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Responsible Sourcing Tool

Defining the Issue

The United States recognizes two primary forms of trafficking in persons: forced labor and sex trafficking. This site focuses primarily on forced labor, a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor. Several terms are used throughout RST such as trafficking in persons, human trafficking, and forced labor.

Defining the characteristics and forms of human trafficking

By Sector

Product

What is being produced, and especially how a particular product defines the nature of the work, may contribute to trafficking risks.

Operations

How a supply chain is set up and how workers are recruited, hired, and employed are factors of whether workers are better protected from or more exposed to risks.

Workforce Characteristics

Who the workers are, where they are from, their level of skill, their level of control over their lives, and pressures they are subject to are key to their degree of vulnerability to trafficking risks.

By Geography

Country

The political, socioeconomic, and legal profiles of a sourcing country all contribute to a vulnerable workforce.

Labor

The demographics of the workforce, what jobs they are qualified for based on education and skill, how replaceable they are, and especially what pressures they are under to find and keep almost any job due to financial needs, translate to their vulnerability to being trafficked.

Is Forced Labor Hidden in Your Global Supply Chain?

This tool will help you understand, identify,
prevent, and address the risks and harms to workers.
The United States recognizes two primary forms of trafficking in persons: forced labor and sex trafficking. This site focuses primarily on forced labor, a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor. Several terms are used throughout RST such as trafficking in persons, human trafficking, and forced labor.

Understand the Risks of Forced Labor in Your Supply Chain

The risks of forced labor are linked to different factors in the global supply chain: where products are made or services are performed, how they are made or what the service is, and who does the work. Explore the factors to learn about these links.

Understand the Risks

Identify the Risks of Forced Labor in Your Supply Chain

To assess risk, use the three common filters on our interactive map to discover the potential for forced labor in the countries where your products and raw materials are sourced.

Find Out Where
Supply Chain graphic. Cotton farm > Cotton Gin > Yarn & Thread Mill > Traders & Merchants > Fabric Mill > Cut & Sew > Retailer

Prevent and Address the Issues in Your Supply Chain and Protect Your Workers

To prevent and address the risks of forced labor in a supply chain, your company needs a strong due diligence management system. The Responsible Sourcing Tool set can help you establish policies, performance standards, and processes to assess, address, and monitor supply chain risks.

Access the Tools
Due Diligence toolkit. The 12 tools are arranged in the shape of a circle, each numbered from 1 to 12. Establish Policies and Performance Standards (Tools 1 to 5). Assess, Address, and Monitor (Tools 6 to 11). Compliance Plan (Tool 12).

What’s New at RST

New Tools
Explore the Construction Industry Due Diligence Toolset.
Updated Commodities
Access the latest Commodity Reports.
Coming Up
Risk Map updates are underway.

Visit our Resource Library for additional background research, standards, and approaches for addressing risks.

Learn More