ANTI- POLICIES AND INVESTMENTS WITHIN DEVELOPMENT MARCH 2019

by Professor Kevin Bales Catharina Drejer

1 Introduction

Slavery is a major human rights violation around primarily economic exploitation, but may in- the world. There are an estimated 40.3 million clude sexual use or psychological benefit.”2 slaves globally, and slavery is found in virtual- ly all countries. Recognition of the extent and There are many root causes to slavery and hu- cost of modern slavery has been growing and, man trafficking - political instability, conflict, as noted by the United Nations Delta 8.7 group, discrimination and prejudice, displacement of it is in need of a strategic and comprehensive people due to war or environmental degrada- planning and policy making both nationally tion, poverty, lack of opportunity, and govern- and internationally. Given its relatively recent mental corruption.3 In addition, isolation from appearance within the global development dis- social protections, health care, infrastructure, course, the term ‘modern slavery’ or ‘slavery’ and being stateless or paperless4 can be added is sometimes contested. In this report we use to this non-exhaustive list. the definition of slavery according to the Bella- gio-Harvard Guidelines, which is based on the Norway has a unique opportunity to combat 1926 Slavery Convention.1: slavery and human trafficking internationally, especially in light of its commitment to the Sus- Slavery is “the control of one person (the slave) tainable Development Goals. This briefing pa- by another (the slaveholder or slaveholders). per, written by advisor Catharina Drejer (Tank- This control transfers agency, freedom of move- esmien Skaperkraft) and Kevin Bales (Professor ment, access to the body, and labour and its of Contemporary Slavery, University of Notting- product and benefits to the slaveholder. The ham) provides recommendations and sugges- control is supported and exercised through vi- tions on how to do that. olence and its threat. The aim of this control is

1 Jean Allain, ed., The Legal Understanding of Slavery: From the Historical to the Contemporary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 375-380. 2 Jean Allain and Kevin Bales, “Slavery and its Definition,” Global Dialogue 14, 2 (Summer 2012): 6-14, https:// hydra.hull.ac.uk/assets/hull:9986/content. 3 Kevin Bales, “What Predicts Human Trafficking,” International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 31, 2 (2007): 269, doi: 10.1080/01924036.2007.9678771. 4 Siddartha Kara, Modern Slavery: a Global Perspective (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017), 31.

2 Anti-Slavery Policies and Investments within Development Minister of Development – Norway

1. Why support and carry out antislavery work within the Norwegian Development programme?

Enabling frontline organisations and affected • Efforts to organize community members to communities to tackle the root causes of sla- claim rights and entitlements and challenge very is one of the most effective pathways to discrimination achieving the Sustainable Development Goals • Community definition of root causes and (SDGs) among the poorest nations and po- priorities pulations. This includes those SDGs not usu- • Adoption of the specific goal of slavery era- ally thought of a being linked to human righ- dication ts – such as reducing poverty, environmental destruction and corruption. There is strong The Harvard study found that this approach independent evidence for this - for example, when used in Uttar Pradesh in India had come Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health close to eradicating hereditary forms of bonded and Human Rights was commissioned to carry labour slavery among the target population of out an independent review of comprehensive, low-caste families. It had also produced ancil- community-based anti-slavery programmes. lary benefits for communities, including wage These development/human rights interventi- growth, increased food security, and greater ons are characterised by: access to governmental support programmes and entitlements such as the rural employment • A range of interventions at the community guarantee. The estimated cost of one person level, usually including training in human liberated and supported as they began stable and legal rights, activities to empower wo- productive lives through this methodology was men and girls, children’s education, and job USD$378. A Table from that study gives details training/livelihoods support of the benefits:

BENEFIT TYPE OBSERVED CHANGE

The intervention significantly lowered the odds of a household having any amount Reduced debt of debt.

