Measuring Risk-based Human Rights Due Diligence: Sourcing and labour outcome metrics

In contrast to existing guidance frameworks for due diligence that focus on global firms describing their programmes (inputs), in this article, we argue that quantitative data on labour outcomes are required to hold global firms to account for human rights harms in their supply chains. We present twenty-five metrics that measure both lead firm sourcing practices and supplier firm labour rights and working conditions. We argue that these metrics are useful for regulators to assess how lead firms covered under due diligence legislation are addressing human rights harms in their supply chains. In addition, they are particularly useful to lead firms themselves in order to assess the level and salience of risks

Exposing Exploitation: Lessons from the Gräfenhausen lorry strike on the strategic use of supply chain law

This article presents a case study of a wildcat strike by lorry drivers that took place in the Gräfenhausen rest area in Germany, in 2023, in order to explore the potential of the German Supply Chain Act (GSCA) and similar laws to combat labour exploitation and activate collective action by migrant workers. Despite adverse circumstances, the successful strike showed that supply chain laws can unveil exploitation. The case demonstrates the emergence of collective agency through the supply chain approach. Vulnerable migrant workers are susceptible to exploitation due to socioeconomic and legal circumstances, and they are, in general, unlikely to successfully claim their rights. The success of the Gräfenhausen strike resulted from building social relations, a broad network of supporters, and the strategic use of the GSCA to pressure companies at the end of the supply chain to pay outstanding wages. Such supply chain laws provide important resources for social actors addressing exploitation as a human rights issue and transforming exploited workers into rights holders. The Gräfenhausen case underscores the essential role of solidarity and collective support alongside legal mechanisms for the successful enforcement of rights

Editorial: Shifting the Focus: From Corporate-led to Worker-centred Mechanisms for Eliminating Forced Labour in Global Value Chains

This Editorial introduces a special issue of Anti-Trafficking Review, which examines measures to ensure corporate accountability for forced labour in value chains. It begins by explaining why multinational corporations are able to escape liability for business practices that foster labour exploitation in their value chains. It discusses the failure of voluntary attempts to hold lead firms in value chains accountable before examining two types of corporate-led mechanisms that harden voluntary corporate social responsibility techniques (transparency and human rights due diligence laws). It contrasts them with worker-driven mechanisms. After describing the contribution of each article in the Special Issue, it concludes by identifying some of the key challenges to eliminating forced labour and labour exploitation in global value chains

Twenty-Five More Years of CSR? How states are reinforcing private governance in the anti-forced labour governance arena

Within anti-forced labour circles, there has been considerable excitement lately about governments taking on a more active role in tackling forced labour in supply chains. A common perspective is that after over 25 years of failed corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, governments have re-entered the arena; states’ enactment of responsive legislation (e.g. due diligence legislation or transparency legislation), import bans, and multi-lateral efforts, including through the G7, are often heralded as evidence of their stepping up. However, the extent to which this wave of government initiatives reinforces and relies upon, rather than replaces, CSR is frequently overlooked. In this article, I consider the ways in which recent government initiatives to tackle forced labour in supply chains expand the market, role, and governance power of unaccountable private actors, including auditing firms, data analytics and Artificial Intelligence companies, and certification bodies. I argue that unless governments enact far more ambitious regulation and restrictions on multinational enterprises, we are heading for another 25 years of deficient and inadequate private-led governance to address forced labour in supply chains

From ‘Modern Slavery’ to Modern Complicity: The corporatisation of western anti-slavery INGOs

Review of the book Advocacy, Inc. INGOs and the Business of “Modern Slavery” by Stephanie A. Limoncelli, Stanford University Press, 2026, ISBN: 9781503644823

Traceability Problems in the Peruvian Amazon’s Timber Supply Chain: Illegal logging, exploitation, and forced labour

