Modern Slavery Flashcards
(24 cards)
What is forced labour?
Any work or services which people are forced to do against their will, under the threat of some form of punishment.
What is debt dondage or bonded labour?
the world’s most widespread form of slavery, when people borrow money, they can’t repay and are required to work to pay off the debt, then losing control of the conditions of both their employment and the debt.
What is child slalvery?
many people confuse child slavery with child labour, but it is much worse, while child labour is harmful for children and hinders their education and development, child slavery occurs when a child is exploited for someone’s else’s gain.
It can included child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage and child domestic slavery.
What is human trafficking?
involves transporting, recruiting or harbouring people for the purpose of exploitation using violent threats or coercion.
What is descent-based slavery?
where people are born into slavery because their ancestors were captured and enslaved, they remain in slavery by descent.
What is forced and early marriage?
when someone is married against their will and cannot leave the marriage. Most child marriages are considered slavery.
Why is modern slavery such a wicked problem?
- problem is hidden
- overwhelmingly affects women
- operates in the shadow - problem can be moved
- requires intense and sustained multifaceted resources to eradicate
- not easy to delineate resposibility
- can reappera
- not clear what helps
- impact of modern slavery beyond those living in condition of modern slavery contested.
What are the number of people as slaves in the past and now?
in the Roman Empire at its peak = 5 million slaves.
transported from Africa to America = 4 million slaves
modern slavery today = 40 million
Why is SHEIN said to have modern salve conditions?
Guangzhou - SHEIN village in China. Most workers one day off a week. Work 75 hours a week in contravention of Chinese labour laws, which has a max of 44 hours.
SHEIN is estimated to be worth £54bn, but workers are paid per item made, 10-20p per item is not unusual, workers make £1-2 per hour.
What does experts say on SHEIN’s working conditions?
‘These hours are not unusual but its clear that its illegal and it violates basic human rights’ said David Hach field from the group. ‘It is an extreme form of exploitation and this needs to be visible’
‘This is about their reputation’ says Sheng Lu, a professor in Fashion and Apparel studies at the University of Delaware. ‘If SHEIN can successfully achieve an IPO then it means they are recognised as a decent company. But if they are to keep the confidence of investors they have to take some responsibility’
What legislation do they have in California against moderns slavery?
This act requires large retailers and manufacturers doing business in California to disclose on their website their ‘ efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their direct supply chain for tangible goods offered for sale’.
The law applies to any company doing business in California that has annual worldwide gross receipts of more than $100 million and that identifies itself as a retail seller or manufacturer on its California tax return.
Companies subject to the at must post disclosures on their internet website related to the five specific areas: verification, audits, certification, internal accountability and training.
What legislations do the UK have against Modern slavery?
Modern Slavery Act 2015 - firms with a turnover in excess of £36 million must issue a statement by the board stating what the firm is doing to combat modern slavery (currently there is no penalty for non-compliance)
What legislation do they have in Australia against modern slavery?
The Australian Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act requires firms substanitally operating in Australia to report on what they are doing to combat modern slavery.
What legislations do Canada have against modern slavery?
Legislation was introduced, firms must file initial reports in 2024.
What are the organisational responses to modern slavery legislations in the UK?
In April 2019, 90.7% of modern slavery statements did not meet the minimum criteria. There are 19,986 UK registered companies requires to comply, 14,533 had a statement found, 5453 could not find a statement.
What are corporates boards responses to modern slavery legislation?
Supposed to sign off on statement declaring what the firm is doing to combat modern slavery
What did the Anti Slavery Commissioner find in 2018?
that 45% of the board members asked, did not think modern slavery was an issue in the UK and 43% were either unaware as to whether their organisation had an anti-slavery policy or admitted that their organisation did not indeed have one.
12% of boards having failed to comply with basic modern slavery statement requirement by 2022 and only 3% having assessed whether they were making progress on combatting modern slavery.
What are supply chain responses to modern slavery legislation?
Modern slavery in supply chain a ‘hidden’ problem - your purchase bears no obvious signs it was produced through forced labour.
Forced labour often occurs beyond the boundaries of the firm, this creates a transparency issue and authority issue.
The further down the supply chain you go the harder it is to identify what is going on.
Social audits can help but can also be stage managed and are expensive.
What did the 2018 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey show?
That 65% of procurement officers had little or no visibility beyond their first tied suppliers.
Over reliance on risk management platforms can be a problem since much information is self reported and other information is scraped from the internet using AI, huge volumes so can be hard to change.
What research did Cole and Stevenson 2018 carry out on organisational responses?
Analysed apparel firms modern slavery statements to understand how cases are detected, remediated and disclosed.
- similar detection and remediation practices used
- practices need more tailoring, innovation
- greater homogeneity in response expected
What research did Monciardin, Bernaz and Andhove 2021 carry out on organisational responses?
Found that food and tobacco firms have framed the legislation as a compliance issue rather than a due diligence issue
What did Rogerson et al. 2020 universities discover on organisational responses?
They rely on purchasing consortia to facilitate responsible procurement for them, which has led to a loss of skills in the sector.
What do they have in Germany?
Mandatory human rights due diligence. Legislation is effective from 2023 impacts all firms based in Germany with more than 3000 employees.
What does Germany’s new legislations mean?
- Firms covered by legislation must adopt processes to identify, assess prevent and remedy human rights and environmental degradation in their supply chain operations.
- Firms must offer staff and sub-suppliers ways of alerting firms to environmental or modern slavery violations
- The risks that companies must address include: Forced labour, child labour, discrimination, violations to freedom of association, unethical employment, unsafe working conditions, environmental degradation.
- Penalty: Euro 800K, exclusion from winning public contracts for 3 years.
