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Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- A number of different countries have taken measures, including the development of legislation, policies and programmes, to eradicate and prevent debt bondage and related forms of servitude. Examples of these are discussed below, and additional material is included in the annex.
- 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
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- In Africa, debt bondage has been reported in sectors such as mining and agriculture, particularly in countries that are members of the Southern African Development Community, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- 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
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- With the growth in rural poverty and lack of investment in rural livelihoods, communities are drawn to work in this sector as they know that they can gain immediate benefits from selling gold as opposed to cultivating land.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- In the most recent development, in March 2015, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Modern Slavery Bill, which includes a specific part on transparency in supply chains and imposes obligations on businesses to disclose the steps, if any, they are taking to address contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains. The duties imposed in the Modern Slavery Act can be enforced in civil proceedings undertaken by the authorities. Under the Act, company disclosures must be signed by a company director, creating clear accountability. Regulations are currently being prepared to operationalize the provisions for transparency, based on consultations. In some of the submissions for the consultations, it was suggested that a threshold be introduced that would bring even small companies within the ambit of the Act, which would require companies to reveal business relationships in the lower tiers of their supply chains and set clear criteria for disclosures in their reports; it was also suggested that reports be featured on a government website. The Act has, however, received criticism for creating a loophole that allows United Kingdom-based companies to effectively "hide" their supply chains if the goods produced do not enter the United Kingdom.
- 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. 65
- Paragraph text
- A key gap is the lack of research and data in identifying the exact scope and prevalence of contemporary forms of slavery in specific supply chains and related to particular commodities, as well as its prevalence in the informal sector, which could enable strengthened and targeted policy and normative response and practical strategies. More research and data is also needed on domestic supply chains.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- It also remains a challenge for transnational businesses with complex supply chains to conduct human rights due diligence on all levels of their supply chains, particularly where they have no direct business relationship with subcontractors. The same applies for labour supply chains, the informal economy and the production, harvesting or extraction that occurs at the commodities level of the global economy.
- 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
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- ILO followed this up in October 2008 with the publication of its handbook for employers on Combating Forced Labour, which sought to "encourage a broad partnership approach to the fight against forced labour and trafficking through the active engagement of business actors in global action" (p. 7).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In cases in where Governments are unwilling or unable to take action to combat contemporary forms of slavery or where complex problems require the coordinated action of multiple stakeholders, new initiatives have been formed to tackle these issues. While national authorities are the primary entities responsible for combating slavery, other stakeholders have recently emerged to aid their efforts, including intergovernmental organizations, unions, NGOs and companies.
- 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
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Alongside the development of new laws, many countries have also taken steps to ensure that laws are effectively enforced. This is often more difficult, resource-intensive and time-consuming than getting laws passed. However, a number of countries have taken efforts to overcome challenges to successfully combat contemporary forms of slavery.
- 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
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Even if prosecutors are able to successfully prosecute cases, penalties and fines are often too low to be dissuasive. For example, in Morocco, employers found guilty of using forced labour are subject to fines of approximately USD 3,000-3,500 for a first offence and double for a subsequent offence, along with a jail sentence of 6-90 days. However, these sanctions are not sufficiently dissuasive.
- 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
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Toxic chemicals like mercury are able to seep into the soil and water supply thereby affecting food and water. These artisanal communities often lack basic services such as potable drinking water, electricity and medical services. Continued exposure to a polluted environment and contaminated water can manifest itself in acute respiratory problems and skin ailments if not immediately then in adulthood (see A/HRC/18/30/Add.2).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- The discovery of new mineral reserves tends to result in rushes for gold and diamonds. This has been the case for gold in Brazil, Ecuador and Papua New Guinea. Madagascar has also experienced a "sapphire rush". On her recent mission to Peru, the Special Rapporteur was able to see the effects of the gold rush in Madre Dios, Peru (see A/HRC/18/30/Add.2).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- International human rights law unequivocally outlaws all forms domestic servitude and domestic slavery. However, available international instruments do not address the specificities of domestic servitude, which undermines the implementation of this comprehensive prohibition. After decades of stagnation, progress in international labour law is finally in sight to ensure decent standards for domestic work and thereby prevent domestic servitude.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- There are no reliable statistics on numbers of victims, not least because it is very difficult to distinguish forced marriages, contracted on the basis of force, threat of harm or deception, from arranged marriages that may involve considerable social pressure to consent. The problem is not restricted to specific countries and cases often have a transnational dimension. The United Kingdom Forced Marriage Unit, for example, handles about 250-300 cases a year of nationals facing forced marriages.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Under principle 12, of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which in their second pillar clarify the business responsibility to respect human rights, this responsibility applies to all internationally recognized human rights, understood, at a minimum, as those expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. All businesses are required to avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities, address such impacts when they occur and seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts (principle 13). Under principle 12 in conjunction with principle 13 (which refers to "business relationships" that are understood to include relationships with business partners, entities in the value chain, and any other non-State or State entity directly linked to its business operations, products or services, i.e. entities in its supply chain beyond the first tier and indirect as well as direct business relationships), it is made clear that there is a responsibility on the part of businesses to effectively address contemporary forms of slavery in their supply chains.
- 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. 26
- Paragraph text
- The food processing and packaging industry has been frequently implicated in labour exploitation that can amount to contemporary forms of slavery, particularly in fish and seafood processing in parts of South-East Asia. Reports have been made involving workers enslaved on fishing vessels in the region.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Company-level grievance mechanisms, which range from complaints boxes to telephone hotlines, are being created to identify human rights violations and other forms of abuse. Their effectiveness is often dependent on information exchange between business peers and companies often rely on multi-stakeholder initiatives to develop efficient systems.
