Each week the Freedom Fund curates the most insightful and timely news stories about modern slavery. Check out what we’re reading among this week’s top slavery articles.

On International Day, UN spotlights need to combat forced labour, particularly of children
UN News Centre, 2 December 2016
On the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, United Nations officials called for concerted action to save those who remain trapped in extreme forms of exploitation around the world. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that eradicating forced labour means prohibiting slavery in law as well as expanding access to justice for victims and increasing provisions for rehabilitation.

Cambodia’s brick factories plagued by ‘modern slavery,’ says NGO
The Nation, 2 December 2016
Cambodia’s brick factories are plagued by modern forms of slavery such as debt bondage and child labour, according to a report from a local human rights organization. The report found that the majority of employees surveyed owed a debt to their factory, and in some cases children were also working alongside their parents.

Two tech companies win first Stop Slavery Award after workforce scrutiny
Thomson Reuters Foundation, 30 November 2016
Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NXP Semiconductors won the inaugural Thomson Reuters Foundation Stop Slavery Award for turning the spotlight onto their own supply chains to eradicate modern slavery from their operations. Both multinational tech companies had been previously questioned about their labour and workforce conditions.

Firms such as Kellogg’s, Unilever and Nestlé ‘use child-labour palm oil’
The Guardian, 29 November 2016
Global firms behind well-known brands use palm oil produced by child workers in dangerous conditions, according to a report by Amnesty International. The report traces a range of popular household products back to the palm oil company Wilmar, which Amnesty claims employs children to do hazardous physical labour in Indonesia.

Is your T-shirt clean of slavery? Science may soon be able to tell
Thomson Reuters Foundation, 28 November 2016
Shoppers lured by a bargain-priced T-shirt but concerned about whether the item is free of slave labor could soon have the answer. Researchers are working on DNA forensic technology that would be able to trace cotton as it moves through a complex global supply chain.

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Photo credit: International Labour Organisation