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Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Relevant economic factors include advance or deferred payment designed to increase dependency, payment that keeps workers below the poverty level, payment in kind only or prohibitions to freely change employers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- Companies should engage with other actors across their industries and sectors; advocate for global action on contemporary forms of slavery both unilaterally and through membership or multi-stakeholder organizations; adopt codes of conduct and other corporate policies that explicitly prohibit forced labour and contemporary slavery; ensure that these policies are integrated throughout the company's management and performance systems; train all relevant staff, suppliers and other business partners on contemporary forms of slavery, and ensure that actions are taken beyond the first tier of the supply chain, where risks are greatest; and carry out risks assessments, audits and other forms of due diligence to determine, identify and root out any potential risk of exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- In accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 24/3, the newly appointed Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, will examine and report on all contemporary forms of slavery and slavery-like practices, in particular those defined in the Slavery Convention of 1926 and the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956, as well as all other issues covered previously by the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. She will also continue to promote the effective implementation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and the 2014 Protocol thereto, as well as ILO Convention No. 189 (2011) and Recommendation No. 201 concerning decent work for domestic workers, which represent a significant advance in the international legal framework protecting the rights of domestic workers, including the right to education for child domestic workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- During her tenure, the Special Rapporteur will continue to address the different forms of contemporary slavery, including subtler forms of slavery that deserve specific attention, such as bonded labour, domestic servitude, early and forced marriage, child slave work, servile marriages and caste-based forms of slavery, which affect the lives of many and are not confined to developing and poor countries. She will also continue to work on the remaining challenges to the eradication of contemporary forms of slavery, as highlighted by her predecessor in her report to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fourth session (A/HRC/24/43).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- In that regard, the Special Rapporteur will follow up on the key recommendations made by her predecessor for the elimination of all forms of domestic servitude. In her report to the Human Rights Council at its fifteenth session (A/HRC/15/20), the previous Special Rapporteur addressed the root causes of domestic servitude and its impact on women and children and made concrete recommendations for the monitoring and enforcement of labour standards. Besides the implementation of existing recommendations, which remains a key challenge, more research, notably qualitative reporting and situational analysis, is required on the often invisible workers in domestic servitude, including their existence in developed economies, which is often obscured.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- It is essential to ensure standardized disaggregated data collection (with due regard to individuals' rights to privacy and data protection) and the strengthening of national legislative frameworks to ensure that violations of human and labour rights resulting in slavery are effectively monitored and swiftly eradicated through strict legal, judicial and institutional enforcement of measures, with appropriate rehabilitation and remedies. In addition, the early identification and prevention of forced labour through the cooperation of multiple stakeholders, including governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, trade unions and consumers, are critical.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Another key area of focus of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, is child and forced marriage. The Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery obligates Member States to take all "practicable and necessary legislative and other measures to bring about progressively and as soon as possible the complete abolition or abandonment" of, inter alia, any institution or practice which amounts to forced marriage, such as when a woman, without the right to refuse, is promised or given in marriage on payment to her parents, guardians, family or another person or group; when a husband, his family or his clan transfers his wife to another person for value received or for any other reason; or the inheriting by another person of a woman on the death of her husband (see art. 1). Early and forced marriage can, under certain circumstances, constitute servile marriage or result in domestic servitude or other forms of slavery. The previous mandate holder drew links between child marriage and slavery, and pointed out that Member States were obliged to prohibit and eliminate slavery as a non-derogable and fundamental principle of international law. Child marriage is linked to the thematic issues of trafficking for forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation, migration and contemporary forms of slavery, which reinforces the need for cooperation among the respective mandate holders as part of a comprehensive multi-agency and multi-stakeholder effort to eradicate those practices from society, as women and girls in child and forced marriages may experience conditions within the marriage that meet "international legal definitions of slavery and slavery-like practices", including forced labour. Furthermore, "a potentially high proportion of child marriage cases appear to constitute the worst forms of child labour under the 1999 ILO Convention No. 182."