailers like the Co-op and Morrissons to improve labour standards in their global supply chains and now leads the Rights Lab’s Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the University of Nottingham, where she translates research evidence into resources for businesses and organisations looking to work ethically and sustainably.

0.00– 04.35

Todd begins by asking Siddharth to give an overview of his work. Siddharth has worked in over 50 countries collecting evidence and documenting the lives of workers atthe bottom of the supply chain and the conditions under which they work. He explains that:

• Severe exploitation including child labour, forced labour, and modern slavery can be found in all sectors and in all countries
• His current focus is cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo
• 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Congo.
• Cobalt is an essential component in the manufacture of rechargeable batteries
• The manufacture of items using rechargeable batteries (e.g. phones, computers, cars) generates very high incomes for companies like Apple and TESLA. Very little of that income trickles down to the bottom of the supply chain

04.35 – 07.30

Siddharth references a small area in South East DR Congo where cobalt mining takes place. He says that:

• 40% of cobalt is mined by hand (artisanal mining) under extreme conditions without protective clothing (PPE), with exposure to toxic uranium ore and with the constant threat of tunnel collapse
• Cobalt ore finds its way via informal channels into the formal supply chain

07.30 – 09.55

Todd asks Siddharth to describe how remote sensing technology developed by the Rights Lab (Slavery from Space) has been used. 

• Known locations of artisanal mining in DR. Congo have been geo-tagged by Siddharth. This data is used to review satellite images and via an algorithm, identify other mining sites to produce a map of artisanal mining.
• This also shows environmental damage caused by large scale mechanised mining.

09.55 – 14.48

Hannah’s contribution starts with a rejection of the argument that labour exploitation is the result of the complexity of modern supply chains. She says: 

• The main issue is the imbalance of power between major companies like Apple and Tesla at the top of the chain generating massive income and exploited workers at the bottom of the chain
• Buyers at the top of the chain force prices down
• The situation is exacerbated by a lack of state regulation

14.48 – 18.35

Todd moves on to ask about how a redistribution of income could be achieved. In Siddharth’s view contemporary capitalism works in an unequal way. He believes that:

• Value is concentrated at the top of the supply chain, where profit margins are wide. Yet artisanal workers make $1/2 per day
• There is neither the will nor compulsion to re-distribute income  
• “even a rounding error on the balance sheet would be transformative” to the lives of the workers 
• Companies at the top hide behind the “opacity” in the supply chain and feel no responsibility towards the workers at the bottom
• Blame for exploitation trickles down the supply chain

Siddharth concludes by arguing that the major transnational companies must take responsibility for their supply chains.

18.35 – 21.18

Todd brings in Hannah to review the impact of current legislation on modern slavery.

She refers to the UK Modern Slavery Act and its requirements. She argues that the focus is on reporting, but there are loopholes in the wording and language is not strong enough. There is a need for target setting and evaluation within companies.

21.18 -  25.00

Siddharth refers to an article for the Guardian newspaper as a result of his experiences in DR Congo and describes in detail strategic litigation against Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dell, and Tesla to force them to take accountability for conditions in their supply chais. The aims of this he says are:

• For the voices of the exploited to be heard
• Obligations to be placed on these companies around exploitation, free supply chains, and environmental impact

25.00 – end

Hannah emphasises the importance of holding major companies to account, and for greater reflection and evaluation of practices. She sets out the business case for having better knowledge of supply chains, and says lack of knowledge is a weakness.

Siddharth concludes by arguing that the status quo whereby the global north continues to enrich itself by using its political and economic power to exploit the global south needs to change.

Diffusion of labour standards through supplier–subcontractor network Stefan Gold, Thomas Chesney, Tim Gruchmann , Alexander Trautrims

In Episode 7 of Series 5, Todd is joined by John Gathergood, Professor of Economics at the University of Nottingham, and Genevieve LeBaron, Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. John’s research focuses on understanding consumer behaviour in financial markets, and more recently the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on households. Genevieve’s work is at the forefront of the emerging evidence base on forced labour, human trafficking, and slavery in the global economy.

In this episode, the discussion focusses on the interaction between the broader goals of SDG 8 and target SDG 8.7, which focuses on ending modern slavery by 2030.

0.00– 05.06

Todd begins the discussion by asking John to give an overview on the drivers of economic growth and the benefits of trade. 

• Growth is seen as the result of a combination of technological evolution and the development of skills leading to increasingly efficient production processes
• However, the benefits of growth are not evenly distributed
• This leads to the creation of winners (the owners of capital and the organisers of production) and losers (those not in control of production processes)

In John’s view the current COVID pandemic has brought this inequality more sharply into focus, along with the need to ensure that economic growth does not come at the expense of exploitation of certain labour groups.

05.00 – 07.33

Todd asks John about the role of trade and John say it is fundamental in generating growth. He points out that:

• One of the foundations of the capitalist system is trade and specialisation. Trade facilitates specialisation and growth
• There have been waves of globalisation throughout history (often associated with pandemics)
• The last 30 years have seen the largest international movement of capital affecting the location of production and the development of increasingly complex supply chains, which has been good for growth

However, he adds that the fragmentation of production has exacerbated inequality, made complex supply chains very difficult to monitor, and susceptible to labour exploitation.

