By Martina Prpic; Graphics: Giulio Sabbati

Human trafficking is a serious crime and a violation of human rights. It has been on the rise because of increasing mobility, the spread of internet use and the generally low risks and high profit involved. The true extent of the problem can only be estimated, as complete statistics are not available and data are difficult to collect. However, even without exact numbers, it can be observed that a victim's gender influences the likelihood, manner and purpose of their being exploited. Available data on the prevalence of human trafficking show that most victims are women and girls, although men and boys are registered as victims in increasing numbers, as are transgender people. Sexual exploitation is by far the number one purpose of trafficking in women, while forced labour is the main purpose of trafficking in male victims. The leading factors that contribute to trafficking in women are their vulnerability, particularly as a consequence of violence, and demand for their sexual services. Traffickers usually exploit the dire economic situation of people searching for a better life abroad. The internet plays an important role, as does migrant smuggling. Sex trafficking also has an impact on how EU Member States legislate for prostitution, as authorities are aware that many people may not engage in prostitution willingly. The EU has adopted key instruments to tackle trafficking in human beings. In line with international standards, these instruments take a victim-centred approach and recognise that support and protection of victims, as well as prevention, should be gender-specific. In the most recent legislative instruments, the crime's digital dimension has been given more attention. The European Parliament is playing an important part in shaping EU policies in the field, and has pushed for more progress. This updates a briefing written by Anja Radjenovic and Sofija Voronova in 2016.

Brussels: EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service, 2024. 10p.

By Jonathan Booth

Privately managed detention centers hold the majority of detained immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) custody. Coerced detainee labor in these for-profit facilities is commonplace. The practice contributes significantly to the financial viability of CoreCivic and GEO Group, the two corporations which manage most ICE detention centers, but it violates the prohibition on forced labor contained in the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act (“TVPA”).

Despite a growing field of scholarship on “crimmigration” and proposals to abolish immigration detention, or on its extraterritorial application. Because practitioners, rather than scholars, were the first to recognize that the TVPA’s prohibition of forced labor applies to private detention centers, there has been little scholarly analysis of the application of the TVPA to forced labor within detention facilities.

This Article provides the first scholarly assessment of a wave of pending class action lawsuits challenging forced labor in privately managed ICE facilities under the TVPA. It concludes that such lawsuits are likely to succeed, given the facts known about conditions in for-profit immigrant detention facilities and the broad text and favorable legislative history of the TVPA. If the plaintiffs win a favorable jury verdict or a far-reaching settlement, the cases may cause fundamental changes to the current system of mass immigration detention.

Part I of this Article examines the rise of for-profit detention in the United States and shows that detaining immigrants is now a central business of forprofit detention corporations. Next, Part II describes the labor policies within ICE detention that plaintiffs in these lawsuits allege amount to forced labor and thus violate the TVPA. Part III turns to the TVPA itself and analyzes its text, legislative history, and applicability to class actions. Part IV argues that its text and legislative history demonstrate that the TVPA covers forced labor claims within for-profit immigrant detention facilities and that such claims, if successful, could transform the business of detaining immigrants. Finally, Part V argues that publicly available information, including that revealed through discovery in these lawsuits, makes it likely that plaintiffs will prevail at trial.

35 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 573 (2020)

By Alfonso Daniels, Matti Kohonen, Eloy Aroni, Mariama Thiam

Forced labour in the fisheries sector is increasingly being recognised as a widespread human r1 The ILO provides a framework of 11 forced labour crisis. Forced labour is defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) – the UN agency that sets up labour standards to ensure decent working conditions – as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”0rced labour risk indicators that apply to the fishing sector, including indicators such as debt-bonded labour, and abusive working and living conditions.02

Boston: Financial Transparency Coalition , 2023. 74p.

