Many company’s forced labor, human trafficking, or ‘modern day slavery’ disclosures – whether mandated by transparency regulations or part of broader sustainability, corporate social responsibility, or human rights reporting – do not reflect a credible understanding of how specific practices of value chain partners and recruitment intermediaries in their supply chains expose vulnerable workers to the risk of forced labor. Consequently, many of the detection and prevention efforts outlined in these disclosures are not sufficiently targeted to effectively address the root causes of these insidious and deeply entrenched abuses.
Despite a weakening of conflict minerals due diligence requirements in the U.S., legislation continues to advance in other countries. Leading brands are committed to working towards eliminating minerals and metals linked to conflict, criminality, environmental degradation, and human trafficking and other labor abuses from their supply chains.
The California Attorney General’s office recently released a Resource Guide to assist the retailers and manufacturers who are required—by the 2010 California Transparency in Supply Chains Act—to make certain public disclosures about their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking in their supply chains. You can access a copy of the Resource Guide here.