07.33 – 10.36

In Genevieve’s view, discussions on growth often overlook the business models at the centre of the mass production, fast turnover retail sector producing cheap disposable goods. 

• Her research suggests the business models are “hard wired” to produce inequality and labour exploitation.
• Problems in supply chains are longstanding. Throughout history, capitalism has relied heavily on the exploitation of vulnerable groups for forced labour and slavery.

10.36 – 16.33

Genevieve’s research, covering retail supply chains in China, tea and cocoa supply chains in India and Ghana, and garment supply chains in Southern India, has yielded several insights.

• Labour exploitation is not unusual.
• Common patterns emerge 
• 1. Why certain businesses have an endemic demand for forced labour
  2. How and why supply chains are set up to facilitate labour exploitation, in terms of how businesses make money from forced labour, and the business models they use
  3. There are clear and discernable patterns regarding both the supply and demand drivers of forced labour in global supply chains.

She argues that:

• Although the geography of exploitation and the people involved has changed over time, some form of forced labour is a constant factor in the capitalist model of production throughout history
• Solutions to issues of labour exploitation need to go beyond looking just at supply chains and confront the structures which have given rise to these problems

John adds that a key factor in supply chains is lack of accountability (anonymity) in the upper levels of supply chains, which is useful for efficient production, but can lead to labour exploitation lower down the chain.

16.33 – 19.50

The discussion moves on to the persistence of unfree labour globally.The current organisation of production encourages companies in countries with strong institutions often source their production from countries with weak institutions where the exploitation of the work force is easier.

The prevalence of unfree labour in those countries may be low but the effective prevalence of induced slavery is high.

 Lack of accountability within supply chains is a major problem.

John argues that forced labour should be treated as an “externality” and the cost should be borne by both producers and consumers, or governments should intervene.  However, given the scale and complexity of supply chains enforcing compliance would be very difficult.

19.50 – 25.25

Todd asks Genevieve to summarise the effectiveness of constraints and regulation in the operation of supply chains. 

Three main mechanisms are reviewed.

1. Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives
2. Public Regulation, including labour laws, sub-contracting, and regulation of businesses
3. International agreements and conventions

She identifies an increasing reliance on voluntary industry initiatives due in part to the failure of governments to produce effective regulation of labour standards in global supply chains.

Her new book, Combatting Modern Slavery, shows that corporate social responsibility initiatives have not been effective. She cites a number of factors:

• Wealth and economic power are concentrated at the top of the chain with increasingly tighter profit margins further down to allow suppliers to cover their costs
• Lack of regulation of supply chains by governments facilitates power imbalances in favour of the businesses at the top of the supply chain, and between owners and workers
• Governments have been “the architects’ of globalisation and helped to set up supply chains in a way that has facilitated these imbalances and the conditions which lead to labour exploitation

25.25 – 30.50

The example of the fast fashion industry and the recent reports of exploitation of the local labour force in Leicester, United Kingdom, is discussed.

• The very low cost of garments for sale should be a warning to consumers that labour is being unfairly exploited
• Garments are being sourced at prices below the cost of production
• Labour exploitation is a sector wide problem and is the result of the business model. 
• The situation in Leicester is well known and has been extensively reported by  Sarah Connor of the Financial Times (see recent story)
• Although companies have made commitments to address the situation very little has happened to redress labour exploitation, and to alter the business model
• There is a need for new business models which don’t rely on labour exploitation

30.50 – 36.46In the absence of effective measures to redress the situation Todd asks whether there are economic incentives which could be brought to bear.

Raising consumer awareness is discussed. Genevieve highlights some issues.

• Finding products which do not have some connection to forced labour, given the limited effectiveness and credibility of ethical labelling systems. 
• Evidence exists of labour exploitation in ethical and fair-trade products 
• A crisis of credibility around ethical brands

Instead, she argues for regulation which controls the activities of businesses at the head of the supply chain, a redistribution of profits down through the supply chain, businesses taking greater responsibility for what goes on in the supply chain and a greater role for the employed labour force in generating solutions.

John argues for an increased criminal corporate liability placed upon people and businesses. 

36.46 - end

The discussion ends with John reflecting on the way forward. He believes consumer led approaches are unlikely to work and neither is it likely that companies reliant on manual labour can, or will, act to change the system. Regulation is, therefore, the main option available.

exploitation and sweatshops are at the core of fast fashion: it’s time to dismantle the system

Inside the sweatshops accused of modern slavery

UK: Coronavirus exposes Leicester’s sweatshops and government hypocrisy

Genevieve LeBaron, Jessica Pliley & David W. Blight (eds)(2021) Fighting Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: History and Contemporary Policy. Cambridge University Press [in press].

Genevieve LeBaron (2020) Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and What We Can Do About It. Polity.

Robert Caruana, Andrew Crane, Stefan Gold & Genevieve LeBaron (2020) ‘Modern Slavery in Business: The Sad and Sorry State of a Non-Field.’ Business & Society.