By Stijn Aerts

Key takeaways 1. Work-related crime refers to all infractions of laws and regulations regarding salary and employment, benefits, taxes and duties. This includes labour exploitation, forced labour, and trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation, as well as all criminal activities that may be related to, or indicative of, these crimes: benefit fraud, tax evasion and money laundering, breaching workplace safety regulations, salary extortion, and so on. 2. Labour exploitation is a particularly harmful crime. First, there is the direct harm (physical, psychological and economic) to victims. Second, exploitation creates unfair competition, having a negative effect on the legal economy and labour market. Third, unfair competition in trade and labour markets, and illegally acquired wealth, may erode trust in institutions and European values. 3. Exploiters make profit through a series of cost-cutting and revenue-generating actions. They save on wages, a safe work environment, taxes and social benefit contributions. Revenue is generated by asking inflated prices for recruitment and housing, by committing different types of benefit fraud, and by out-competing competitors. 4. Offenders use (seemingly) legal business structures and labour mobility options (including posted labour) to create intricate, often international, subcontracting chains that serve to hide illegal activity from plain sight and hamper investigations. 5. There are different prevention strategies, each with their own benefits and disadvantages. Victim-oriented approaches include awareness programmes for potential victims, as well as victim identification and assistance. Buyer-oriented strategies target both personal and corporate buyers, and aim to shrink the market for services and goods produced by exploited labour. Offender-oriented approaches have the objective to create an environment that is risky and unrewarding for offenders to operate in. The latter may be achieved by a mix of criminal justice and administrative probes that benefits from increased information sharing between authorities and across borders.

Brussels: European Crime Prevention Network - EUCPN. 2023. 40p.

By International Labour Organization (ILO), Walk Free, and International Organization for Migration (IOM) 2022

Modern slavery is a scourge that affects every region of the world. The latest Global Estimates indicate that 50 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021. Of these people, 28 million were in forced labour and 22 million were trapped in forced marriage. Unfortunately, the number of people in modern slavery has risen significantly in the last five years. In 2021, 10 million more people were in modern slavery compared to 2016 global estimates.

Geneva, SWIT: 2022. 144p.

By Mohamed Daghar

Summary: In September 2014 Kenya banned the exportation of labour to the Middle East because workers were being trafficked by criminal networks offering them jobs. This policy brief focuses on the criminals who continue to drive this market and examines attempts by the government and other stakeholders to outlaw the practice. While the measures in place are commendable, they are inadequate. Many gaps still enable criminals to continue operating in a lucrative, quasi-regulated market. The field study conducted revealed that human trafficking persists in Kenya. Key findings ∙ Kenyans trafficked to the Middle East are often exposed to inhumane conditions that many reports describe as ‘modern slavery’. ∙ Despite reforms intended to prevent this, the trafficking of Kenyans to the Middle East continues. ∙ Stakeholders approach the issue mainly as a human rights concern rather than as a humantrafficking crime. ∙ The interventions in place are inadequate and the exclusive focus on rights has diverted attention from the criminality involved. ∙ Reassessing the problem as human trafficking will shift attention to Kenya’s ability to both protect its workers abroad and combat transnational crime.

ENACT - Africa, 2020. 16p.

Edited by: Kate Ekama , Lisa Hellman and Matthias van Rossum

The study of slavery and coerced labour is increasingly conducted from a global perspective, and yet a dual Eurocentric bias remains: slavery primarily brings to mind the images of Atlantic chattel slavery, and most studies continue to be based – either outright or implicitly – on a model of northern European wage labour. This book constitutes an attempt to re-centre that story to Asia. With studies spanning the western Indian Ocean and the steppes of Central Asia to the islands of South East Asia and Japan, and ranging from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, this book tracks coercion in diverse forms, tracing both similarities and differences – as well as connections – between systems of coercion, from early sales regulations to post-abolition labour contracts. Deep empirical case studies, as well as comparisons between the chapters, all show that while coercion was entrenched in a number of societies, it was so in different and shifting ways. This book thus not only shows the history of slavery and coercion in Asia as a connected story, but also lays the groundwork for global studies of a phenomenon as varying, manifold and contested as coercion.

