The first full version of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark is published today, with key findings on companies in the apparel, agricultural products and extractives sectors. The results reveal that there is a race to the top in business and human rights performance, but only amongst a welcome cluster of leaders. The great majority have barely left the starting line, with 40 of the 101 companies surveyed failing to show any evidence of identifying or mitigating human rights issues in their supply chains....

There were alarmingly low scores in some areas of systemic challenge, which serves to highlight how far business has to go. The alignment of purchasing practices with human rights is not easy, but without this, in food and apparel, abuse in their complex global supply chains is inevitable. Very low average scores were also recorded for commitments to living wages, which are fundamental to achieving a decent life, especially for women workers; and policies to protect increasingly threatened human rights defenders in supply chains, whose work is vital to uncover abuse and dangers for both communities and workers....