Millions of people enter global supply chains not through a job centre or an HR portal, but through a chain of brokers, agents and informal intermediaries that the company at the top may have never heard of. By the time a migrant worker arrives at a factory, farm or construction site, they may already be […]
Category: Supply Chain
Forced labor import prohibition fever
Over the last several months, a hundred-year-old legal concept has taken hold of governments like a fever seemingly overnight—forced labor import prohibitions. Forced labor import prohibitions are a trade law mechanism that allow governments to bar the entry of goods deemed to be made with forced labor. The US has had such a prohibition since […]
When clean reports hide dirty supply chains
Imagine you are a hospital in early 2021. The pandemic is raging. Your staff need gloves—millions of them. You have contracts in place. Audits have been carried out. Compliance certificates have been issued. Somewhere up the chain, a board of directors has reviewed a report and ticked the box. Then the US government seizes your […]
Shein and Everlane just priced ethics at $100 million
Everlane built its entire brand on three promises: Keep earth clean. Keep earth cool. Do right by people. It was the fashion label you could feel good about buying from. Now, a deal to sell Everlane has been struck with notorious fast fashion Chinese brand Shein for $100 million. The sale was reportedly approved last […]
“Exploitation is no picnic”: Delivering your ask for corporate accountability to the UK government
As families across the UK dig out their blankets and baskets during National Picnic Week, Freedom United with the Corporate Justice Coalition is serving a different kind of meal to 10 Downing Street and the Department of Business and Trade: a symbolic “hamper of harms”. Why? Because exploitation is no picnic. From exploitative child labor […]
Europe’s Anti-Slavery Forum links economy to continued exploitation
The role of business and our economic system in perpetuating modern slavery received unprecedented attention from anti-trafficking experts last week. Speakers from nonprofits, business and government joined together at the 2025 Europe Freedom from Slavery Forum, organized by Free The Slaves and hosted by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Increasing supply chain transparency is important. However […]
How just are “green technologies” really?
This Earth Day, as we applaud the strides of the environmental movement, a pressing question emerges: Are the green technologies we champion as pillars of sustainability really as ethical as they seem? While green solutions like electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines are celebrated for their role in combating climate change, there’s a darker […]
Freedom United exposes U.S. regression on child exploitation
My Freedom Day should be everyone’s, every day. Except we’re facing unprecedented rollbacks in labor laws across the U.S. facilitating the exploitation of children, which of course eases the path toward forced labour. My Freedom Day March 14 is designated My Freedom Day – a day of student-driven action to raise awareness of modern slavery. […]
Challenging myself – and you – to rethink fashion
I’ve always been someone who loves to buy new clothes for the sake of buying new clothes. For the longest time, I didn’t consider the consequences this may have for the world and the people who produce these garments. Then, I met Nasreen Sheik and everything changed. Nasreen is a wonderful person – and a […]
I visited cocoa farmers in West Africa. Here’s what they told me.
The global chocolate industry has made major profits thanks to the work carried out in the cocoa-producing countries of West Africa, and yet, cocoa farming communities continue to live in poverty. Poor conditions give rise to several other concerning issues, including forced and child labor, and deforestation. We hear a lot about what changes are […]