Andrew Crane, Vivek Soundararajan, Michael Bloomfield, Laura Spence & Genevieve LeBaron (2019) Decent Work and Economic Growth in the South Indian Garment Industry. 

Genevieve LeBaron (2018) The Global Business of Forced Labour: Report of Findings. 

Nicola Phillips, Genevieve LeBaron & Sara Wallin (2018) Mapping and Measuring the Effectiveness of Labour-Related Disclosure Requirements for Global Supply Chains. International Labour Organization Working Paper No 32.

Genevieve LeBaron, Neil Howard, Cameron Thibos & Penelope Kyritsis (2018) Confronting Root Causes: Forced Labour in Global Supply Chains. 

In Episode 6 of Series 5 of The Rights Track, Todd is talking with Jasmine O'Connor and Emily Wyman. Jasmine is CEO of Anti-Slavery International, which has been fighting to end slavery since its foundation in 1839. Emily leads the Rights Lab's Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning and manages strategic partnerships between with external partners in civil society, business and government, to enhance multi-sector cooperation against modern slavery. Together with Todd they discuss the connections between UN Sustainable Goals SDG 8.7 on tackling modern slavery and SDG 17 on revitalising the Global Partnership for sustainable development.

00.00 – 05.40

Todd begins by asking Jasmine to outline how NGOs bring about change. 

The ASI approach is to listen to victims and those vulnerable to slavery.

1. To understand the underlying causes / drivers of modern slavery.
2. To inform the planning of effective solutions.

Common themes emerge in terms of who is vulnerable to slavery:

• people facing discrimination
• people in poverty
• people vulnerable to global shocks e.g. the COVID pandemic

There is a need to understand the mechanisms by which people become “tricked and trapped” into forms of modern slavery, from the perspective of the victims themselves and to understand that entrapment is not the victim’s fault.

05.40 – 07.47

Jasmine describes the socio – economic factors which increase vulnerability:

• market conditions which drive down prices in supply chains
• lack of government oversight of supply chains 
• children are vulnerable to being exploited online
• various (legal) loopholes used by traffickers

Understanding the systematic way people are tricked and trapped means working closely with employers, educators, and organisations and agencies across the whole range of SDGs.  

07.47 – 10.33

Todd moves on to ask how ASI engages with different networks. Two elements are identified.

1. Partnering with agencies at “grass roots level” is key.
2. Engaging with governments, multi-national corporations and other NGOs to share information.

Example: ASI’s internal survey of partner institutions on impact of the COVID pandemic reveals:

• 51% reported evidence of increased slavery, trafficking and child exploitation
• 73% reported their governments had not included needs and rights of the vulnerable in responses to the pandemic

ASI use data to lobby governments and UN agencies to ensure awareness of new vulnerabilities to slavery due to the COVID pandemic.

10.33 – 15.20

Todd comments on the disproportionate effect of COVID19 on certain social groups  and agrees how important it is to understand and act on new vulnerabilities. He brings in Emily Wyman to discuss the role of partnerships and data and how the academic research can plug into the work of NGOs working on modern slavery. 

Emily explains that a key role of researchers like her is to scan and review all the existing data and information that exists and to work out the impact that organisations like ASI are having in the field of modern slavery. 

She describes ASI as an organisation that generates and makes available large amounts of information about the work it does and the impacts it is having.

Reviewing all this information can help pinpoint gaps in interventions and provide intelligence to NGOs on which interventions are working.

Researchers can also build tools to help develop effective evaluation procedures for interventions and aid efficient use of resources.

Emily emphasises how important it is to work with NGOs to understand their needs and build strong relationships, and to understand the key drivers of modern slavery. Listening is key to strong relationships that can end modern slavery. 

15.20 – 18.38

Emily mentions The Rights Lab’s Kathryn Bryant’s work with the Walk Free initiative which showed a need to improve the evidence base around modern slavery which has led her and colleagues to work on some practical tools and templates to support NGOs in the monitoring and evaluation of their projects.

These cover three areas:

• Goals
• Outcomes
• Indicators

The work has also included the development of an indicator bank, recommendations on conducting rights-based monitoring and evaluation, advice on using survivor knowledge and experiences and the development of technological solutions for field-based work.

The aim is to improve the evidence base to identify high impact interventions and quick win solutions.

18.38 – 22.02

Todd asks Jasmine if and how ASI uses a theory of change. Jasmine explains:

• ASI have a “global” theory, which is adjusted for specific local circumstances.  Theories are not always successful but need to be trialed by organisations to find what does work.
• Example: Descent based slavery, Niger, a project focusing on educating children which leads to empowerment and an awareness of individual rights and helps break the bonds of slavery.
• The ASI theory of change involves working with families, communities, governments and NGOs to evolve community-generated solutions to reduce poverty and vulnerability to slavery.
• Education is key

Jasmine says it’s crucial that donors invest in experiments and trials to find out what works and then if it works invest in it.

22.02 – 26.00

Emily describes the issues around building partnerships and collaboration between research and front-line organisations.

• There is a large number of organisations but a lack of co-ordination between them
• There is a lack of evidence / evaluation
• Competition for scarce funding resources 

Note: the promising practices database found just 179 evaluations in 1500 organisations.