- 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
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The core international law against slavery comprises the 1926 Slavery Convention and the 1956 Supplementary Convention. While the 1926 Convention defines the concept of slavery (art. 1) and introduces forced labour as being analogous to slavery (art. 5), the 1956 Convention broadens the concept so as to encompass other slavery-like practices. The ILO Convention No. 29 (1930) concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour offers a definition of forced labour and lays down a number of exceptions from its general prohibition.
- 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
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Prior to that, principle 22 in the second pillar states that where businesses identify that they have caused or contributed to adverse human rights impacts, they should provide for or cooperate in their remediation through legitimate processes. Where businesses have not caused or contributed to harm but it is directly linked to their operations, products or services by a business relationship, they are encouraged to take a role in providing remediation. In terms of operational principles under the third pillar, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, call on companies to establish or to participate in effective operational-level grievance mechanisms for those adversely impacted by them, so that grievances can be addressed early and remediated directly (principle 29). Such mechanisms are typically administered by enterprises, alone or in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders. They can be important complements to wider stakeholder engagement and collective bargaining processes, but cannot substitute for either, and can also make it possible to prevent harm from compounding or escalating. To ensure their effectiveness, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights state that the operational-level grievance mechanisms should be legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, transparent, rights-compatible, a source of continuous learning, and based on engagement and dialogue (principle 31). There are already some good practice examples of operational-level grievance mechanisms.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, where concessions are granted, they are given only to enable the extraction of minerals or stones. These concessions do not provide for ensuring workers' rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 44b
- Paragraph text
- [Despite the efforts of various countries to eradicate and prevent debt bondage, there are still challenges in implementing adequate measures in this regard, including:] The lack of implementation or absence of legal measures that could prevent reprisals against victims of debt bondage when the criminal law is being used to punish perpetrators (e.g. a summary procedure in cases of debt bondage), particularly when victims and perpetrators are part of the same community;
- 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
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 44a
- Paragraph text
- [Despite the efforts of various countries to eradicate and prevent debt bondage, there are still challenges in implementing adequate measures in this regard, including:] The lack of adequate enforcement of legislation on debt bondage and on workers' rights, and of other relevant legislation for the eradication of debt bondage, and in some countries the non-existence of specific legislation on debt bondage;
- 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
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- In Mauritania, Act No. 2015-031 of 10 September 2015 criminalizes slavery and punishes slavery-like practices including debt bondage. The Act provides for the possibility of third parties (those who have benefited from legal personality for at least five years) taking legal action and being a party in the proceedings (section 23).
- 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
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- People enter the status or condition of debt bondage when their labour, or the labour of a third party under their control, is demanded as repayment of a loan or of money given in advance, and the value of their labour is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or the length of the service is not limited and/or the nature of the service is not defined. Consequently, bonded labourers are often trapped into working for very little remuneration, or in some cases none, to repay the loan or advance, even though the value of their labour exceeds that sum of money.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Some countries have developed national strategies or action plans against contemporary forms of slavery. These initiatives can take various forms, including high-level interministerial commissions or new departments within existing government agencies. During her missions, the Special Rapporteur has encouraged countries to develop national action plans that incorporate country-level efforts into wider regional and international initiatives, which should be adapted to each country's context, and incorporate all relevant stakeholders. In-country research in Peru indicates that the Ministry of Labour's new National Plan to Combat Forced Labour for 2013-2017 includes many of these elements, as well as a number of other advances. This new plan includes improved definitions of forced labour; explicit acknowledgement of forced labour in the country; a baseline study to address a lack of statistics; pilot interventions to combat forced labour; and strategic, progressive and measurable goals. In Brazil, the National Commission for the Eradication of Slave Labour was established in 2003 to bring representatives of the legislative, executive and judiciary branches of the Government of Brazil together with representatives of the United Nations and civil society to combat contemporary forms of slavery. This well-funded, permanent Commission, which is responsible for developing national plans to combat slavery and carrying out national awareness-raising campaigns, has been considered a leading example of successful efforts to combat 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
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Third, geographical challenges also contribute to the lack of proper enforcement of the law and Government programmes. Mines and quarries are usually found in remote, hard-to-access areas of the country. Those who live in remote areas establish "frontier communities". In some instances, Governments refer to difficulties in accessing these areas owing to internal armed conflict, organized crime or poor transport infrastructure. Remoteness also contributes to lawlessness in these communities, as perpetrators of violence and exploitation know that they are not within the reach of the law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The mechanization of agriculture, rural-urban migration and the development of labour-intensive export industries, coupled with the erosion of workers' rights outside the traditional bonded labour context, have led to the emergence of patterns of "neo-bondage", whereby destitute people commit themselves to working off loans or wage advances obtained from their employer and cannot default on this debt, not least due to a fear of extrajudicial enforcement. In this context, researchers note an increasing feminization of bonded labour and some of the victims end up in bonded domestic servitude.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Among the instances leading to domestic servitude is debt bondage, also referred to as bonded labour (see for information A/HRC/12/21). Article 1 (a) of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on Slavery defines debt bondage as "the status or condition arising from a pledge by a debtor of his personal services or of those of a person under his control as security for a debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined".
- 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
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Restrictions on trade that has negative human rights impact is particularly relevant to addressing slavery and slavery-like practices in supply chains. The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, and Humanity United have recently supported initiatives in the United States Congress to strengthen human rights provisions in trade agreements. This followed a proposed amendment to the Trade Act of 2015 to prohibit an international trade agreement from receiving fast-track benefits if it involves a country that is not meeting minimum standards in combating human trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, unanimously endorsed by the Human Rights Council in 2011, validate the duty of States to protect against and redress business-related human rights harms, and it is stipulated therein that this is to be done through effective policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication (principle 1). State duties include setting out clearly the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction respect human rights throughout their operations (principle 2).
- 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