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The mandate calls for a coherent global response, involving evidence-based analysis, together with technical assistance to Member States which are committed to eradicating the scourge of contemporary slavery from their labour markets. It requires strengthening of the global partnership, involving unions, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, human rights advocates, the private sector, the legal sector and the judiciary, governments and public-sector institutions, United Nations agencies and mechanisms, academic and research institutions, as well as international foundations committed to research and advocacy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The mandate also requires a multi-faceted approach combining law and policy frameworks which provide for prevention, protection, prosecution and redress at the national and international levels, with consumer and civil society advocacy, rejecting goods produced through forced labour or other forms of slave labour and generating consumer awareness. It also requires that business practices be congruent with human rights, ethical and environmentally sound sustainable development, and durable peace and security for all. It requires a concerted global initiative to eradicate poverty and enforce the basic principles of justice, dignity and human rights for all. At the most basic level, it requires resources, mechanisms and processes for the effective implementation of recommendations made pursuant to fact-finding missions and consultations conducted as part of the mandate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur looks forward to fulfilling the requirements of her mandate, as outlined in Human Rights Council resolution 24/3, and to constructive and fruitful cooperation with diverse stakeholders in all regions towards that end. She particularly emphasizes her desire for constructive engagement with United Nations Member States and encourages Member States to respond positively to her requests for information or for country visits, while emphasizing that the mandate remains available to provide assistance to States and to respond to their requests, including in the area of technical cooperation, to the fullest extent possible. The Special Rapporteur reiterates the importance that she places on the role and views of non-governmental organizations, including in providing information to her and engaging with and assisting her fully as she conducts her work on slavery and slavery-like practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- While businesses continue to rely on social audits as a key element of their human rights due diligence programmes and to assess their own facilities and those of their business partners, many believe that auditing has had a limited impact on identifying and eliminating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains. New strategies are therefore required that move beyond auditing and include proactive independent investigations and robust independent verification, which incorporate consultations with workers with due regard to confidentiality and privacy. Consumer and trade union advocacy can play an important role in ensuring the involvement of workers and their representatives in such processes. Largely as a result of stakeholder criticism, some companies have already piloted new protocols that prioritize the confidential testimony of workers and attempted to develop more robust investigative techniques, sometimes in partnership with civil society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Another strategy in tackling the risk of contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains relates to transparency and reporting, on the one hand, and traceability, on the other. In both cases, pressure from regulators, civil society actors and investors has pushed companies not only to disclose information about business relationships in supply chains, but to implement measures to track products and materials from finished goods to the commodities level to promote "clean" production at every step of the way. However, opinion remains divided on the effectiveness of these initiatives in improving conditions for workers and, in particular, for addressing contemporary forms of slavery.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Given the complexity and span of supply chains, identifying and eradicating contemporary forms of slavery can be successful only if sustainable and effective multi-stakeholder partnerships and initiatives involving the authorities, businesses, trade unions, consumers and other stakeholders, each acting from their own areas of expertise to enforce mutually agreed goals, are formed. Such initiatives are frequently international in scope, given the breadth of transnational operations. Some focus on a single sector, industry or commodity, while others are cross-sectoral. Others focus on a single issue like child or forced labour, while many typically address a cross-section of labour and human rights issues alongside the environment and general principles of ethical business.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- An example of good practice is the multi-stakeholder public-private platform Project Issara initiated by Anti-Slavery International to tackle modern slavery in South-East Asia, with an initial focus on forced labour in the export-oriented industries of Thailand that affect global supply chains. Another well-known example of a multi-stakeholder private-public initiative is the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour in Brazil, which brings companies together to combat slave labour with the assistance of ILO, non-governmental organizations (including Repórter Brasil and Ethos) and support from the Government. Over 400 companies and trade associations had signed the pact as of May 2014, including large companies such as Walmart Brazil, committing not to do business with people and companies involved with slave labour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Multi-stakeholder initiatives help to address questions of credibility and effectiveness that have surrounded business-only and corporate social responsibility strategies. They offer a more inclusive model as they involve various stakeholders and thus provide a long-term solution to addressing risks to contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains. Those multi-stakeholder platforms that are genuinely premised on social partnership and involve trade unions have the additional benefit that they can ensure collaboration across a number of initiatives including public-policy advocacy and grievance resolution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- States have a duty under international human rights law to ensure the right to a remedy, including equal and effective access to justice and adequate, effective and prompt reparations for human rights violations. For victims of gross violations of international human rights law, such as slavery and slavery-like practices, full and effective reparation may take the following forms: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. In the third pillar of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, clear guidance is set out on "access to remedy", delineating respective roles for both States and business.