When the term “forced labour” is mentioned, many people still imagine chains, locked doors, or dimly lit factories in distant parts of the world. While these images are rooted in historical realities, they risk obscuring the far more complex and subtle nature of forced labour today. In modern economies, exploitation rarely looks overt.
Instead, it is embedded within lawful industries, complex supplier networks, and seemingly legitimate employment relationships, said Moody’s.
Forced labour today is often systemic rather than obvious. It can emerge through deceptive recruitment practices, debt bondage linked to recruitment fees, confiscation of identity documents, or coercive living and working conditions. Because these abuses are frequently hidden behind legal contracts or third-party suppliers, even organisations with strong ethical intentions may be exposed without realising it. Limited visibility across supply chains and fragmented due diligence processes allow these risks to persist.
Misunderstandings about forced labour continue to weaken detection and prevention efforts. One of the most persistent myths is that forced labour is rare. In reality, the International Labour Organization defines forced labour as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily.” In 2022, the ILO estimated that 27.6 million people globally, including 3 million children, were trapped in forced labour, generating $236bn in illegal profits each year. At this scale, forced labour is not an anomaly but a structural risk that can quietly infiltrate supplier networks.
Another misconception is that reputable companies could not be connected to forced labour. While links to organised crime are well documented, many risks arise from poor supply-chain transparency rather than deliberate wrongdoing. Forced labour exists across legal sectors including agriculture, construction, manufacturing, logistics, and food production. High-profile cases have shown how global brands have unknowingly sourced components from suppliers engaging in wage theft, recruitment-fee debt bondage, and passport confiscation, despite workers being classified as legal employees.
There is also a widespread belief that victims will immediately report abuse. In practice, many victims are psychologically manipulated, economically dependent, or fearful of retaliation. Young and vulnerable workers, as well as those subjected to forced marriage or domestic servitude, may lack the ability or confidence to seek help, further reducing visibility.
Forced labour is also not always hidden. In some cases, it exists in plain sight. In 2024, Brazilian authorities uncovered slavery-like conditions at a car factory construction site in Bahia, where more than 160 Chinese workers were subjected to excessive hours, degrading accommodation, and withheld passports. The case highlighted how exploitation can be overlooked even within high-profile clean-tech supply chains.
Finally, forced labour is not confined to distant countries. In economically advanced nations, forms of forced criminality exist, including the coercion of children into drug running through threats, manipulation, and financial grooming. This blurring of victim and perpetrator makes detection especially challenging and reinforces the reality that forced labour is a community issue as much as a supply-chain or human-rights issue.
Addressing forced labour requires organisations to move beyond outdated assumptions and invest in deeper visibility, proactive due diligence, and data-driven risk identification across their operations and extended networks.
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