Welcome to the Slavery Research Bulletin, designed to provide busy readers in the anti-slavery community with a succinct monthly update on new and interesting research.

Strengthening the UN’s anti-slavery response
A new report by United Nations University, in collaboration with the Freedom Fund, reviews the international community’s response to modern slavery and proposes new measures to strengthen UN and multilateral efforts. The report, “Unshackling Development,” calls for the appointment of a UN Special Envoy on Modern Slavery, to work with states to develop a Global Partnership to End Modern Slavery by 2017.

New evidence of slavery in Thai seafood
An Environmental Justice Foundation investigation in the port of Kantang documents new evidence of slavery in Thailand’s seafood industry, highlighting shortcomings in private sector initiatives and government controls.

Separately, Verité has published the findings of its research into Nestlé’s Thai shrimp supply chain. The report, commissioned by Nestlé, finds indicators of forced labour, trafficking and child labour among both sea and land-based workers.

And a new Associated Press investigation, published on December 14th, finds continued evidence of forced labour in Thailand’s shrimp peeling sheds.

Evaluating victim support programs
An article in the Journal of Human Trafficking (paywall) reviews three evaluations of victim support programs based in the U.S., and identifies common themes for effective service delivery.

The anti-slavery ecosystem
Deloitte has teamed up with Free the Slaves to analyse how the anti-slavery sector is working to eradicate slavery, and how this “Freedom Ecosystem” of organisations could amplify their efforts through greater collaboration.

Read on…
Researchers in Nepal have explored the trafficking and re-integration process for women and girls.
UN University and the Freedom Fund have published a policy report on how to narrow the gap between the strong international law against slavery and its weak enforcement.

And finally
The Fine Tune project released reports in August examining the effectiveness of anti-trafficking measures.

News & updates
A new report on strategic litigation, “Ending Impunity, Securing Justice” will be launched Dec. 15th, in London. To attend, contact Laura Harrington.

Contact us
If you have feedback or suggestions, please contact Dr. Zoë Fortune, the Freedom Fund’s Senior Research & Evaluation Officer.

Photo: Danny Burns © IDS