Business Integrity Tool Kit - Modern Slavery Prepared By: Khoirun Mumpuni
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Business Integrity Tool Kit - Modern Slavery Prepared by: Khoirun Mumpuni WHAT IS MODERN SLAVERY? Modern slavery takes various forms and affects all ages of people, gender and races all over the world which include forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, human traficking, sexual exploitation and children slavery1. It is a serious violation of human and labour rights which is classified as a criminal offence. This condition is observed in many types of economic activities include domestic work, agriculture, manufacturing etc. and in every country across the world. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)2, there are currently 40.3 million people are enslaved accross the world, which most cases happening in Asia-Pacific region with the total of 30.4 million people are in slavery. Other modern slavery in numbers: ● 10 million children are in slavery across the world ● 24.9 million people in forced labour ● 15.4 million people in forced marriage ● 4.8 million people in forced sexual exploitation ● 99% of people trafficked for sexual exploitation are women and girls ● 4.1 million people in slavery are exploited by governments ● US$ 150 billion – illegal profits forced labour in the private economy generates per year Modern Slavery in numbers in Asia Pacific Region can more be seen in: ● https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/regional-analysis/asia-and-the-p acific/ ● https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publicati on/wcms_597873.pdf 1 See: Global estimates of modern slavery: forced labour and forced marriage, ILO, Geneva, September 2017, http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_575479/lang--en/index.htm (accessed 1 October 2019). 2 Ibid. THE ROLE OF PRIVATE SECTOR The nature of profit maximisation in businesses is tightly connected with the practice of modern slavery, as it is high in profit return but low risk. By this, businesses have great influence in being able to address the issue of modern slavery effectively. CASE STUDIES: APPLE → has established a supplier’s code of conduct and spent significant significant resources to assess the risk of forced labour at all levels of its supply chain. Apple educates its suppliers about responsible business and has trained 11.5 million workers in their native languages to understand their rights, to recognize if and when these are being abused, and how to take action. ADIDAS → has won the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Stop Slavery Award in 2017 by employing 1.3 milion workers and established strict guidelines to track forced labour right down to the raw materials used in its supply chains. Moreover, it has established a HOTLINE across Southeast Asia allowing people/worker to anonymously report misbehaviours. More information can be read from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/businesses-are-the-best-partners-in-the-fight-agai nst-modern-slavery/ GOVERNMENT CASE STUDIES: AUSTRALIA → Passing Modern Slavery Bill Act which will force 3,000 large companies (revenue more than $100m) to publish annual statements on the steps that they are taking to address modern slavery in their supply chains and operations. Case studies in each economic sector is written in a full report → https://themekongclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The-Asia-Pacific-Banks-Alliance-PD F-2019-No-Password.pdf The Mekong Club is a Hong Kong based NGO with the aim to end modern slavery in Asia by uniting and mobilising private sectors. Our purpose is to act as a catalyst for change, bringing together stakeholders such as private companies, governments, law enforcement, and NGOs to establish a unified response to the greatest human rights challenge of our time. It roduces a tool with the aim of helping businesses tackling issues of modern slavery more efficiently through 5 steps process which include understanding modern slavery, enhance policy and procedures, assess and mitigate risks, developing skills and become a leader. (https://themekongclub.org/our-tools/) IDENTIFYING MODERN SLAVERY There are a number of ways that can be used to identify the condition of modern slavery, include: ● Use of Debt, violence and threat to gold a person in place ● Working under a threat or punishment ● Lack of payment in exchange of work provided (e.g. lower than minimum wage) (https://themekongclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The-Asia-Pacific-Banks-Alliance-PD F-2019-No-Password.pdf) VIDEOS OF MODERN SLAVERY ● Walk Free Foundation - 2018 Global Slavery Index → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcJGsqCaaKo ● The Daily Conversation - 10 Countries Most Afflicted by Modern Slavery → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2FSPdgEguk ● freetheslaves.net - Becoming a Slavery-Free Business? → https://vimeo.com/37626566 ● freetheslaves.net - What Does Slavery Look Like Today? → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT0_SJwEves MORE INFORMATION ● International Labour Organizations (ILO): https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm ● Global Slavery Index: https://www.globalslaveryindex.org ● Free the Slaves: https://www.freetheslaves.net/ ● Anti Slavery International: https://www.antislavery.org/ ● Mekong Club: https://themekongclub.org/ ● Managing Risks Associated with Modern Slavery: https://assets.cdcgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/03105819/Managing-Risks -Associated-with-Modern-Slavery.pdf SNAPSHOTS OF MODERN SLAVERY (Source: https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/) (Source: https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/) (Source: https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/) .