• The evidence base needs to be improved quickly
• Strong evaluations are a route to better funding.

Emily says that her work is indicating that collaboration around the area of data and methods is looking very promising with lots of goodwill and willingness from organisations.

26.00 – end

Todd asks both guests about the UK government’s planned merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign Office.

Jasmine’s is concerned to ensure that the 0.7% of GDP for projects which address the SDGs remains intact. She says ASI will continue to lobby hard for the continued efforts to tackle modern slavery.

Emily fears that the budget will be threatened but agrees that strong advocacy is needed to hold government to account.

In Episode 5 of Series 5 of The Rights Track, Todd is talking with Ravi Prakash and Phil Northall. Ravi is a consultant for the Freedom Fund’s new Rajasthan ‘hotspot’, which is an approach used to carry out work on specific geographic areas with a high prevalence of modern slavery. He is a child rights specialist with experience working on issues such as child protection and right to education. Phil works as part of the University of Nottingham Rights Lab's Communities and Society Programme to understand and advance local responses to modern slavery. This includes work to build a slavery-resilient cities index to help us better understand how communities become slavery-free and slavery-proof. Together with Todd they discuss the connections between the UN Sustainable Goals SDG 8.7 on tackling modern slavery and SDG 11 on creating sustainable cities.

00.00 – 06.29

Phil begins by outlining a model of a resilient city. The model is adapted from the original work of Hollings and then Hollings in collaboration with others. Described as  an adaptive cycle of reslience. It combines the ability to recover from incidents of slavery with reducing/removing vulnerability to slavery going forward.

Four stages of the model are described:

• Diagnosis of a problem and identifying “assets” for resilience
• Challenge - using survivor voices 
• Engaging with key institutions (media and business) for change
• Evaluation, review and re-assess

 “Assets” are defined as: 

• Bringing together police, local authorities and charities in partnerships to share resources information and ideas on best practice
• Survivor support systems (especially availability of safe accommodation)

The aim is to develop a regional resilience map for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Recent experience in sharing the model in Brazil showed that the challenge of getting agencies to work together is the same although the cultures are different.

06.29 – 13.55

Ravi talks about the Jaipur Child Labour Free Initiative,.

He explains that large numbers of children are involved in forced labour. Many are trafficked from marginalised communities in Bihar state by powerful members of their own community and taken to employers in Jaipur.

• They are trapped in a form of bonded labour cut off from their families and living in poor conditions. Others are local and return home daily
• Laws to protect child rights are ignored
• Very little money finds its way back to the families
• Once in the system the children “disappear” families find it hard to contact them

The project involves the effective collaboration of a wide range of partners including local businesses, the judiciary, and child victims with the aim of changing existing practices using child labour.

The project has achieved notable successes including five child labour convictions.

13.55 – 15.44

Ravi goes onto explain that strong links exist between civil society, prosecutors and state/national government.

• Co-operation between agencies and Bihar state government resulted in rescued children gaining documentation and access to rehabilitation packages
• The Police Centre for Child  Protection is a strategic partner of the programme
• State government is fully engaged with the programme

15.44 – 17.20

Phil compares the Jaipur initiative to his model and finds a large degree of match on all four levels, especially:

• Co-operation between stakeholders
• Engagement with judiciary/police
• Re-training of survivors
• Steps to minimise re-exploitation

17.20 – 19.40

Education is a key entitlement for the children and a key focus of the project.

For trafficked children from Bihar:

• 60% of returning children have returned to education
• There is increased protection from traffickers who live close by
• Less than 2% of children are now being trafficked
• Increasing numbers are receiving state compensation

For local children in Jaipur the twin objectives are:

• Returning children to education
• Ensuring freedom from threats from within their communities

19.40 – 24.20

Phil makes the point that SDG 11 focuses on environmental and economic resilience in cities. He suggests more focus is needed on social issues and references the work of colleague Alison Gardner on the social determinants of community resilience.

He argues that building adaptive resilience cycles helps to keep policy windows open long after an event has occurred.

Ravi argues that building sustainability and resilience is not a top down process.

In Jaipur the key areas are:

• Equal access to education
• Working with the poor in slum areas on empowering the local communities to articulate their problems and seek their solutions
• Bringing together local authorities, planners, community organisations to focus on the problems
• Engagement with local businesses to review supply chains to remove child labour

24.20- end

Ravi makes some final points about the impact of the COVID pandemic on the work of the Freedom Fund in India. He says:

• It has interrupted the prosecution of those involved in trafficking
• It has provided unscrupulous employers with the opportunity to return children to source villages to escape prosecution
• Other employers have thrown children on the street.
• The high number of COVID cases has diverted attention away from child labour issues

However, the project is working with Bihar government who are sharing data on all returning children to find proof of forced or bonded labour and to build a list of traffickers and employers of children for future prosecution.

The project is also monitoring road and rail transport to try to intercept and return trafficked children to their villages.

