Welcome to the Slavery Research Bulletin, the Freedom Fund’s monthly brief designed to bring you new & compelling research from the global anti-slavery movement.
A more effective UN response to trafficking in conflict
The UN’s response to trafficking amid the global refugee crisis has been fragmented, with several agencies taking uncoordinated action. The Freedom Fund has called for increased attention to frontline humanitarian action on slavery and trafficking, as well as increased coordination and leadership within the UN through the creation of a Special Coordinator on Modern Slavery.
Leading food and beverage companies score poorly in supply chain analysis
The world’s 20 largest food and beverage companies received an average overall score of just 30/100 in a supply chain analysis by Know the Chain. The top scorers were Unilever (65/100), Coca-Cola (58/100) and Nestle (57/10). Companies are falling particularly short in their approach to recruitment, only seven of the companies have a ban on recruitment fees which is a common cause of debt bondage.
Questions raised about fashion industry CSR in China
Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) published findings of its investigations into four Chinese factories supplying global retailers including GAP, H&M and Zara. SACOM found instances of workers in the factories not paid a living wage, working excessive hours and being exposed to toxic chemicals and hazardous dusts without protective gear.
The blurred status of “live-in” domestic workers in Hong Kong
Analysis by the Migration Policy Institute describes how gaps in labour rights leave domestic workers particularly vulnerable to exploitation: they are not entitled to statutory minimum wage, prone to having their passports confiscated and one in five have suffered physical abuse.
Weak effect of conditional cash transfers to end child marriage
An IZA policy paper finds that conditional cash transfers, on their own, are unlikely to end child marriage. Human rights, health and access to education must also be addressed rather than relying solely on economic drivers.
Read on…
- The Freedom Fund published a new report on how strategic litigation can be an effective tool in the fight against slavery.
- An analysis of South Africa’s Prevention and Combatting of Trafficking in Person Act (2015) argues that policy decisions were based on limited evidence.
- A UNU-MERIT Working Paper examines the positive relationship between trade liberalisation and child labour.
And finally
LSHTM’s ‘Researching gender based violence: Methods and meaning’ course will be running 13-17 February 2017. To sign up, click here.
News & updates
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