The Business of Traffick in Humans workshop

FINANCE AGAINST TRAFFICKING

The Business of Traffick in Humans Workshop

Oxford University, 8th May 2014

Applying the UNGPs in the fight against

Trafficking: Practical Approach for Business

Colleen TheronDirector, Finance Against Trafficking

set of universal standards prevent companies violating human rights ensure adequate redress not legally binding -but based on international

law universally applicable benchmarks UK context

Action Plan on Business and Human Rights Legal developments

What is the legal context?

Potential for liability is rising: Contractual requirements Reliance on disclosures Eg: investment funds and asset managers

A range of measures in support of the UN Guiding Principles are coming into play, eg:

EU Calling for national action plans Consultative process in US and UK Review of adminsitrative process in the

Netherlands ASEAN intergovernmental commission on

human rights has initiated a study on CSR and human rights in the region

Harder than soft law ?

Article 8 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides:

‘ all humans shall have the right not to be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour’

human trafficking by definition involves exploitation in the form of slavery, forced labour, including prostitution and

therefore all human trafficking is automatically a violation of these human rights

children: any form of movement or transportation whether their consent is given or not is a form of

trafficking’

How are these human rights relevant to human trafficking?

any company can be measured against them can be criticized by civil society risks to companies:

• legal and regulatory• reputational • operational

Why should companies know about them?

Directly: recruiting, transporting, harbouring or receiving Indirectly: business premises, products or services By association: suppliers, sub contractors or business

partners Through investment: in companies connected to human

rights violations

How can business be connected to these human rights violations?

Guiding principles identify corporate responsibility:

• respecting human rights • taking account of impacts• creating a policy• internal due diligence• integration into internal processes• reporting • remediation of problems

Operational principles for companies

address their strategy address their risks address their operational procedures Chainchecker what about reporting?

How should companies go about doing this?

To raise awareness of trafficking risks within a company and their obligations under law (international and local)

We are promoting and offering best practice:• Anti Money Laundering • Ruggie, UN Guiding principles • Policies, processes and procedures • Legal frameworks• Supply chain audits • Training• Employee engagement• Tools and Resources - Chainchecker

Finance Against Trafficking – What we do

ChainChecker

Bottom Up: Supported by community programmes

Business must also engage with and educate:

• Community leaders, student groups, mothers, teenagers and children

and build sustainable communities and families by providing:

• Job security• Living wages • Access to education and healthcare

Such measures help to reduce both the supply and demandfor trafficked labour

Thank you.

Any questions?