Increased savings Household savings were 55% higher than comparison group

Higher wage growth Wages grew 30% faster in the intervention area

Those receiving the intervention were 3 times more likely to report access to free Access to medical care medical care Increased use of Indian govern- Intervention households were almost 4 times more likely to report having a job card ment protective schemes under the rural employment scheme

Food security The intervention significantly increased the # of meals eaten per day

3 There is an underlying reason why anti-slavery wards to provide for key needs: adequate food, work leads to a dramatic improvement mea- education for the children, medical care, warm sured by a number of SDGs – this is the “free- and dry housing, and acquiring tools for more dom dividend” that results when slavery comes productive work. Communities with a high lev- to an end. Put simply, enslaved individuals and el of slavery spiral upwards economically when families are denied sufficient food and shelter, that slavery comes to an end. education, medical care, political participation – all of the necessary factors needed to grow and A further outcome is a dramatic reduction in develop their lives. Additionally, the enslaved, gender-based violence after liberation. This is while they are accustomed to hard work, see no not surprising given that virtually all enslaved benefit, no reward for their work – all their pro- women and girls are raped; a key motivator for ductive capacity is stolen from them. In freedom women taking up grassroots activism against they become something they have never been slavery is their desire to protect their daughters allowed to be: consumers. Ex-slaves increase against rape. The “freedom dividend’ is signifi- their productivity in freedom, and use the re- cant and impactful.

2. The importance of survivor participation in liberation and development programmes

Leadership by those people most affected is key widespread, but groups like the Survivor Al- to a) getting interventions right, and b) making liance have proven essential to the planning sure they will be sustained long after the donor of anti-slavery programmes. It is important to has left. Again, there is significant evidence to remember that for decades the laws, policies, support this. development plans, and analyses of slavery as a human rights and development issue have all It is only within the last five years that the par- been written by people who have never experi- ticipation of survivors of slavery has become enced slavery.

3. The importance of building relationships, working with local groups, and concentrating work in areas where systems change and success is possible

Slavery is endemic in situations of armed con- b) Accelerated learning and adoption of bet- flict, in areas of catastrophic disasters, and in ter practices by participating organisations (in- areas of extreme corruption – but such con- cluding the funder). texts make effective anti-slavery interventions very difficult or impossible. Peace, recovery and c) Achieving the funder’s need to see scaling rebuilding, or systematic anti-corruption pro- up of impact while also reaching to inaccessi- grammes are likely necessary before other SDGs ble places and tackling seemingly intractable can be effectively addressed, including slavery. problems.

For that reason the currently most effective The “hotspot” model has these main themes anti-slavery development programmes tend to – concentrating resources on a tightly defined concentrate in areas which may have serious geographic area, funding a diverse group of and systemic challenges, but are not the scene mainly grassroots NGOs to provide a range of of armed conflict, etc. Such programmes have services to the target population, and employ- a concentrated geographical focus and be com- ing staff on the ground to monitor partners and mitted to long-term support and intervention. encourage the sharing of best practice. The This is often called the “hotspot” model. The Freedom Fund, the largest of all anti-slavery hotspot model allows for: groups doing on-the-ground development and rights projects also builds these processes into a) Ensuring policy influence and changing sys their “hotspot” model: tems that lead to slavery in a defined area.

4 • Emphasizing system change rather than di- rect liberation, and therefore devoting more resources toward influencing government, the media and business; • Adopting a set of global metrics and bring- ing in academic partners to track progress and draw out lessons that can be shared in- ternationally; • Increasing investment in building the capac- ity of the NGOs; and • Connecting the hotspots to global thematic initiatives.

Here is a Freedom Fund graphic about the nature of the “hotspot” model.

4. The recent professionalization of anti-slavery work.

It is worth noting that the current global in the UK. This is the anti-slavery movement has only been in ex- first and only degree offering professional train- istence since the 1990’s and has grown very ing in planning and executing anti-slavery de- significantly since 2010. One outcome of that velopment programmes. Over the past five to growth is a movement away from emotional- ten years the economic resources devoted to ly driven NGOs and governmental responses anti-slavery development projects by govern- to increasingly professional and monitored/ ments and international organisations has ex- evaluated programmes of intervention leading ceeded the available human resources. For that to liberation and reintegration. One indication reason if Norway is intending to enlarge its par- of that transformation is the establishment of ticipation in this area it should plan to include the MA degree in Slavery and Liberation at the training and staff development.

