Slavery is what slavery’s always been: About one person controlling another person using violence and then exploiting them economically, paying them nothing. That’s what slavery’s about.”
Kevin Bales co-author of the Global Slavery Index
I was asked recently: “How many slaves work for you?”, puzzled by this question I decided to find the answer from the Slavery Footprint, an organisation that has been investigating the most purchased products and goods since 2011 and how they are connected to modern slavery. It is estimated that in 2021, around 50 million people lived in slavery of which around 71% represent women and children.
Modern slavery is based on exploitation and takes different forms: human trafficking; slavery; forced marriage; forced labor; debt bondage; fraudulent job offers; and the most severe form of modern slavery – child labor, observed in global supply chains. (Cases of modern slavery have significantly increased.
Modern slavery
Modern slavery in Europe and Central Asia is mainly represented by cases of forced labor and early marriage often linked to poverty, discrimination, and limited employment opportunities. Therefore, the statistics indicate that in 2021 around 6.4 million people lived in modern slavery, placing Europe and Central Asia in second place in cases of forced labor (4.4 million) and in third place in cases of forced marriage (2.5 million).
According to the Global Slavery Index in Bulgaria in 2021 the number of people who were victims of modern slavery reached 59,000 people which places our country in 29th place in the world and 15th place in Europe. The main factors that are taken into account are the vulnerability of people and the measures that the government is taking to deal with this problem. Bulgaria is showing progress under the government’s response to seeking justice and invoking criminal responsibility, however, when it comes to risk reductions and taking measures in the supply chains, the government has not made such progress.
Measures to deal with this problem
Around 17 million people of the above figures work in the private sector which results in more companies taking various measures to deal with this problem. One such measure is the increase of transparency in operations and supply chains. In addition to this, there is a rise of global regulatory initiatives such as EU directives regulating forced labor and due diligence obligations in supply chains; anti-modern slavery in Great Britain and Australia, transparency law in Norway; as well as various supply chain initiatives in Japan, Canada, and the US. All these initiatives have in common the adoption of measures when conducting effective due diligence and assessing the risks associated with modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
More and more companies publish a modern slavery statement that can be part of the human rights policy or a separate document that includes the scope, suppliers risk assessments, risk mitigation steps, monitoring and reporting mechanisms, promoting human rights, diversity policies, and effective remedies. Such a declaration requires serious commitments to tackle the exploitation of workers and reduce the risks of modern slavery.