Further Reading

• Freedom Fund Report 2019 Rajastan
• Child Labour Free Jaipur Project
• Evaluation of the ‘Child-Labour Free Jaipur’ hotspot: baseline report 
• Building Slavery-free Communities: A Resilience Framework

In Episode 4 of Series 5 of the Rights Track, Todd is talking with Elaine Michel-Hill and  Arianne Griffith. Elaine is the business and human rights lead at Marshalls plc, a leading hard landscape company serving both the commercial and domestic construction markets with multiple operating sites in the UK and supply chains across the globe. Arianne leads the Rights Lab Modern Slavery Evidence Unit’s (MSEU) deployment of research for business application. Her work also focuses on effective law and policy to tackle modern slavery in supply chains and the application of business and human rights frameworks to the anti-slavery agenda. Together with Todd they discuss the connections between the UN Sustainable Goals SDG 8.7 on tackling modern slavery and SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production patterns.

00.00 – 02.17

Elaine outlines the work of Marshalls plc, a major supplier of construction products including natural stone. She explains that most of the natural stone is sourced outside of the UK in over 30 countries including Brazil, China, India and Vietnam and notes that it is in these operations and its supply chains, where there is the greatest risk of human rights abuses.

02.17 – 07.15

Elaine describes how, over a number of years, she has closely observed the quarrying process at first hand. Most stone originates from quarries they operate and the company has a dialogue with local operators to understand local labour contexts. They also source stone on the open market where that dialogue is less possible. In the quarries operated by Marshalls, for example in India, all stone extraction is mechanised and over the last 15 years the labour requirement has noticeably reduced. However, she is aware that hand labour is still extensively used in other quarries. As a result of work with local suppliers the use of child labour is less obvious. However, she suspects it still exists, out of sight, and has strong connections to bonded labour and forced labour.

07.15 – 11.40

Arianne reviews a range of information and guidance for both states and companies and points to 2011 as a significant turning point in relation to corporate business and supply chains with the unanimous adoption by the Human Rights Council of the Guiding Principles on business and human rights. They gave rise to a number of instruments and resources and outline:

• the duty of states to protect human rights
• the duty of companies to respect human rights
• the joint duty of both to find remedies to abuses of human rights

This has led to two significant advances:

• It gave companies a framework on which to build policy
• Companies began to discuss the issues with one another and state actors

In terms of delivering on the guidelines, corporate responsibility exists irrespective of the state’s capacity to deliver protection of human rights. Although the guidelines are not binding, in Arianne’s view companies are increasingly accepting responsibility to meet them.

She points out that the OECD guidelines for multi-national enterprises provide a slightly different framework. In Arianne’s view, however, there is a real need for legislation at the national level.

11.40 – 15.19

Elaine’s experience is that even without legislation companies can develop a responsible approach to human rights. Her own company, she points out were early signatories to the United Nations Global Compact. Its value was:

• The framework for action it provided
• It was an expression of public commitment to the spirit of the Compact 

The existing “philanthropic” culture within the company made the process of embedding the ideas and developing policies relatively straightforward. This also has benefits for maintaining a good reputation with customers; a process Elaine describes as commercialising an approach to sustainability. This protects the long-term viability of the company, and is essential if human rights are to be supported.

15.19 – 19.26

The UK Modern Slavery Act  brought a real focus to the company’s approach to human rights. Its aim is to engage with the spirit of the law, not just compliance.

• It is publishing its fifth statement on modern slavery
• It engages in full and transparent reporting of its activities and has evolved an increasing range of indicators and evidence
• • Evidence of training with suppliers
  • Evidence of improvements to due diligence
  • A modern slavery report
  • Details of collaborative projects
  • Details of (human rights) risk profiles for different countries to justify policies
  • Details of spending, and volumes of production across its operations

It also reports on collaborative projects such as the IOM programme in Vietnam.

19.26 – 21.36

All agree, transparency, or lack of it, is a key issue. Arianne’s view is that there is a limited level of engagement beyond a narrow compliance with the law. Whilst the Modern Slavery Act has brought about significant change, and served to create a more level playing field across the corporate world, companies need to do much more.

21.36 – end

A discussion around the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic. Elaine’s view is that given the extreme pressures on companies, vulnerable workers have become more vulnerable and considerations of human rights have been pushed to one side. It shows a need to:

• Check that modern slavery statements reflect the changed situation
• Build more resilience in the system
• Re-double due diligence. 

It also points to the need for greater transparency particularly where the corporate sector and the informal sector (criminal activity, corruption, trafficking) merge, but Elaine questions whether there are limits to how much transparency can be achieved.

In Episode 3 of Series 5 of the Rights Track, Todd is talking with Dr Katarina Schwarz and Dr Laura Dean. Katarina leads the Law and Policy programme at the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham. Laura is Assistant Professor of Political Science and the Williams Professor in Global Studies at Millikin University, Illinois. Together with Todd they are discussing the intersection between meeting Sustainable Development Goals SDG 8.7 aiming to end modern slavery and SDG 16 which aims to end violence and strengthen the rule of law and governance.

1.27- 5.12

The discussion opens with Katarina commenting on how anti-slavery law has evolved through history and how it has developed to include practices, such as forced labour, human trafficking, and other forms of exploitation. While these new additions can complement existing legislation they can lead to complication, fragmentation and confusion. She points out that modern slavery covers a wide range of areas including:

• Property rights
• Labour rights
• Criminal Law

As many agencies are involved, with differing agendas, it becomes difficult to get general agreement on what issues need to be addressed.

