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.
Migrant workers lack access to justice for abuses in South-East Asia
A new study by the International Labour Organization finds that migrant workers in South-East Asia continue to face major obstacles lodging and resolving complaints of abuse. Of the over 1,000 cases reviewed, the most common complaints were that jobs offered by recruiters were not provided as promised (35 percent), and that wages were either underpaid or withheld entirely (31 percent).
One out of five weddings in India is a child marriage
A report by ActionAid India reveals that despite numerous laws, child marriage in India is still widely practised. Every year, 1.3 million children in India are married before the age of 18, 80 percent of whom are girls. Although child marriage is more common among poorer families, the prevalence among girls from the wealthiest households is still notably high, at 32 percent.
Risks of labour abuses on the rise as Canadians demand action
World Vision Canada released a report that exposes the risk of child and forced labour associated with common Canadian imports. Canadian imports of “risky goods” totalled $34 billion in 2016, up 31 percent from 2012. New polling data also reveals that the majority of Canadians want more information about who makes the products they buy.
The U.S. ranks 36th in Save the Children’s “End of Childhood Index”
A complement to Save the Children’s End of Childhood Report finds that millions of children in the United States have had their childhoods stolen due to severe malnutrition, incomplete education, homelessness and other “childhood enders”. For example, the rate of early pregnancy in the US (22.3 per 1,000 teenage girls) is substantially higher than other industrialised countries.
More scrutiny needed on effectiveness of demand-side campaigns
A synthesis of demand-side anti-trafficking campaigns by DemandAT shows that evaluation is rare despite the European Commission’s stated commitment – only 8 of the 21 identified campaigns were evaluated. Within this small pool of evaluations, the authors observed a pattern of ‘high input and modest impact’ with most large-scale campaigns only generating a handful of reports on suspected trafficking activities.
Read on…
- Survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit finds that only 22 percent of companies address child labour in their supply chains.
- Infosheet by the International Organisation for Migration explores the links between climate change, human trafficking and smuggling in the Asia-Pacific region.
- A report by Wilton Park highlights the role of digital technology in tackling modern slavery and human trafficking.
And finally
Faces of modern slavery: survivors recount their experience of modern slavery in a new photography exhibition.
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Photo credit: Solidarity Center/Jeanne Hallacy