Human trafficking thrives in times of crisis and uncertainty, when the needs of the most vulnerable among us are often overlooked. Congress recently passed the $2 trillion coronavirus relief legislation, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), H.R. 748. Lawmakers are already at work on a fourth major legislative package (“Phase Four”) to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The CARES Act provided significant new resources for education, early care, housing, nutrition, and services; however, it fell short in some significant ways. Due to underlying vulnerabilities, those most at risk of, and victim to, human trafficking and labor exploitation will experience disproportionate impacts as a result of COVID-19 in the short, medium, and long-term. As a result, the current funds allocated for human trafficking services and prevention are insufficient to protect the marginalized from sexual abuse and severe labor exploitation. Low-wage workers, including documented and undocumented immigrants; runaway and homeless youth; those fleeing domestic violence. and sexual assault; and previously identified victims of human trafficking who need ongoing support and access to additional resources are being left behind. Notably, the legislation to date has failed to provide support to immigrant workers, including undocumented workers, many of whom are providing essential services but are at greater risk for forced labor and other forms of human trafficking during this pandemic.

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Normative Framework Guide: Responsibility of Businesses Concerning Human Rights, Labour Exploitation and Human Trafficking
Guidance

This normative framework guide provides a summarized overview of existing legal frameworks outlining businesses’ responsibilities with regard to human rights, with a focus on labour exploitation and trafficking in human beings. Various legal frame...Read More

Top 5 Labour abuses in 2019-2020- A field-based analysis of worker reporting and business responses In Thailand
COVID-19 resourcesGuidancePublications

Issara Institute recognizes worker voice as conveying the voices, experiences, and needs of workers, and channeling that voice into clear mechanisms committed to remediation and a rebalancing of power asymmetries between employers and workers. This ...Read More

TAGS: Asia
Covid-19 and Child Labour: A Time of Crisis, A Time To Act
COVID-19 resources

The last two decades have seen significant strides in the fight againstchild labour. But the COVID-19 pandemic poses very real risks ofbacktracking.Positive trends may falter, and child labour may worsen,especially in places where it has remained re...Read More

TAGS:
Recruitment Practices and Migrant Labor Conditions in Nestlé’s Thai Shrimp Supply Chain
Guidance

Seeking to better understand the risks of forced labour and human trafficking in the Thai seafood industry, Nestlé contracted Verité to conduct a focused investigation of six production sites in Thailand—three shrimp farms (one in Maha...Read More