She adds that modern slavery involves different types of exploitation and for the victims a wide range of experiences. Trying to identify commonalities and treat them in a coherent manner presents problems.

5.12 - 7.11

Katarina and her team are responsible for the recent launch of an online Legislation Database  on anti-slavery legislation at the United Nations, which analysed domestic laws governing slavery across a wide range of countries. The main findings are:

• Mapping found that in nearly 50% of the countries enslavement is not a crime.
• The same is true in respect of forced labour and servitude.
• In just under 50% of the countries there are no criminal sanctions against modern slavery.

7.11 - 9.54

The discussion turns to the breakup of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Todd asks Laura to comment on how this affected criminal activity in the region.

The breakup of the Soviet Union led eventually to increased migration within the region particularly towards Russia, and Ukraine saw the emergence of sex trafficking as the first manifestation of modern slavery. This was able to develop because of: 

• A break down in established legal frameworks.
• The proliferation of organised criminal networks.
• Increased levels of corruption, much of which was embedded within state institutions.

9.54 - 14.20

The breakup of the Soviet Union led to the emergence of different types of regimes.

• Some like Poland and the Czech Republic looked to membership of the European Union
• Others stayed within the influence of the Russian Federation
• And others looked towards China

Todd asks Laura whether she sees a correlation between regime type and anti-slavery legislation.

Laura has developed a ranking system which she calls the Human Trafficking Policy Index and what she finds is that while democracies are better able to implement anti-trafficking policies often the quality of those policies is not always very high.

For example: Estonia ranks highly in terms of democracy and yet has the “worst” human trafficking laws, whilst Georgia and Moldova are the opposite.

This is a finding which resonates with Todd’s own Human Rights research on the ratification of human rights treaties and the work of Heather Smith-Cannoy from Arizona State University (see below).

14.20 - 16.25

An important issue is the gap between the passing of legislation and the implementation of that legislation and according to Katarina, this comes down to how legislation is enacted.

• The small island state of Nauru is one of the few examples of an approach which directly criminalises slavery see: Nauru criminalises Slavery .
• Some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean enact legislation via their constitutions while this is less true for Western Democracies.

16.25 - 17.40

What makes for good governance and implementation? Katarina suggests that,

• Criminal enforcement has to work alongside the enforcement of labour laws 
• The socio-economic conditions which lead people into vulnerable situations need to be addressed
• Corruption and bribery at all levels within and outside of government need to be addressed
• Access to justice is fundamental to good implementation

Evaluating implementation by recording, for example, the number of arrests made under existing legislation, or the number of victims rehabilitated is not enough, and often goes under-reported as Laura explains. 

Effective implementation requires detailed research on how policy is enacted “on the ground” involving local actors and stakeholders to get an accurate picture of human rights abuses.

17.40 - 22.35

The discussion now looks at trends in post-Soviet countries and whether there is any kind of geographical pattern emerging in terms of various aspects of modern slavery.

In the early 2000s modern slavery took the form of the trafficking and sexual exploitation of Eastern European women. However, now Laura finds that there is no specific pattern. Males have increasingly become victims of forced labour both in Russia and the central Asian republics, but whilst there are support and rehabilitation services for women, the authorities do not appear to recognise that men and children can become the victims of forced labour.

22.35 - end

In looking at progress towards meeting the SDGs, Todd references the work of Gary Marks on multilevel governance and poses the question, what can be done to join up the work of different institutions and what is needed for progress to be made towards attaining these goals?

Katarina suggests the following.

1. The need to recognise where overlaps and connections exist between the different levels of governance.
2. To move away from stereotyping of victims (as sex workers for example) because this closes off investigation into other forms of modern slavery.
3. More work on identifying the social and structural conditions that lead people into  slavery.
4. The need to harmonise domestic legislation on labour practice, immigration, human rights, victim protection and human rights into a cohesive structure.

Laura adds the key is to strengthen the capacity of state institutions to implement anti-slavery laws, and in particular

1. To further support the implementation of domestic laws.
2. To develop victim services and support services.
3. To develop rehabilitation support and services for victims.

• The legislation database with a summary of findings
• Guidance on survivor involvement in policy making
• Diffusing Human Trafficking Policy in Eurasia, Laura Dean - also available in the US here
• Gary Marks 
• Insincere commitments: Human Rights Treaties, Abusive States and Citizen Activism, Heather Smith-Cannoy

In Episode 2 of Series 5, we mark International Women’s Day 2020. Todd is joined by Helen McCabe based at The Rights Lab at Nottingham University and Karen Sherman author of Brick By Brick - Building Hope and Opportunity for Women Survivors Everywhere. They discuss the connections between the United Nations’ Sustainable Goals 5 on achieving gender equality and 8.7 ending modern slavery.

Helen is an assistant professor of political theory and leads the work of the Rights Lab on forced marriage.