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- As part of its duty to protect against business-related human rights abuses, the State is required to take appropriate steps to ensure that those affected have access to effective remedy when abuses occur within their territory and/or jurisdiction and to reduce barriers that could lead to a denial of this access. In the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, it is indicated that this is to be achieved primarily through State-based judicial mechanisms and non-judicial grievance mechanisms, which are complementary in nature (principles 25-27). States are also encouraged to consider ways to facilitate access to effective non-State based grievance mechanisms that can have the benefit of reduced costs, increased speed of access and transnational reach, where States may be more limited. These may be non-judicial business, industry or multi-stakeholder mechanisms; or they may be regional or international human rights bodies (see principle 28).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- For victims of contemporary forms of slavery, including those in supply chains, remedies may include compensation, medical and psychological care, free legal aid and social services, effective measures aimed at the cessation of continuing violations and alternative livelihood support measures. However, the right to an effective remedy for many workers, in particular the most vulnerable in supply chains, remains largely elusive and redress for corporate human rights violations is hampered by many barriers, including the high costs of litigation and a lack of a free legal aid. Moreover, the victims, especially if not members of trade unions, may not be aware that their rights have been violated. In extreme instances, workers may be enslaved and physically unable to enforce their rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Given the gravity of slavery and slavery-like practices as gross human rights violations, judicial remedies are a key form of securing accountability for business-related human rights abuses. Access to justice for victims in this context is, however, often constrained by legal rules limiting the liability of a corporation for human rights violations not directly arising from its business operations. This is a problem in global supply chains whereby the business enterprise sourcing the product is not directly implicated in the exploitation that occurs lower down the supply chain, but is complicit as a result of failing to comply with its human rights due diligence obligations. Also, vicarious liability rules prevent corporate liability for management conduct in many instances which arise in the disarticulation in the supply between the global retailer and the many small subcontractors at the lowest tier.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- In the context of supply chains, a lack of extraterritorial jurisdiction affects access to remedies for contemporary forms of slavery and other human rights violations, which are committed outside the territory in which a business is domiciled. In this context, the United States Supreme Court held, for example, in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, Co., that the presumption against the extraterritorial application of United States law applies to the Alien Tort Statute, and this can only be overcome if the claim "touches and concerns" the territory of the United States "with sufficient force" to displace the presumption against extraterritorial application.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Following egregious violations of health and building safety standards that resulted in fatal accidents, such as the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh leading to death of over 1,100 garment workers, additional attention has been given to increasing State and corporate accountability for violations of human rights, including labour rights, in global value or supply chains. In this context, the recent commitment by leaders of major global economies at the recent Group of Seven (G7) Summit to take action to address human rights in global supply chains is welcome and needs to be followed up by concrete actions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- In the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956, the protection of the right is extended to include "institutions and practices similar to slavery", i.e. debt bondage, serfdom, servile marriage and delivering a child for exploitation. Child economic exploitation and child hazardous labour are further prohibited in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 10 (3)) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 32). In the International Labour Organization (ILO) Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), the elimination of the worst forms of child labour is called for, which are defined as including all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, serfdom and forced or compulsory labour as well as hazardous work (art. 3).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- While in the Slavery Convention reference is made to forced labour and States are called on to take all necessary measures to prevent compulsory or forced labour from developing into conditions analogous to slavery (art. 5), forced labour was not defined until the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). The right not to be subjected to forced labour is now enshrined in a number of other international instruments, including in the ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 8 (3)) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (art. 11 (1)). In the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998), the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour and the effective abolition of child labour is required.