Leonardo Sakamoto an activist, journalist, researcher and Director of the NGO Repórter Brasil, YES.
The Brazilian case is a powerful story of how binding public disclosure legislation can eradicate forced labour in supply chains. Since the 1970s, civil society in Brazil has systematically denounced the existence of contemporary forms of slave labour. In 1995, after decades of pressure, the Brazilian government acknowledged before the United Nations the persistence of this type of exploitation on its territory. A public policy project based on labour inspections and involving the presence of police officers and public prosecutors was established to address ongoing abuses. These teams investigate complaints, free workers in exploitative situations, hold employers accountable for paying salaries and labour rights, and initiate legal actions for compensating employees or criminally punishing the people responsible for corporations involved in forced labour practices. Since then, over 50,000 workers have been rescued.
From 2003 to 2014, citizens and corporations who were caught benefiting from slave labour were entered in a public transparency database. This was established by a Ministry of Labour act, and was referred to as the ‘dirty list’. The corporations would remain on the list for two years, during which time they would be required to repay their debts to both workers and the state and refrain from recidivism. Unlike corporate social responsibility approaches, which typically involve self-disclosure and self-reporting, this database was established and enforced via governmental act.
