Anti-trafficking measures to date have been unsuccessful as they do not address structural labour governance failures. A new global treaty was adopted last summer that aims to do exactly that.
Garment manufacturers in Cambodia benefit when anti-trafficking programmes portray clothing manufacturing as the only viable and, crucially, moral labour opportunity available.
Seoul continues to strengthen its anti-trafficking frameworks, but neither migrant wives nor migrant workers find the language of ‘trafficking’ helpful in addressing their concerns.
Anti-trafficking programmes give a humanitarian gloss to national anti-immigration controls, but the citizenship and immigration policies of nation-states are still the biggest danger facing many migrants today. Español
Endorsing the modern slavery bill, even by seeking to include additional protections within it, supports rather than challenges the use of criminal justice frameworks to address ‘modern slavery.’
Beyond Slavery introduces its new issue on the state and the law, elements which not only define slavery but shape the channels through which it is addressed.
UK immigration rules currently prevent migrant domestic workers from changing employers. This removes these migrant workers’ fundamental rights and leaves them vulnerable to abuse.
In 2012 the UK government made it illegal for migrant domestic workers to change employers. Parliament has the chance to restore that right this week—it must do so.
The recent flurry of government, corporate, and NGO initiatives to eradicate slavery does little to tackle underlying causes. Until this changes, severe exploitation will thrive in the global economy.
Unconditional basic income is not only feasible, but it also has more emancipatory potential than any other single policy because it targets economic vulnerability, the heart of all labour exploitation. Español
Forced labour is a symptom of a wider malaise facing workers in global supply chains. Governance gaps and skewed business structures are exacerbating inequality and must be tackled for workers to be properly protected.
The Global Slavery Index is profoundly flawed methodologically, yet it remains widely and often uncritically cited. What underlies the production and use of highly suspect statistics? Español
