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CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF SLAVERY – UN RAPPORTEUR REPORT – SUPPLY CHAINS – WHAT IS MODERN SLAVERY – WOMEN & GIRLS
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United Nations |
A/HRC/30/35 |
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General Assembly |
Distr.:
General 8 July 2015 Original:
English |
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Human
Rights Council
Thirtieth Session
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, including its Causes and Consequences, Urmila Bhoola
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Summary |
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Following a brief overview of the activities carried out by the mandate, the
Special Rapporteur in the present report provides a thematic study on enforcing the accountability of States and businesses
for preventing, mitigating and redressing contemporary forms of slavery in
supply chains. |
Contents
Page
I.
Introduction........................................................................................................................
3
II. Activities of the
mandate.....................................................................................................
3
III. Enforcing State and business accountability
for ending contemporary forms
of slavery in supply chains
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4
A. International and regional normative framework for
the duty of States
to protect the right not to be subjected to slavery and slavery-like
practices.................. 5
B. Causes and prevalence of contemporary forms of
slavery
in supply chains and examples of sectors at
risk............................................................. 6
C. Steps taken by States to comply with their duty to
ensure business
accountability for ending contemporary forms of slavery in supply
chains....................... 9
D. International framework for the responsibility of
businesses
to respect human rights..............................................................................................
12
E. Business and stakeholder initiatives to
address contemporary forms
of slavery in supply chains ...........................................................................................
14
F. Corporate legal liability and access to
remedies in cases involving
contemporary forms of slavery in supply
chains........................................................... 16
G. Some challenges and gaps to ensuring the
accountability of States and businesses
for contemporary forms of slavery in supply
chains...................................................... 18
IV. Conclusion and recommendations............................................................................... 19
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http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/what_is_modern_slavery.aspx
WHAT IS MODERN SLAVERY?
Slavery did not
end with abolition in the 19th century.
The practice still continues today in one form
or another in every country in the world. From women forced into prostitution,
children and adults forced to work in agriculture, domestic work, or factories
and sweatshops producing goods for global supply chains, entire families forced
to work for nothing to pay off generational debts; or girls forced to marry
older men, the illegal practice still blights contemporary world.
According to the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) around 21 million men, women and children around the world
are in a form of slavery.
There are many different characteristics that
distinguish slavery from other human rights violations, however only one needs
to be present for slavery to exist. Someone is in slavery if they are:
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forced to work - through mental or physical threat;
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owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or
physical abuse or the threat of abuse;
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dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as
'property';
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physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her
freedom of movement.
Contemporary
slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, gender and races.
WHAT FORMS OF SLAVERY EXIST TODAY?
Many forms of slavery involve more than one element or form listed above. For example, trafficking often involves an advance payment for the trip and organising a promised job abroad which is borrowed from the traffickers. Once at the destination, the debt incurred serves as an element of controlling the victims as they are told they cannot leave the job until the debt is paid off.