Karen is a renowned author and speaker on global women’s issues. She was formerly a senior executive at Women for Women International and is currently President of the Akilah Institute, Rwanda’s only women’s college, leading its strategy, growth, and partnerships. Her main focus is on the role that education and economic participation can play in transforming the lives of women their families and communities.

00 – 4.00

Todd introduces both guests and comments on the connections between the work of both speakers

Karen reflects on her work over 30 years and the precarity of women in terms of their rights. (legalised marriage, inheritance, property)

Karen refers to her work in Rwanda where men typically resist engaging in legalised marriage preferring traditional marriage, which gives freedom to have multiple wives and which doesn’t place financial obligations on the man.

This is in contrast to women who view legalised marriage as a means to safeguard their rights. In attempting to convince men of the value of legalised marriage she found that the protection of children’s rights was seen by men to be more important than women’s rights.

Whilst traditional marriage is still the norm in many countries in others legalised marriage and associated rights are in place but not enforced or women are unaware of them.

4.00 – 8.21

Helen sees the parallels with her current research on child marriage and forced marriage.

• Forced marriage  and early age  marriage hard to prove in the absence of legal documents, hence the need to ensure full legal documentation of marriage.
• Legalised marriage confers rights but can also create issues re; access to divorce, custody of children and property rights.

Todd suggests that legalising marriage can  empower women but as Karen comments, there is a dichotomy between legalisation of marriage which confers rights,  and the large numbers of young women and children in Africa and Asia who forced into marriage and have no access to their rights. The key factor is whether women want to be married legally or not. Forced marriage has parallels with slavery because women do not choose to become the property of men.

8.21 – 10.50

The conversation returns to the situation in Rwanda where significant numbers of women are in positions of influence and power. Post war more women comprised 70% of the active population Significant numbers became active politically, entered government and supported pro – women legislation. This gave women the opportunity to renegotiate their rights in terms of marriage and beyond.

10.50 -  15.23

The links between education, access to employment and positive outcomes for women are explored. Education gives women voice but income gives women choice. The kind of education is important It must equip women with the necessary skills for the workplace.

In terms of forced marriage girls stay in school marry later, are more likely to go into more options and choice over who they marry. But there are cultural tensions. Worthwhile employment options need to be available post school/college otherwise education loses its usefulness for women.

Women (in forced marriages) need more education on;

• Their rights
• Their options
• Support available

In Helen’s view a key issue is the resistance men have towards greater equality for women.

15.23 – 20.29

The issues related to women’s rights are global issues. Karen comments on the situation in the USA where;

• 1 in 16 American women raped as first sexual encounter
• 1 in 5 women in college experienced sexual assault
• These figures may be “tip of the iceberg” reference  MeToo movement

Women are seen as survivors. 

There are regions where there is greater prevalence but forced marriage occurs everywhere. Helen is working with Karma Nirvana a UK  agency working in the area of forced marriage She hopes to be identify communities where forced marriage takes place and the underlying factors which promote forced marriage. Proving coercion under present law, however, is proving to be a problem.

20.29 – 25.27

Todd comments on the disproportionate proportion of young women being trafficked and asks how effective the language of modern slavery,  anti-trafficking and the focus on SDG 8.7 can be in changing the situation for women.

Karen sees a greater awareness  of trafficking  but feels the  key factors  which make women vulnerable needs more work; eg the role of;

• Poverty
• Lack of opportunity

She also suggests that whilst related trafficking for sex and trafficking for work may have different root causes, which makes intervention problematic.

Helen points out that the UN Special Rapporteur on forced marriage argues that linking the issue to modern slavery is an effective way of leveraging action against forced marriage and trafficking. A link is perceived between servile marriage and modern slavery and the global commitment to ending it.  The rapporteur sees this as a way to leverage action on  gender equality.

Helen adds that initial research shows links between forced marriage trafficking and modern slavery. It suggests that forced marriage also has different root causes which leave people vulnerable to trafficking and modern slavery.

25.27 -  end

Karen says that helping women move from victims to survivors and finally to become active members of society offers hope for the future. Giving women the opportunity to rebuild their lives through education and employment gives them and their families a stake in society and is a hopeful message

Links and references

1.  Universal declaration of human rights article 16

2.  SDG 5.3

In Episode 1 of Series 5 Todd talks to Professor Luis da Costa Leão, Professor in the Department of Collective Health at the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Brazil, about the connections between the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals SDG 3 on good health and well being, and SDG 8.7 on modern slavery. 

0.48 – 3.17

The conversation begins with a discussion of the term Collective Health. The concept originated in Brazil at the end of the 1970s amid criticisms of the Brazilian health system while the country was under dictatorship. There is a distinction to be made between  medical approaches to health and collective health which takes a holistic view of the determinants of the health of the population, in particular the prevailing socio-economic conditions and how they impact upon health. Luis argues that there is a strong link between conditions of work and health.

3.17 – 6.55

The conversation moves on to discuss the state of public health in Brazil. Todd comments on the large income inequalities that exist within Brazilian society and asks how this is manifested within the public health field. The new constitution of 1988 enshrined health as a universal right and there is a system of universal access to healthcare. In Luis’ field there is increasing interest in the surveillance of working conditions. However, with the recent change of government, Luis notes that there is increasing pressure to privatise aspects of the public health system in Brazil, which could threaten the universal right to health.