Peru has developed an extensive set of regulations, managerial instruments, and trade standards, largely influenced by free trade agreements, that appear to ensure strict control of the Amazonian timber supply chain. In practice, however, at least 20 per cent of logging is illegal (and up to 86 per cent in some areas), around 70 per cent of companies are informal, and there is repeated evidence of labour exploitation and forced labour. This article explores the relationship between these elements through a systematic review of regulatory and corporate frameworks, interviews with timber workers in Amazonian river ports, and an expert panel analysis. The findings reveal not so much a system of control as one that simulates control: a dense institutional framework that is highly permeable to illegal flows, a traceability scheme that looks modern but lacks accountability, and a trade chain that ultimately relies on a forest regent, a notebook, and a pen. In short, the Peruvian timber sector presents a paradox of international regulatory frameworks and enforcement weaknesses, where compliance is more often performed than achieved

When Policy Meets Reality: Obstacles to eliminating debt bondage from responsible recruitment

‘Employer Pays Principle’ (EPP) responsible recruitment policies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) aim to reduce risks of forced labour in supply chains by requiring all costs of labour recruitment to be borne by employers, not workers. Based on in-depth interviews with almost 4,000 foreign migrant workers in Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand conducted between 2020 and 2025, this paper investigates how effectively EPP policies were implemented across supply chains. Less than ten per cent of respondents experienced truly zero-fees recruitment. All others had to pay some or all of the costs of recruitment up front, with 14.6 per cent being indebted in the process, and only 12.2 per cent ever receiving reimbursement for some or all fees paid. When significant recruitment fees were discovered, most suppliers resisted reimbursing the full amount. Most MNEs were not willing to require the full amount be repaid to affected workers, nor share the reimbursement costs. The paper concludes by calling on MNEs to adopt more responsible contracting practices to make EPP recruitment possible by suppliers; share responsibility for reimbursing recruitment fees to impacted workers in their supply chains; and consider as not EPP-compliant suppliers employing workers who have paid recruitment fees, even if they reimburse them later

Local Worker Representation as a Catalyst for Effective Grievance Mechanisms: A collaborative case study of the Dindigul Agreement

Non-judicial grievance mechanisms are integral to corporate human rights due diligence, yet they often fail to fulfil their promise. Too frequently, grievance mechanisms do not effectively serve the workers and communities they are designed to protect, despite their potential to drive life-changing improvements. This article examines how integrating local worker representation can create effective grievance mechanisms, using the Dindigul Agreement to End Gender-Based Violence and Harassment as a case study. With a community-based trade union at its core, the Dindigul Agreement grievance mechanism functions as an equitable enforcement tool that strengthens company–community relations, promotes human rights, and provides a framework for preventing and remedying forced labour risks within supply chains. This article is meant to provide an instructive example of how meaningful stakeholder engagement can act as a catalyst for more effective grievance mechanisms. Furthermore, it can serve as inspiration for practitioners and scholars seeking to confront forced labour and other systemic labour rights abuses by prioritising local voices and lived realities in the implementation of due diligence obligations

Canada’s Passage of Transparency Modern Slavery Legislation: How the domestic landscape shaped the law

Countries, primarily in the Global North, have been implementing transparency and corporate sustainability due diligence laws. These laws seek to increase corporate accountability for various human rights, environmental, and modern slavery offences in global supply chains. Three legislative models have been adopted: 1) Disclosure or Transparency laws; 2) Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (MHRDD) laws; and 3) MHRDD laws with civility liability, which is considered best practice. In this article, I evaluate the factors that influenced the adoption of a particular legislative model in various countries and specifically examine what factors influenced the passage of transparency legislation in Canada. I argue that despite international pressure on Canada to enact legislation, it was ultimately features of Canada’s domestic political economy that determined the enactment of a transparency law. These features include Canada’s membership of the Anglosphere, its powerful mining industry, the advocacy of civil society organisations, key parliamentarians, and ruling political party principles

Worker Voice in the Fight Against Forced Labour: The role of multinational enterprises in supply chain accountability

This paper discusses worker-centred approaches to the identification of and response to labour violations in the supply chains of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Drawing on examples from Southeast Asia, it highlights how meaningful engagement with workers and collaborative partnerships benefit both business and workers by fostering learning and systemic improvements. The paper concludes that MNEs should move beyond traditional audit-based models and adopt strategies that prioritise worker involvement, transparency, and long-term accountability