Welcome to the Slavery Research Bulletin, the Freedom Fund’s monthly brief designed to bring you new & compelling research from the global anti-slavery movement.
Official review of the UK Modern Slavery Act, one year on
An independent review commissioned by the UK Home Office found that one year after the Act came into force, 40% more victims have been identified and 14% more prosecutions have taken place. However, efforts across enforcement agencies remain patchy and require strengthening.
Slavery in construction supply chains
‘Building a Fairer System’ by the Chartered Institute of Building examines how workers from developing countries become tricked or coerced into paying illegal recruitment fees, and how faults in the procurement process allow exploitative practices to remain hidden in construction supply chains.
Abuse and exploitation of migrant domestic workers in Oman
Interviews with 59 female domestic workers in Oman by Human Rights Watch revealed highly abusive working conditions. One quarter of the workers reported physical and sexual abuse by their employers, and the confiscation of passports and withholding of pay were commonly practised.
Female domestic trafficking in Pakistan
A paper in the Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies found, following interviews with trafficked women, that key factors of domestic trafficking in Pakistan include: poor literacy rates in rural areas, limited awareness of legal rights and a lack of political will to enforce anti-trafficking laws.
Labour trafficking in Canada
Scholars at the European University Institute argue that trafficking for labour exploitation remains poorly addressed in the current Canadian anti-trafficking response. Sexual exploitation of women has dominated national action since 2005, however labour exploitation remains comparatively neglected.
Read on…
- The Journal of Human Trafficking features the first research study to empirically explore domestic child trafficking in Madagascar and associated recruitment patterns.
- The Eurasian Journal of Social Sciences includes research on the effects of gender, parents’ education and income, number of siblings, and other factors on the probability of child labour in Indonesia.
- A study [gated] in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence identified five strongly predictive risk factors associated with child sex trafficking in the U.S., using interviews with 115 current or former victims.
And finally
UK Prime Minister Theresa May declared modern slavery as a priority for her government and launched a £33m International Modern Slavery Fund.
News & updates
For more news and updates about the Freedom Fund, visit our Newsroom. You can also view archived issues of our bulletin here.
Contact us
Our team would love to hear from you. Please email: [email protected]
