Confronting Modern Slavery in Our Daily Lives

By: Richard Allen, formerly a lawyer in the Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration practice groups of Baker McKenzie, has represented Fortune 500 global clients in major arbitration and adjudication proceedings, and is advisor to USASO board of directors.

Confronting Modern Slavery in Our Daily Lives The morning routine for most Americans is a series of quiet, unremarkable interactions with global commerce. We check a smartphone, prepare a quick seafood lunch and brew a pot of coffee. Yet behind these mundane acts lies a shadow-world of exploitation. Modern slavery is not a relic of the past; it is a functioning, albeit hidden, engine of the modern global economy.

Consider three snapshots of the hands that built your day:

• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a twelve-year-old girl spends ten hours a day in a cramped, hand-dug tunnel. She is mining heterogenite, the ore that provides the cobalt for the lithium-ion battery in your smartphone. She works under the threat of physical abuse from local militia-controlled brokers, breathing toxic dust without a mask, all so that you don’t miss the latest “unlikely animal friends” video in your media feed.

  
  

• Halfway across the world in the South China Sea, a migrant fisherman from Southeast Asia is trapped aboard a distant-water vessel. He hasn't seen land in two years. His passport was confiscated upon boarding, and he is forced to work twenty- hour shifts under the menace of physical violence. The shrimp he processes under these conditions will eventually find their way into the frozen seafood aisles of American supermarkets, all so that you can have that extra protein portion in your poke bowl.

  
  

• Closer to home, in the agricultural heartlands of the Central America, a seasonal laborer picks coffee beans under a scorching sun. Bound by a restrictive visa, tied to a single employer, they are victims of “debt bondage”, charged exorbitant fees for substandard housing and transportation that they can never quite pay off. Their "freedom" to leave is an illusion. Any protest results in threats of deportation or the withholding of back-pay, all so that you can get that essential caffeine kick before the workday begins.

These are not isolated tragedies; they are systemic failures. For decades, the primary defense for corporations was "plausible deniability": the idea that they could not be held responsible for what happened three or four tiers deep into their supply chains. However, the international community has moved past this era of willful ignorance.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, established a clear global standard. Centered on the "Protect, Respect, and Remedy" framework, the principles state that, while states have the primary duty to “Protect” human rights, businesses have an independent responsibility to “Respect” human rights, regardless of any regulatory gaps in the places where they operate.

This means that companies must conduct human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, and mitigate adverse impacts. This responsibility specifically covers fundamental rights, including freedom from forced labor and unlawful incarceration. Under the UNGPs, it is no longer enough for a company simply to follow local laws, if those laws allow for exploitation; they must adhere to a higher international standard of human dignity.

The complexity of modern supply chains often leaves individuals feeling powerless. We wonder how a single purchase can possibly influence a mining operation in the DRC, a fishing fleet in Southeast Asia, or a coffee plantation in Central America. But history shows that transparency is the natural enemy of exploitation and transparency is driven by demand. We must recognize our role as the final link in these chains. Holding businesses and states to account requires a shift from passive consumption to active advocacy:

1. Demand Transparency: Support legislation like the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act or the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act. Use your voice to demand that companies disclose not just their tier-one suppliers, but the origins of their raw materials.

   
   

2. Leverage Your Wallet: Prioritize brands that participate in worker-driven social responsibility programs. When a company cannot or will not vouch for its supply chain, assume the worst and take your business elsewhere.

   
   

3. Pressure for Policy: Remind your representatives that trade policy is human rights policy. We must insist that trade agreements include enforceable labor standards with real penalties for non-compliance.

The products we use daily should not come at the cost of another human being’s freedom. We are no longer unwitting accomplices; the data is available, the frameworks are in place and the stories of the exploited are being told. It is time to ensure that the convenience of our modern lives is no longer built on a foundation of modern slavery.