Increasing Knowledge and Actions to Address Modern Day Slavery

Slavery and human trafficking abuses have been around for centuries, but an amplified call for corporations to identify and tackle any linkages they may have to current abuses has grown even louder in recent years. Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN) has been playing a lead role in raising awareness and encouraging solutions to combat modern slavery deep in corporate supply chains since 2007. This month, RSN Founder and Director, Patricia Jurewicz, will be presenting at two anti-slavery events: a webinar on February 10 and an in-person meeting in San Francisco on February 25.

For years, investors, human rights groups, and other stakeholders have been asking corporations to increase their activities and reporting on how they are addressing slavery and trafficking. Today, new regulations, adaptive technologies, and collaborative approaches are starting to have an impact on curtailing the abuses. A 2012 U.S. Executive Order greatly expanded the anti-trafficking amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) for government suppliers, contractors, and their supply chains. Innovative traceability software is giving companies increased transparency to their raw materials, and benchmarks to measure companies’ anti-slavery and trafficking performance are being established. Expectations on companies continue to evolve and become more sophisticated to address the hidden egregious injustices.

To assist companies and others to understand the new legislation, guidance documents, technologies, and benchmarks, there are two public events in February (advanced registration is needed). On Wednesday, February 10 at 11 a.m. PT, RSN, Know the Chain, and Source Intelligence will be presenting the webinar, Modern Slavery and Forced Labor: Company Insights and Industry Standards for your Supply Chain in 2016. On Thursday, February 25, United Way and Sabre are hosting the in-person meeting, Business and Technology Leadership Forum to Combat Human Trafficking, which will bring corporations and human rights experts together. Both events will address information and solutions from a wide variety of perspectives.

We hope you can join us!