Open Democracy

Misuse of Indian Law May Lead to Forced Child Marriage

The 2012 Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act (POSCO) in India is intended to safeguard children from sexual abuse. Among [...]

With Brexit, U.K. has key opportunity to take a stand on Uzbek cotton

In an opinion piece for openDemocracy, a human rights lawyer called for the United Kingdom to end its complicity in forced labor in [...]

Empower and protect: rethinking bans on child labor

“Child labor isn’t going anywhere, so children’s safety in work must become the priority.” Writing in Open Democracy, [...]

Better economic prospects would help prevent re-trafficking in India

Survivors of human trafficking and exploitation in India face significant hurdles in accessing the support they need to rebuild their [...]

Confronting the Root Causes of Forced Labor in Global Supply Chains

Where does forced labor come from? What are the root causes? Often this is traced back to two explanations: poverty and globalization, [...]

Pandemic could be opportunity to improve plight of migrant workers in Middle East and North Africa

Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the exploitation, inequality, and [...]

The U.K. is turning its back on modern slavery survivors

Trafficking survivors in the United Kingdom already face many barriers to receiving the support they need to recover and to better [...]

Former child soldiers struggle to be treated as modern slavery survivors

Though child soldiers are subjected to horrific conditions including forced labor, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence, too [...]

Domestic Worker-Employer Solidarity in the Philippines

There are over 2 million domestic workers in the Philippines, but many of them continue to face the same problems as their peers around [...]

Pandemic worsens exploitation of migrant farmworkers in Greece

Undocumented migrant workers that provide the bulk of seasonal labor in Greece’s strawberry farms have reported suffering increased [...]

U.K. rule change leaves survivors at increased risk of detention and deportation

U.K. immigration bill obscures reality of trafficking offenders

In an opinion piece for openDemocracy, researchers Rose Broad and David Gadd explore how the U.K.’s controversial Nationality and [...]

How changing U.K. drug laws could prevent child exploitation

The U.K. is struggling with a serious child exploitation crisis with children as young as seven being used on the frontlines of drug [...]

Domestic Worker Organizing in France for C189

France has made great progress in advancing domestic workers’ rights through union organizing, but the government still has yet [...]

Sex workers continue to be excluded from anti-trafficking movement

Writing in openDemocracy’s Palermo Protocol 20th anniversary special last week, the International Committee on the Rights of Sex [...]

Listening to child workers to understand child labor

Children’s experiences of work and the effects of anti-trafficking interventions are explored in openDemocracy’s new series [...]

Unsubstantiated claims endanger trafficking victims

The U.K.’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman has repeatedly come under fire for making baseless claims about modern slavery and human [...]

The Labor Protests Overshadowing Chinese New Year

While many think of Chinese New Year as a time for parades and colorful fireworks, for thousands of Chinese construction workers the [...]

Domestic workers fight back: everyday victories and stories of defiance

In the face of overwork and wage theft, Sara, a domestic worker in Beirut, recalls how her employer demanded receipts and counted every [...]

Will states stick by safe migration commitments?

The UN’s first International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) got underway this week, a platform to assess how member states are [...]

Post-World Cup, wage theft still a problem in Qatar

“The charade is over now. The spectacle is long done. But plenty of migrant workers remain in Qatar. And they are still [...]

The “Raid and Rescue” Model of India’s 2018 Anti-Trafficking Bill

Indian Minister for Women & Child Development Smt Maneka Gandhi is likely to table India’s new anti-trafficking bill in the [...]

Victims categorized under ‘unknown exploitation’ less likely to access support

Potential victims of trafficking referred to the U.K.’s system for identifying people who have experienced trafficking – the National [...]

Border law leads to 53 dead in Texas tragedy

53 people have now died from hyperthermia trapped in a sealed truck found in Texas, 160 miles from the U.S. Mexico border where outside [...]

Survivor engagement: on turning rhetoric into practice

In the anti-trafficking sector, a high value is often placed on survivors’ stories and first-hand accounts of trafficking and modern [...]