5. The importance of solid Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

Anti-slavery work is fundamentally economic vulnerability of enslaved people prior to libera- and social development work with a particular tion. We have no doubt that NORAD and other human rights approach. It benefits from care- government programmes utilise careful M&E, ful monitoring and evaluation processes built in and simply recommend their continuance when to all programs both national and international. expanding into anti-slavery development. This is especially necessary given the extreme

5 6. A concrete example: The Freedom Fund

The Freedom Fund was established in 2013 by ernments, anti-slavery organisations and those three large charitable foundations: Humanity at risk of exploitation, we tackle the systems United, Legatum Foundation, and the Minderoo that allow slavery to persist and thrive. Working Foundation. It has since be joined by the Chil- together, we protect vulnerable populations, dren’s Investment Fund Foundation and is also liberate and reintegrate those enslaved and supported by the Stardust Fund, the C&A Foun- prosecute those responsible.” dation, UBS Foundation, and several others. They explain their approach in this way: They are the largest and most successful of existing anti-slavery development programme “We identify and invest in the most effective providers. A review of their work in a Dashboard frontline efforts to eradicate modern slavery in format is attached to this memo. The summa- the countries and sectors where it is most prev- ry graphic from that review shows the scale of alent. Partnering with visionary investors, gov- their work since 2013:

As can be seen from this top-level graphic, anti-slavery development projects have a large number of possible pathways and outcomes.

6 7. International and diplomatic actions and strategies

At the Ministry level within government there d. Migration due to environmental destruction will clearly be diplomatic and international co- and climate change is a key driver of high lev- operation actions and strategies to be consid- els of trafficking into slavery. At the same time ered. We would point to a few possible levels recent research has clearly demonstrated the of engagement. relationship between slavery and environmen- tal destruction - to the point of calculating that a. Supporting the United Nations Special Rap- if slavery were a country, it would be the third porteur on Modern Slavery – the current and largest emitter of CO2 after China and the Unit- previous Special Rapporteurs have achieved im- ed States. Reductions of slavery in illegal defor- portant breakthroughs with governments in the estation and mining would bring real reductions developing world. The office of the Special Rap- in CO2 emissions5. Norway would be in a unique porteur, however, is chronically underfunded and position due to its support for environmental needed diplomatic goals could be supported. protections in to support exactly such programmes that combine protecting and re- b. Likewise, within the United Nations system, storing ecosystems with liberation and reinte- the United Nations University has established a gration of slaves. Such a program could be de- very successful initiative in Delta 8.7 (referring signed to involve several countries and combine to SDG 8.7 – eradication of slavery). This ini- reducing vulnerability to slavery with investing tiative has achieved a good deal, especially in in environmental protection, with national or re- bringing tech, Artificial Intelligence, and other gional governments as key stakeholders. computational computing companies and or- ganisations together to address modern slavery e. It is also worth noting that several leading with coordination and coherence focusing on countries that are taking the lead on this is- utilizing digital technology to address the issue. sue have appointed a ‘watchdog’ or oversight position within their national government. The c. Given Norway’s long and exemplary support Netherlands has a National Rapporteur and the of peace initiatives, diplomatic emphasis could UK established the post of the Independent An- be given to an area that is currently little recog- ti-Slavery Commissioner. Having a central and nized in the international community – the ex- resourced position has meant rapid and suc- tensive practice of slavery within conflicts. For cessful responses to the challenges of human example, for the 1,113 conflict years recorded in trafficking and slavery. As Norway moves to- the Uppsala data from 1989 to 2016 there were: ward further legislation addressed modern slav- ery, it would do well to examine the role of these • Child Soldiers in 971 conflicts (87.5%) existing national rapporteurs. • Sexual Exploitation/ Forced Marriage 381 conflicts (34.2%) • Human Trafficking in 194 conflicts (17.4%) • in 261 conflicts (23.4%) • Domestic Servitude in 123 conflicts (11.0%)

5 Kevin Bales, Blood and Earth: Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving the World, Speigel&Grau (Pen- guin:Random House) 2016

