Today, there are 50 million people trapped in modern slavery.
Out of sight. Out of mind.
We can change that. Together.
“…In this context, I do not doubt that SlaveCheck is unique and offers effective opportunities by virtue of addressing many of the major challenges that are frustrating corporates and global efforts to reduce slavery numbers…”
Kevin Hyland, Inaugural UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner
The SlaveCheck Solution is comprised of two organizations, and powered by a 'Profit-for-Purpose' business model:
The SlaveCheck Foundation is a registered charity which administers the 'For-Purpose' aspects of the SlaveCheck Solution
The SlaveCheck Solution is a globally-scalable modern slavery due diligence system, powered by the slavecheck.ai ‘collective intelligence’ clearinghouse, self-funded via a ‘profit-for-purpose’ business model.
The Problem
Slavery is illegal in all countries yet today there exists a thriving, pervasive, highly-profitable industry called ‘modern slavery’ with some 50 million people - mainly women and children - trapped and being forced to work in dehumanizing conditions for little or no pay.
A lack of supply chain transparency is the principal enabler of modern slavery. Increasingly complex, integrated global supply chains have made it virtually impossible to tell whether products stamped “Made in XYZ” have at some stage used slaves or underage children in producing them.
For business, anti-slavery legislation has created a compliance conundrum: it requires companies to investigate their entire supply chains - right back to sources of raw materials - which presents four compliance roadblocks for reporting entities.
The G20 countries – the world’s 20 most advanced economies – import 80% of the goods made by slaves. While it’s less than 5% of our imported goods, we - businesses and end-consumers - are the ones unwittingly enabling the callous exploitation of this global subclass of humanity.
G20 governments, businesses and the capital markets must take the lead if we are to rid the world of this modern-day scourge.
The Solution: a coordinated, collaborative global effort.
Everyone has a role to play.
GOVERNMENTS
Slavery is a crime in every country. Governments need to lead the elimination of modern slavery by enacting effective MS legislation, enforcing compliance, and addressing any in-country human rights issues as they emerge.
BUSINESSES
SlaveCheck was designed to not just help companies comply with all anti-slavery legislation globally, but to also make it easy for you to build brand value as a responsible parcipant in the slavery elimination program.
CIVIL SOCIETY
Civil society organisations - Faith-Based Communities, Industry Bodies, NGOs, Trade Unions - have a critical role to play in SlaveCheck's 'top-down/bottom-up' approach to systematically eliminating modern slavery.
END CONSUMERS
End-consumers unwittingly enable modern slavery by buying the goods they produce. Research conducted by SlaveCheck highlights the crucial governance role for consumers to play in eliminating modern slavery.
CAPITAL MARKETS
The rise of 'Responsible Investing' - underpinned by ESG reporting - highlights the crucial role that sustainable investors have in eliminating modern slavery by using slavery due diligence and supply chain transparency as a requirement to investing or staying invested.
A Global Governance Framework
The SlaveCheck Foundation is a registered charity which - through a global network of regional boards - coordinates and manages the slavery elimination program via a framework of integrated global executive programs, as shown in the organisational chart to the right. Each program is led by an Executive Leadership Team, chaired by the global CEO, who reports to all Boards.
SlaveCheck's 'collective intelligence' technologies - which integrate human intelligence with artificial intelligence - allow this to be coordinated at scale to support the magnitude of the global modern slavery problem.
What's the cost to fix the problem?
Social development experts advise that the best solution to modern slavery is to pay workers a 'living wage': sufficient pay to support a family with a decent standard of living (food, clothing, housing, healthcare, utilities, education, transportation, savings), earned from a job with decent working conditions.
Economic analysis has estimated the price increase required to pay living wages at 1% of the final cost of goods or:
5 cents on a $5 T-shirt
This is more than offset by the benefits of supply chain transparency: up to 14% increase in sales for ethically labelled products; and expected cost savings from supply chain innovation which will likely flow through to lower prices for consumers.
The only losers will be the criminals profiteering from slavery.