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- At the regional level, States' obligation to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery is enshrined in a number of human rights instruments. Under article 4 of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, slavery, forced labour and servitude are prohibited. In article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, it is stated that, inter alia, slavery and slave trade shall be prohibited. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in its article 15, enshrines the protection of children from all forms of economic exploitation and from performing any hazardous work. Slavery, involuntary servitude, slave trade and traffic in women, as well as forced labour, are prohibited under the American Convention on Human Rights (art. 6). In article 10 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights all forms of slavery, servitude and forced labour are prohibited.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Although more research into the scope and prevalence of contemporary forms of slavery is required, various small-scale studies (for example, on the garment, conflict mineral, seafood, sporting goods, handmade carpet and tea industries) show that products from the informal sector enter global supply chains and are also part of domestic economies in the developing world, often in the most labour-intensive sectors. Human rights violations in the sourcing of conflict minerals, for example, have received much attention, but more research is required to identify the scope and prevalence of contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains of specific commodities and particular sectors. The sectors mentioned in the present report are therefore not meant to be a comprehensive list, but an indication of where contemporary forms of slavery have been reported to occur.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- According to ILO data from 2012, 5.5 million of the 20.9 million of persons in forced labour are children and an estimated 5-15 per cent of those are working in supply chains, with the figure significantly higher if domestic supply chains are also taken into account. The lowest tiers in the informal economy are particularly at risk of involving the worst forms of child labour. In 2012, the number of children involved in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development, often understood as a proxy for the worst forms of child labour, was said to be 85 million in absolute terms. While reliable data on those sectors most susceptible to using such work are difficult to obtain, cases of the worst forms of child labour were found in sectors that correspond to those with a high risk of contemporary forms of slavery occurring in supply chains, including agriculture (i.e., farming of raw materials such as sugar, cotton, cocoa and tobacco), construction, mining and quarrying, and garments and textiles.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- In agriculture, contemporary forms of slavery have reportedly occurred in many countries, involving crops such as sugar cane, cut flowers, fruit and vegetables, tropical nuts and commodities, for example, palm oil, cotton, cocoa, tobacco and beef. Production in the sector often relies on temporary or migrant labour and is characterized by complex contracting and subcontracting chains, as well as smallholder farming in some cases. Much of the work on remote farms and plantations is typified by excessive working hours, lack of compliance with labour laws, weak or non-existent labour inspections and corruption. Competition to produce at the lowest cost enhances the risk of contemporary forms of slavery being involved in agriculture, especially debt bondage in impoverished rural communities and among vulnerable categories of workers, such as indigenous people, minorities, migrants, women and children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In the garment and textile sectors, reports indicate a significant risk of contemporary forms of slavery occurring in the complex subcontracting that characterizes the industry in many parts of the world, including the sometimes home-based and informal workshops operating on the margins of the formal economy. Subcontractors such as these are often overlooked both by labour inspections and due diligence systems, making workers in these supply chains particularly vulnerable to exploitation given the quick turnaround time to meet orders from global fashion brands and consumer needs. Contemporary forms of slavery have often been cited as occurring in global supply chains of international brands.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- States have an obligation under international human rights law to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all persons in their territory and/or jurisdiction. This includes the duty to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses committed by private actors, such as business enterprises. The Human Rights Committee, in paragraph 8 of its general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of general legal obligations on States Parties to the Covenant, stipulates the need for States to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish, investigate or redress the harm caused by private persons or entities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In the context of contemporary forms of slavery, this duty to protect could translate into a smart mix of measures to ensure that businesses engage in their responsibility to respect human rights, including through undertaking human rights due diligence throughout their supply chains and remediating the adverse impact of their operations on human rights. At the very minimum, States should ensure that businesses realize the implications of purchasing products or services that have in any way been linked to forced labour or other contemporary forms of slavery. To date, States have adopted diverse approaches to addressing this issue, which include ensuring criminal, civil and tort liability for business-related human rights violations, setting up mechanisms to regulate such compliance in trade and consumer protection and addressing it in government procurement. Disclosure and transparency can also feature as legal obligations rather than being limited to voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph