Publications on forced labour

May 2016

  1. Global Supply Chain Dynamics and Labour Governance: Implications for Social Upgrading

    13 May 2016

    This paper examines how the emergence and change of the fragmented cross-national production system affects social upgrading in developing countries, focusing on the impact of private governance on labour conditions and workers’ rights. It also discusses the role of private voluntary standards in governing labour relations in GSCs, and their limitations and tensions with buyers’ purchasing practices.

April 2011

  1. The good practices of labour inspection in Brazil: the eradication of labour analogous to slavery

    15 April 2011

    This publication was produced under the framework of technical cooperation undertaken between the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Secretariat of Labour Inspection (SIT). This partnership is embodied in the collection “The Good Practices of Labour Inspection in Brazil,” comprised of four publications on the labour inspection system in Brazil and the Brazilian labour inspection experiences in the following areas: eradication of child labour; combating forced labour; and the maritime sector. The eradication of labour analogous to slavery is today one of the main objectives of the Brazilian agenda for the promotion of human rights. This document presents a synthesis of labour inspection actions of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE), in cooperation with governmental partners, employer associations, workers’ unions and civil society organizations in the fi ght against this extreme form of labour exploitation.

December 2009

  1. Trade unions and indigenous communities combating forced labour in the Peruvian Amazon region

    15 December 2009

    Case study prepared by Sanna Saarto, ILO’s Programme to Combat Forced Labour, Peru, for the guide to ILO Convention No. 169 “Indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights in practice”, Geneva, ILO, 2009.

October 2009

  1. The Slave Next Door – Human trafficking and slavery in America today

    05 October 2009

    This book exposes the disturbing phenomenon of human trafficking and slavery that exists now in the United States.

July 2009

  1. Fighting forced labour: the example of Brazil

    15 July 2009

    For some fifteen years, since a new inter-ministerial body was created in 1995 to coordinate action against forced labour, Brazil has been addressing the problem with vigour and determination. It has done so in many ways, involving different government agencies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society, the media, academic organizations and others.

May 2009

  1. Fact sheet The Cost of Coercion - Regional Perspectives: Americas

    22 May 2009

    Regional perspectives from the ILO Global Report "The Cost of Coercion" (2009)

April 2008

  1. Modern-Day Slavehouse - Article originally published in the February 2008 edition of Rolling Stone Brazil magazine

    02 April 2008

    Brazilian employers using slave labor find support in the Congress to have their names off the so-called “Dirty List”.

March 2007

  1. "Close to Slavery, Guestworker Programs in the United States", Southern Poverty Law Center

    12 March 2007

    The 48-page report, based on interviews with thousands of guestworkers and dozens of legal cases, describes the systematic abuse of workers under what is known as the H-2 system administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.

January 2005

  1. Bonded labour in Bolivia

    03 January 2005

    (Only available in Spanish) Este estudio presenta los resultados de una investigación en Bolivia, encargada por un antropólogo y un científico social, sobre el trabajo forzoso en la zafra de azúcar en Santa Cruz, la castaña en el norte amazónico boliviano y las comunidades cautivas del Chaco.

  2. Bonded labour in Paraguay

    03 January 2005

    (Only available in Spanish) A través del presente informe, la OIT pretende dar respuesta a la petición del Gobierno de Paraguay de establecer de manera objetiva los hechos relativos al trabajo forzoso y la discriminación que sufren los indígenas en el Chaco paraguayo. Este tipo de trabajo forzoso, es a menudo una manifestación de un patrón más amplio de discriminación hacia los indígenas. Es importante señalar, que el trabajo forzoso existe en una minoría de las haciendas del Chaco.