Newswise — Around the world an estimated 20.9 million people are in situations of so-called modern day slavery, or forced labor, at any point of time, according to the new Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime report.
Many of these victims are trafficked within their country or across borders. Considering this number, there is an urgent need to improve our understanding of criminal activities in the area of human trafficking and exploitation, the difficulties to track perpetrators and protect victims.
Drawn from a series of webinars hosted by the Global Initiative and Babson College in 2014-15, this report highlights emerging human trafficking challenges and identifies promising anti-trafficking initiatives from the private sector.
Each chapter of the report covers one of five key areas of human trafficking:
• Migrant workers in the USA and their vulnerability to labor exploitation• Online sexual exploitation of children and recent technological developments in detecting this form of crime• Human trafficking in football, particularly in the area of recruitment of young athletes• Labor exploitation and the construction industry, using the example of the kafala system in the Gulf countries to highlight flawed national regulation putting migrant works at risk of being trafficked and exploited• Responding to the global black market in illicit organs and the intrinsic role the private sector has played in enabling this illicit business.
While each chapter clearly shows the organized criminal networks behind the different forms of trafficking and exploitation, there are significant differences in the types of crimes and their individual complexities. It is, therefore, crucial to deepen the research into each of the areas and to develop individual responses and strategies private sectors can apply to counter criminal networks across the globe.
The report finds that the private sector needs to play a stronger role in ensuring ethical and fair practices, and to contribute its unique knowledge and expertise to help in the fight against human trafficking. Overall, the private sector is an increasingly important actor in enabling as well as in combating the different aspects of human trafficking.
Download the report: Understanding Illicit Trade: Impact of Human Trafficking and Smuggling on the Private Sector http://bit.ly/1OPIxa2
The report is based on a webinar series jointly presented by the Global Initiative and Babson College’s Initiative on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, which was supported by McKenna Long & Aldridge, now Dentons and by TraCCC, the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University.
Currently, the Global Initiative and Babson College are conducting a second webinar series, entitled “The Private Sector countering human trafficking: Supply chain management, labor standards and human trafficking.”
About Babson College
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu.
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