Human Trafficking in Supply Chains and the Way Forward

Abstract

Human trafficking in supply chains is a global issue caused by globalization, populous supply chains, and a lack of supply chain transparency that has increasingly been gaining attention over the past several years. Its infamy has been followed by a legislative fight through the release of new laws that have been heralded as revolutionary, with several exerting particular clout in the last decade. Today it has been accepted that the crime usually occurs at the supplier level, including tier 1 suppliers whose business practices are often vetted by the brands who purchase goods from them, but struggle with effectively uncovering any human rights abuses that might require mitigation. Despite varying efforts to combat the crime across the globe, human trafficking for labor purposes has been exposed in the supply chains of both developing and developed nations and throughout the tiers of their supply chains. This oversight is the result of the inadequacy of the current supply chain monitoring system to identify these issues, rendering the system obsolete, ineffective, and in need of replacement. In this chapter, the problem of human trafficking in supply chains and the current system of identifying human trafficking in supply chains will be introduced. Second, the evolution and weaknesses of the current systemic approach to monitoring human trafficking risks in supply chains will be addressed. Third, the environment surrounding human trafficking in supply chains will be reviewed (areas of opacity and intrinsic challenges to be acknowledged in developing a more effective and robust response to mitigate the issue). Finally, the future of supply chain monitoring will be discussed, identifying strengths and weaknesses of emerging efforts and offering recommendations on how to successfully replace the current system of supply chain monitoring.