One of Pakistan’s most profitable sectors is also among its most prone to debt bondage, a form of forced labor considered to be modern slavery. While many administrative, legal, policy and social roadblocks prevent the up to 3 million brick kiln workers and their...
The Solidarity Center workers with partners like those in Kenya to end labor trafficking of migrant workers. Credit: Solidarity Center/Caroline Kasina
The Solidarity Center advocates an approach to combating human trafficking that puts worker rights at the forefront of solutions and calls for the labor movement to be involved.
Trafficking for forced labor results from the absence of human rights and effective governance. It often occurs in countries that restrict civic freedoms, have weak rule of law and prevent the exercise of the right to freedom of speech, assembly and association—including the right to form or join a trade union to represent their interests.
Trafficking for forced labor also thrives in un- or under-regulated supply chains and so combating trafficking must begin with empowered workers who can stand up to exploitation when it occurs.
Migrant workers are especially targets of human trafficking and forced labor. Corrupt labor brokers lie about the wages and working conditions workers should expect in a destination country and charge such huge fees for securing work that migrant workers cannot repay them even after years on the job, forcing them to remain in dangerous working conditions because their debt is too great. Employers use work visas and threats of deportation to exploit workers for forced labor.
With migrant workers, trade unions, human rights NGOs, governments and civil society coalitions around the globe, the Solidarity Center raises awareness about the causes and the extent of trafficking for forced labor and implements programs with our partners worldwide to combat this scourge. These programs address each of the four “Ps” that are part of the anti-trafficking toolkit: prevention, protection of victims, prosecution (access to justice) and partnerships. Solidarity Center programs recognize that we cannot eliminate forced labor without fundamentally changing how labor migration is managed around the world, how companies do business and how governments monitor and enforce human and labor rights.
State of Compliance with Decent Work Principles in Pakistan’s Brick Kiln Sector
Pakistan's brick kiln sector has remained for decades as one of the most profitable industries, yet facilities lack necessary safety equipment and workers go without medical coverage, social protection, sufficient wages, and are at risk of bonded and child labor....
Turkmenistan: Forced Labor Remains in Cotton Supply Chain
Cotton bound for global markets from Turkmenistan—the ninth largest producer and seventh largest exporter of the world’s cotton—was again harvested with forced labor last year, finds a new report by the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights and turkmen.news. Students...

State of Compliance with Decent Work Principles in Pakistan’s Brick Kiln Sector
Pakistan's brick kiln sector has remained for decades as one of the most profitable industries, yet facilities lack necessary safety equipment and workers go without medical coverage, social protection, sufficient wages, and are at risk of bonded and child labor....

2020 Annual Report
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What Difference Does a Union Make? Banana Plantations in the North and South of Guatemala
Guatemalan banana workers without a union work longer hours and earn less than half than of those who are unionized, and report more cases of verbal and physical abuse. Download in English. Download in Spanish.

Made for this Moment: How ILO Convention 190 Addresses Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the World of Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond
This report highlights how C190, the first global treaty that recognizes the fundamental right to work free from gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), addresses GBVH in the world of work and identifies concrete steps to address it. Read the full report here in...

REPORT: CLIMATE CHANGE IN BANGLADESH DRIVES WORKER VULNERABILITY, POVERTY
This report, The Intersection of Climate Change, Migration and Changing Economy, explores the links among climate change, economic activities and migration in the coastal areas of Khulna and Jashore, Bangladesh, demonstrating its impact on the availability of decent...

The Benefits of Collective Bargaining for Women Workers in Morocco
Download in English. Download in Arabic. This report was made possible through the generous support of the Ford Foundation.