“Audits are Not the Answer: Four Labor Approaches to Eliminating Child Labor on U.S. and Global Supply Chains”

…we must also be clear-eyed about the role that audits can play in stopping child labor and other worker abuses in global supply chains. The focus on audits–from the time of day they are performed to the auditor's ethics–will not get to the heart of the problem. Audits ultimately fail to root out migrant child labor in the U.S., just as audits have not been effective at rooting out wage theft, gender-based violence, and many other labor abuses in the global supply chain.

Audits are largely voluntary in nature and the sole regulatory mechanism of many industries. Audits often exist as part of corporations’ attempts to self-regulate their supply chains and evade collaboration or accountability towards other actors in the supply chains, including workers and trade Unions. Audits provide CSR talking points for shareholders but do little to give workers the power to improve their jobs and hold their employers accountable…

We know what works to root out child labor and other labor abuses–we just need more of it. Here are four ways to create real solutions…