6.55 – 11.50

Todd moves on to suggest a strong link between SDG 3 and Collective Health. Luis agrees and comments on the links between health, the work environment, SDG 3 and also SDG 8.7. He outlines his work on the surveillance of working conditions within commodity chains, for example coffee, which have strong historical links to transatlantic slavery. Using sugar as an example Luis describes how there is surveillance of working conditions at each stage of the labour process, and for a wide range of agricultural commodities, which is used to identify examples of modern slavery.

11.50 – 14.12

Todd asks Luis to describe how the authorities deal with reported cases of modern slavery. In Brazil all levels of government have obligations towards workers health and modern slavery and powers to deal with the problem. There are multiple stake holders and also the  private sector who are producing the commodities and this means that there is a need for co-ordination between different levels of government and working with the private sector. 

14.12 – 16.01

SDG 16 on governance is referenced and Todd refers to the corruption scandals at the highest levels of government and suggests that within the governance structure there is massive opportunity for corruption to obstruct the fight against modern slavery. Luis agrees and adds that corruption has impeded development in Brazil.

16.01- 20.31

In Brazil, modern slavery is officially defined by four conditions each of which is described. 

• Degrading conditions at work
• Exhausting working hours
• Servitude
• Forced Labour

Public health has neglected this area and linking public health and modern slavery is made difficult by a lack of reference to it. However, evidence taken from recently freed slaves shows that modern slavery is associated with the denial of acceptable working conditions, adequate shelter, and a healthy diet and this creates major health issues both mental and physical, which affect the both the individuals and the broader community. Not only is modern slavery the opposite of freedom it is also the opposite of a healthy society.

20.31 - end

Todd asks whether there are estimates of the numbers trapped in modern slavery in Brazil. Luis says that in the last 15 years more than 5000 people have been taken out of slavery as a result of the work of special teams of labour inspectors.

• Over 90% of those rescued were found in the agriculture sector. 
• 95% were young men with low levels of education. 

However, women appear to have been ignored in the definitions of modern slavery for example sex workers and victims of trafficking. These are areas yet to be addressed.

Useful links

• The genesis of collective health in Brazil.
• The field of Collective Health: definitions and debates on its constitution1
• Combatting Forced Labour in Brazil  International Labour Organisation
• Fears for Brazil’s healthcare system Daily Telegraph November 2018

In Episode 8 Series 4, Todd talks with Juliana Semione, a research associate at the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab, who is working to reduce the likelihood of slavery survivors of going back into slavery by better understanding what can help them be resilient and what support they need from practitioners and policy makers.

0:00 – 4:18

Juliana has been researching the concept of freedom from slavery across three cohorts: survivors, law enforcement officials and providers of care in the USA and the UK.

Todd and Juliana begin by discussing the idea of ‘freedom’ and how it is slightly different depending on the cohort’s perception and lived experiences. She states that their definitions are not entirely different but have different priorities. The biggest similarity across the cohorts was a universal agreement that freedom means being free from coercion and free will to do as you wish.

4:19 – 8:09

Todd asks whether responses lean towards ‘freedom from’ rather than ‘freedom to’ do things and Juliana says they were more frequently framed as ‘freedom to’. For example, having the ability to defend yourself against those who would try to limit your free will.

She also mentions that a common concept of freedom was the ability to heal from the damage inflicted by modern slavery and human trafficking. 

Todd asks if Juliana got a sense of how long it took for survivors to feel free? To which she replies no, and it is very individualised, but it is not when you are physically removed from your trafficker.

8:10 – 19:02

Todd moves the discussion on to the methodology behind Juliana’s research by asking why she chose the UK and the USA. She highlights three key reasons:

• Their shared principles.
• Their perception that they are leaders in the fight against modern slavery.
• Public discourse around legislation that can be drawn upon.

Juliana points out that access to three groups was really varied but most were very engaged. One of the hardest groups to access were survivors and she relied on referrals from practitioners and other survivors.

Juliana then outlines the steps she took in utilising the Q methodology in her research:

1. Concourse - she pulled together 700 statements relating to freedom.
2. Q sample - Juliana narrowed this down to 49 statements for the participants to look at. She discusses how difficult this process was.
3. Hit the road - took statements to different cohorts with an organising mat. She asked them to read the statements and pick the two they agreed and disagreed with the most. Then place the remaining cards in order of agree/disagree alternatively.
4. Score - the placement of each statement is assigned a score, but this is not written on the mat.
5. Factor analysis - each statement has a number, which is put into a Q study package allowing you to create a frequency and weighting analysis.

 19:03 – 20:49

Juliana discusses some of the preliminary results and patterns but notes she has not finished the analysis.

20:50 - end

Todd asks what Juliana hopes to achieve with this research? She hopes this will start a conversation in the modern slavery world and allow us to be able to answer the question what freedom is. She envisages two main audiences:

1. Policy makers - to help them consider what legislation directs us towards. What are survivors freed to? And how do we build steps to get them there?
2. Practitioners - to help service provision to act with greater efficiency.