7 8. A new dimension – online slavery6

The Internet, mobile broadband and wide- both orchestrating the abuse and downloading spread access to information and communica- and spreading the imagery and videos (Ber- tion technologies have created a new world: a gen case7, Dark Room, osv). These perpetrators cyberspace that crosses borders, cultures and cause harm both locally – affecting Norwegian languages. As the world has entered this cyber- children such as in the Bergen case – and are space through digitalisation, crime and slavery destroying the lives of children in poorer and have following. Most web-based slavery is sexual developing communities. exploitation of children directed and distributed through online channels. This new cyber-indus- The international dimension of slavery and traf- try is present in many countries, often in poorer ficking forces police in different parts of the communities of relatively poor countries, having world to collaborate. Working together has sufficient internet connection and access. The proven extremely challenging due to language cost of engaging as a perpetrator is low, as any- and cultural barriers, differing juridical systems, one can become an offender with simple hard- different interpretations of the protocol ratified ware and software allowing for communication and priority. and live stream. As a result, combined with a significant demand for abuse imagery, online “One of the challenges police often face when sexual exploitation is been a rapid growing investigating a case with international law en- phenomenon particularly in Western countries. forcement units is that slavery and human traf- With consumers predominately living in wealth- ficking cases are not always recognised as such ier western countries, there is a clear poor–rich – rather, they are investigated as cases of sexual axis present in the issue of online slavery. abuse, violence or financial crime. This is large- ly due to a lack of knowledge on the unique Digitalisation has changed the very nature of characteristics of slavery and human trafficking slavery. If an enslaved person could only be ex- and this is a major obstacle to ending slavery.”8 ploited a one slaveholder at a time in the past, it is now possible for an enslaved person to be Despite these challenges, Norway has some exploited by any number of people at the same success cases and best practises that must be time through digital consumption. Even after shared. For these reasons, we need more knowl- achieving freedom the slavery survivor has to edge on online slavery and how to effectively deal with the fact that video of their abuse and fight it. We recommend strengthening Nor- exploitation can be found somewhere on the way’s already good work against online slavery web. This makes it pernicious and damaging through investing in special police forces and form of slavery – and it is truly a modern form expert groups that can share resources, estab- of slavery as it is solely possible through digital- lishing collaborations overseas, creating collab- isation. Although there has not been much re- oration strategies, and educating local law en- search done in this area, the Philippines is often forcement in these poorer countries. Through mentioned as a hotspot for this type of slavery, this Norway can take a leading role in fighting and the consumption of such images/videos is online slavery and sexual abuse of children. This well documented in Europe. will benefit poor communities and countries tremendously. Norway could lead the world in Today we find many examples of Norwegian addressing this form of exploitation within its perpetrators being on both the supply and development strategy. demand side of such cases, meaning they are

6 The findings for this section, with their sources, are found in Drejer & Bales (2018) ‘#SlaveTech – a snap- shot of slavery in a digital age’. Frekk Forlag. 7 Den offentlige påtalemyndighet vs. Johannes Vinnes (2016) Bergen Tingrett. 8 Drejer & Bales (2018) ‘#SlaveTech – a snapshot of slavery in a digital age’. Frekk Forlag.

8 Catharina Drejer

Catharina Drejer is advisor on migration and so- social worker she has worked with vulnerable cial integration with a special focus on the issue populations and victims of trafficking around of slavery at the Oslo-based think tank Skaper- the world. She has a special interested in the kraft. She earned a masters in Slavery and Lib- slavery technology nexus and together with eration from the University of Nottingham fo- slavery expert and professor of Contemporary cusing her research on blockchain technology. Slavery Kevin Bales, she co-authored the book Among other research projects, she conducted #SlaveTech - a snapshot of slavery in a digital research on human trafficking for the Nether- age (2018), that explores these themes. She can lands Institute for Human Rights. Trained as a be reached at [email protected].

Kevin Bales

Kevin Bales, CMG, is the Professor of Contem- invited to advise the US, British, Irish, and Ne- porary Slavery and Research Director of the pali governments, as well as the governments Rights Lab, at the University of the Nottingham, of the Economic Community of West African UK. He edited an Anti-Human Trafficking Toolkit States, on the formulation of policy on slavery for the United Nations, and published, with the and human trafficking. His foundational book, Human Rights Center at Berkeley, a report on Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global forced labor in the USA, and completed a two- Economy (1999) has been published in twelve year study of human trafficking into the US for languages, including Norwegian (as Det Nye the National Institute of Justice. He was a con- Slaveriet). He can be reached at kevin.bales@ sultant to the United Nations Global Program nottingham.ac.uk. on Trafficking of Human Beings. Bales has been

9