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.

Can the world end child labour by 2025?
The most recent estimate indicates that 152 million children – 64 million girls and 88 million boys – are in child labour globally, accounting for almost one out of every ten children. The International Labour Organization has released a review of policies and programs aimed at eliminating child labour by 2025. Although child labour has declined over time, progress has slowed significantly.

Insecurity driving child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon
A qualitative study examines the practice of child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Respondents cited disrupted education, economic insecurity and lack of physical safety as main factors contributing to an increase in child marriage. The study also found changes in some marriage practices, including a lower age at marriage and a shorter engagement period.

Industry giants not doing enough to investigate cobalt supply chains
A survey of 29 electronics and car companies by Amnesty International found that 22 of them are doing little to improve their cobalt sourcing practices. Over half the world’s cobalt originates from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where serious human rights abuses have been reported. Only two of the companies were able to identify all their upstream suppliers and three-in-four did not have specific due diligence policies for sourcing cobalt.

How to remediate worker-paid recruitment fees
Recruitment fees paid by migrant workers is one of the most pervasive forms of labour exploitation. The Institute for Human Rights and Business published key recommendations for implementing the “employer pays principle”, which includes a requirement that businesses develop transparent procedures for addressing worker grievances regarding the recruitment process.

Rising number of slavery victims identified in London
A new paper from Hestia describes the extent of modern slavery in London, noting that in 2016 there was a 17% increase over the previous year in the number of victims referred to the National Referral Mechanism for support. Survivors hailed from 108 different countries and were most likely to suffer from sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and forced labour.

Read on…

• A new PLOS collection of articles examines the global health consequences of human trafficking and exploitation.
• Guidance by UNICEF on how to make the global compacts on migration and refugees work for uprooted children.
• A brief by the Urban Institute provides lessons learnt for researching forced marriage in the United States.

And finally

Check out the newly launched Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative, the first global data hub on human trafficking and modern slavery.

News & updates

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