USAID CTIP Learning & Action Brief 2

Over the last decade, increasing focus has been placed on the role of the business community in countering trafficking in persons (CTIP). Since trafficking in persons (TIP) is occurring within the workplace and supply chains, the private sector is a critical stakeholder that cannot be ignored in efforts to protect workers and prevent TIP. Collaboration between public and private sector actors is being catalyzed from the global level(e.g. the UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking) all the way down to the grassroots level among local public and private organizations within communities. In parallel, steady progress has been made at the policy level to improve and encourage corporate accountability pertaining to human rights and CTIP, including the introduction of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights1 in 2011; development of various national action plans on business and human rights2; and the continuous development of legislation that increases transparency of global supply chains in recent years, such as the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act3 (2012), the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act4 (2015), and France’s Duty of Vigilance Law (2017)5 and recently Australia’s Modern Slavery Bill6 (2018). Given the intricate nature of TIP, no one sector, or industry can successfully tackle the crime. It is essential that multinational and local companies, national and sub-national governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), industry associations, and other stakeholders collaborate to leverage knowledge, resources, experience and skills to effectively eradicate TIP.