Bonn: De Gruyter, 2022. 228p.

By Alice Fereday

This report assesses risks of exploitation and labour trafficking in gold-mining areas in northern Niger and northern Mali. It examines the modalities of recruitment and employment, the risks they pose to workers and the structural factors that contribute to the vulnerability of gold miners. The report also identifies key opportunities for policy makers to address these risks while recognising the crucial role of gold mining for local livelihoods and stability.

OCWAR-T Research Report 3 . Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2023. 34p.

  By Anni Lietonen and Natalia Ollus

  The guide has been prepared in connection with the Action plan for effective public procurement (i.e., the Procurement Finland Strategy), coordinated by the Min - istry of Finance and the Association of Finnish Local and Re - gional Authorities. The project was built on the objectives of the Social Sustainability Group operating as part of the Pro - curement Finland Strategy, which include the promotion of human rights in public procurement and respecting funda - mental rights at work. By combating labour exploitation and human trafficking as part of public procurement procedures, contracting units can contribute to preventing fraudulent ac - tivities and crimes, and to promoting the implementation of human rights and respect for the fundamental principles of working life. The proposed measures, views and interpretations presented in this publication represent the authors' views and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the par - ties involved in the implementation of the Procurement Fin - land strategy. This guide has been prepared for the public procurement context in Finland, and for the application of Finnish laws and instructions. However, public procurers and businesses from other countries can also benefit from the content of the guide. When implementing the recom - mendations in the guide, public contracting entities must ensure that their measures comply with the na - tional procurement and data protection legislations, the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liabili - ty when Work is Contracted Out, including other key obligations.   

Helsinki: European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations HEUNI, 2021. 61p.  

By Alice Fereday

This report assesses risks of exploitation and labour trafficking in gold-mining areas in northern Niger and northern Mali. It examines the modalities of recruitment and employment, the risks they pose to workers and the structural factors that contribute to the vulnerability of gold miners. The report also identifies key opportunities for policy makers to address these risks while recognising the crucial role of gold mining for local livelihoods and stability.

  OCWAR-T Research Report 3 . Institute for Security Studies, 2023. 34p.

by Joe Eyerman, Melissa M. Labriola, Bella González

Reducing the prevalence of all forms of human trafficking, including sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and child sexual exploitation, is a national priority that puts the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a prominent role. Given the scale, evolving nature, and complexity of labor trafficking, combating the problem poses a significant challenge. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) anti–human trafficking program is assessing the current state of and future needs for labor trafficking research in the United States. This effort will serve as a starting point for future social science–based S&T anti–human trafficking research and actions focused on labor trafficking.

Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2023. 

By Mark Olden

Every year an estimated 5,000 migrant seasonal workers come to Sweden to do the back-breaking work of clearing landscapes and planting trees. They make up 85 – 90 per cent of the workforce and are employed by firms sub-contracted by the companies that dominate Sweden’s forest sector. "Duped” sheds a light on the endemic mistreatment they face. From earning less than promised, to being employed under unlawful terms. From working in poor conditions to being overcharged for their accommodation: the evidence is consistent and overwhelming. It contains testimonies from migrant workers, a union, investigative journalists and a small forest owner - stories of exploitation and harm that challenge the claim that such forestry is sustainable. This briefing shows that this exploitation is rooted in the economic logic which underpins the Swedish forestry model, and which is also driving nature destruction.

Bruxelles Belgium: FERN, 2023. 18p.

By Denise Brennan

Life Interrupted introduces us to survivors of human trafficking who are struggling to get by and make homes for themselves in the United States. Having spent nearly a decade following the lives of formerly trafficked men and women, Denise Brennan recounts in close detail their flight from their abusers and their courageous efforts to rebuild their lives. At once scholarly and accessible, her book links these firsthand accounts to global economic inequities and under-regulated and unprotected workplaces that routinely exploit migrant laborers in the United States. Brennan contends that today's punitive immigration policies undermine efforts to fight trafficking. While many believe trafficking happens only in the sex trade, Brennan shows that across low-wage labor sectors—in fields, in factories, and on construction sites—widespread exploitation can lead to and conceal forced labor. Life Interrupted is a riveting account of life in and after trafficking and a forceful call for meaningful immigration and labor reform.All royalties from this book will be donated to the nonprofit Survivor Leadership Training Fund administered through the Freedom Network.

Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014. 302p.

Edited by Veronica Federico • Simone Baglioni

This open access book discusses how, and to what extent, the legal and institutional regimes and the socio-cultural environments of a range of European countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the UK), in the framework of EU laws and policies, have a beneficial or negative impact on the effective capacity of these countries to integrate migrants, refugees and asylum seekers into their labour markets. The analysis builds on the understanding of socio-cultural, institutional and legal factors as “barriers” or “enablers”; elements that may facilitate or obstruct the integration processes. The book examines the two dimensions of integration being access to the labour market (which, translated into a rights language means the right to work) with its corollaries (recognition of qualifications, vocational training, etc.), and non-discriminatory working conditions (which, translated into a rights language means right to both formal and substantial equality) and its corollaries of benefits and duties deriving from joining the labour market. It thereby offers a novel approach to labour market integration and migration/asylum issues given its focus on legal aspects, which includes most recent policy changes and legal decisions (including litigation cases). The robust, evidence-based and comparative research illustrated in the book provides academics and students, but also practitioners and policy makers, with up to date knowledge that will likely impact positively on policy changes needed to better address integration conundrums.

Cham: Springer Nature/Imiscoe, 2021. 264p.

By Alexis A. Aronowitz

From the cover: Virtually every country' in the world is affected by the scourge of human trafficking, either as a source, transit, or destination country, or a combination thereof. While countries have long focused on international trafficking, internal movement and exploitation within countries may be even more prevalent than trans- border trafficking. Patterns of trafficking vary across countries and regions and are in a constant state of flux. Countries have long focused on trafficking solely for the purpose of sexual exploitation, yet exploitation in agriculture, construction, fishing, manufacturing, and the domestic and food service industries is prevalent in many countries. Here, Aronowitz takes a global perspective in examining the nefarious underworld of human trafficking, revealing the nature and extent of the harm caused by this hideous criminal practice. Taking a victims-oriented approach, this book focuses on the different groups of victims, as well as the various forms of and markets for trafficking, many of which have been overlooked due to an emphasis on sex trafficking. The author also examines the criminals and criminal organizations that traffic and exploit their victims and explores less-ffequendy-discussed forms of trafficking— in organs, child soldiers, mail-order brides, and adoption, as well as the use of the Internet in trafficking. Drawing on her own field and research experiences in various parts of the world, the author offers real-life context throughout the book through descriptions of a number of cases with which she was involved or learned about in her travels.

Santa Barbara. PRAEGER. An Imprint of ABC-CLIO. 2009. 290p.

Forward by Condoleezza Rice

The Department of State is required by law to submit a Report each year to the U.S. Congress on foreign governments’ efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons. This Report is the eighth annual TIP Report. It is intended to raise global awareness, to highlight efforts of the international community, and to encourage foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all forms of trafficking in persons. The U.S. law that guides anti-human trafficking efforts, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended (TVPA), states that the purpose of combating human trafficking is to punish traffickers, to protect victims, and to prevent trafficking from occurring. Freeing those trapped in slave-like conditions is the ultimate goal of this Report—and of the U.S. government’s anti- human trafficking policy. Human trafficking is a multi-dimensional threat. It deprives people of their human rights and freedoms, it increases global health risks, and it fuels the growth of organized crime.

U.S. Department Of State Publication 11407 Office Of The Under Secretary For Democracy And Global Affairs And Bureau Of Public Affairs. Revised June 2008. 295p.

By Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

  Modern slavery is everywhere. From the construction of FIFA World Cup stadiums in Qatar to the cotton farms of Uzbekistan, from cattle ranches in Paraguay to fisheries in Thailand and the Philippines to agriculture in Italy, from sweatshops in Brazil and Argentina to berry pickers in Sweden. The production chains of clothes, food and services consumed globally are tainted with forced labour. The world is three times richer in terms of global GDP than it was 30 years ago yet we have historic levels of inequality. Eighty percent of the world’s people say that the minimum wage is not enough to live on, work is more insecure with a predominance of short term contracts or other non-standard forms of employment and both informal work and modern slavery are not only growing but increasingly prevalent in the supply chains of large corporations. In the global private economy, the ILO calculates forced labour generates $150 billion each year but it could be even higher. In all countries, unscrupulous employers and recruiters are increasingly exploiting gaps in international labour and migration law and enforcement. After drugs and arms, human trafficking is now the world’s third biggest crime business.

New York: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2017. 30p.

By Vicky Xiuzhong Xu with Danielle Cave, James Leibold, Kelsey Munro, Nathan Ruser

The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 82 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen. This report estimates that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, and some of them were sent directly from detention camps. The estimated figure is conservative and the actual figure is likely to be far higher. In factories far away from home, they typically live in segregated dormitories, undergo organised Mandarin and ideological training outside working hours, are subject to constant surveillance, and are forbidden from participating in religious observances. Numerous sources, including government documents, show that transferred workers are assigned minders and have limited freedom of movement. China has attracted international condemnation for its network of extrajudicial ‘re-education camps’ in Xinjiang. This report exposes a new phase in China’s social re-engineering campaign targeting minority citizens, revealing new evidence that some factories across China are using forced Uyghur labour under a state-sponsored labour transfer scheme that is tainting the global supply chain.

Barton ACT, Australia: Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 2020. 86p.

By James Cockayne

40.3 million people – around 1 in every 185 people alive – experienced modern slavery or forced labour in 2016. States have committed to take immediate and effective measures to end modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking by 2030, and child labour by 2025 (Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals). Since 2017, 92 countries, including the UK, US, China and Saudi Arabia, have committed to a Call to Action calling for ending modern slavery to be “a priority” for multilateral development action. Yet development sector voices are often notable for their absence from global antislavery discussions. This study is the result of eighteen months of work to answer a simple question: How can fighting slavery contribute to sustainable development? We used comprehensive literature reviews, quantitative analysis, surveys and mixed methods case studies to develop a thorough answer to that question. In summary, our answer is: By maximizing people’s economic agency – their ability to make choices, for themselves, about how to develop and use their own capabilities and how to use factors of production such as land, labour and capital.

New York: United Nations University, 2021. 440p.

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By Jane McAdam

The international protection regime for refugees and other forced migrants seems increasingly at risk as measures designed to enhance security — of borders, of people, of institutions, and of national identity — encroach upon human rights. This timely edited collection responds to some of the contemporary challenges faced by the international protection regime, with a particular focus on the human rights of those who are displaced. The book begins by assessing the impact of anti-terrorism laws on refugee status, both at the international and domestic levels, before turning to examine the function of offshore immigration control mechanisms and extraterritorial processing on asylum seekers' access to territory and entitlements — both procedural and substantive. It considers: the particular needs and rights of children, especially as forced migrants; the role of human rights law in protecting religious minorities in the context of debates about national identity; the approaches of refugee decision-makers in assessing the credibility of evidence; and the scope for an international judicial commission to provide consistent interpretative guidance on refugee law, so as to overcome — or at least diminish — the currently diverse and sometimes conflicting approaches of national courts. The last part of the book examines the status of people who benefit from 'complementary protection' — such as those who cannot be removed from a country because they face a risk of torture; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; or punishment — and the scope for the broader concept of the 'responsibility to protect' to address gaps in the international protection regime.

Oxford, UK: Portland, OR: Hart Publishing, 2008. 310p.