Low-wage migrant workers commonly encounter abuses of their labour rights during the migration process. These abuses can include deceptive practices by recruitment agencies, underpayment, poor and unsafe working conditions, and other exploitative practices that may amount to criminal forced labour or human trafficking offenses. Over the past five years, digital technology initiatives have been developed to inform, empower, and connect migrant workers in new ways. These include consumer reporting platforms that pool data on migrants’ experiences with recruitment agencies, within supply chains, and more. Technology offers the promise that the worker’s voice is central to their migration and employment decisions, and allows them to share their experiences in order to reduce exploitation. This report examines five areas in which digital platforms are being developed to protect and empower migrant workers, and considers practical, legal, ethical, and technological implications, and the risks associated with them. The report concludes that digital technology cannot fix structural inequalities, missing institutional capacity, or a lack of political will to address labour exploitation. But when used responsibly and with worker protection and outcomes as a priority, it offers new and amplified opportunities for migrant worker empowerment and justice.
Gender-Responsive Self-Assessment Tool for Recruitment Agencies
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Strengthening International Response to Alleged Xinjiang Forced Labour
GuidanceSince 2018, a range of civil society, academic and governmental actors have raised concerns about possible forced labour in and connected to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China. Governments and corporate en...Read More
Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland
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