According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) around 40 million men, women and children around the world are victims of modern slavery: 24.9 million are in forced labour of which an estimated 16 million are in forced labour in the private economy.  The illicit profit estimated by the ILO is $150 billion a year, much of it in corporate supply chains.

The recent growth of modern slavery can be connected to a number of geopolitical issues, including: increasing poverty and inequality, global conflicts and the consequent large scale population movements, as well as consumer demand for ever more things at lower cost.

Our reports and analyses have highlighted the limits of transparency-based regulation. We work with a number of key partners and allies to engage in advocacy around the need for mandatory human rights due diligence legislation to protect workers in global supply chains.

In the UK, we are also part of the Modern Slavery Strategy and Implementation Group which advises the UK government on how to implement and strengthen the transparency in supply chains provision (S.54) of the UK Modern Slavery Act.

We are working with our partners Humanity United, Verité and Sustainalytics on the KnowTheChain benchmarks. Supported by more than 160 global investors, the benchmarks assess the 180 largest global companies in three high-risk sectors on their efforts to address forced labor risks in their supply chains.

Previously, the Modern Slavery Registry tracked compliance with the UK Modern Slavery Act, the Australian Modern Slavery Act, and the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act. The Registry closed following the UK Government's announcement it will launch its own public registry of modern slavery statements in 2021. A database of historical modern slavery statements published by over 18,000 companies previously held on the Modern Slavery Registry can be found here.