Essay: When your clothes come from tragedy, and how remembering Rana Plaza can change that
In an article marking the eighth anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, BONNIE GRAHAM, ethical fashion coordinator at Baptist World Aid Australia, calls for your help in ending forced labour in the cotton industry…
Thailand enlists industry groups in slavery blacklist effort
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Thailand stepped up efforts to tackle modern slavery on Monday, with a dozen industry associations signing pacts to rid their supply chains of child and forced labour as part of a government drive to get several key exports taken off a US blacklist. The businesses pledged to publicise their policies on […]
Reports of suspected slavery stall in UK due to coronavirus
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The number of suspected modern slaves identified annually in Britain has stalled for the first time since 2012, official data revealed on Thursday, with campaigners concerned that the coronavirus pandemic has hindered efforts to support victims. About 10,613 potential victims were referred to the British Government for help last year – […]
UN forced labour drive hits target with backing of 50 nations
Thomson Reuters Foundation The world has reached a “major milestone” in the drive to combat modern slavery after Sudan became the fiftieth country to back a United Nations treaty against forced labour, the UN International Labour Organization said on Wednesday. The legally binding 2014 pact – a protocol to the 1930 ILO Forced Labour Convention […]
Brexit farm workers scheme found fuelling risk of slavery in UK
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Migrant farm workers in Britain are being trapped and mistreated by employers in conditions ripe for modern slavery, campaigners said on Tuesday, urging the government to review a scheme designed to avoid agricultural labour shortages post-Brexit. Seasonal labourers in Scotland have been pressured to sign zero-hour contracts, made to live and […]
Brazil’s anti-slavery wins bring new test: how to compensate victims
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilThomson Reuters Foundation After rescuing two Bolivian women held as slaves in a home in Sao Paulo last year and recouping the wages they were owed, officials faced an unexpected problem: there was too much money. The abusive employer – who recruited the women from a human trafficker then forced them to […]
Big on ideas, short on cash: Modern slavery fund seeks to transform global fight
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation As the new chief executive of the four-year-old Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, Alex Thier has an ambitious goal – raise enough money to make human trafficking unprofitable. Hailed as a disruptive innovator at its birth – with backing from the US and British governments – the public-private partnership aimed […]
Europe’s rights court orders UK to compensate human trafficking victims
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Britain should pay €90,000 in compensation to two Vietnamese men who were convicted of drug crimes despite signs they had been trafficked as children and forced to work on cannabis farms, Europe’s top rights court ruled on Tuesday. The European Court of Human Rights said Britain had failed to protect potential […]
Brazil rescues more than 100 slavery victims in nationwide swoops
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilThomson Reuters Foundation A maid enslaved for decades was among dozens of slavery victims rescued in coordinated raids across Brazil, government officials said this week, hailing the operation as a “milestone” in anti-trafficking efforts. Most of the 140 workers freed in “Operation Rescue” were found in rural areas – many picking oranges […]
Slavery survivors demand lead role in fight against trafficking
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Countries must enable victims of human trafficking to play a key role in programs and policies to tackle the crime, the first global alliance of survivors-turned-advocates said on Monday. The 21-member International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council aims to help governments improve their anti-trafficking efforts and ensure they are focused on […]