Partner Information
Responsible Sourcing Tool is the result of the collaboration between Verité and the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Verité hosts this website and requests suggestions, feedback, and questions via this email: verite@verite.org.
The State Department funded the efforts of the three other groups and worked closely with each to pull together this resource for companies, federal contractors, federal procurement and contracting professionals, advocates, investors, consumers and others to rid supply chains of human trafficking. The Aspen Institute managed the process of soliciting input on this website and the compliance and risk information it conveys from a variety of stakeholders, including civil society groups, companies of many types and sizes, government officials, and survivors of human trafficking. Verité’s research and supply chain compliance expertise provides the content for the site. Made in a Free World designed this website using their expertise in user interface design and engagement on supply chain anti-trafficking efforts. Verité hosts this website and requests suggestions, feedback, and questions via this email: verite@verite.org.
Methodology for Determining Risk Information for This Website
A wide variety of data was used to determine how to present the risk information you will see on this website on maps, in narrative form, and in charts and graphs. These data include global production and trade flows; numerous reports on human trafficking as well as reports focused on forced labor and/or child labor associated with the production of goods and the provision of services; and information about any countries in which trafficking-related problems have been reported in association with a particular supply chain or service.
The data underpinning the “Visualize Risk” map, highlighting countries with risk of forced labor and child labor in the production of goods and/or provision of services, are drawn more narrowly from authoritative United States government sources. Specifically, the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons’ annual Trafficking in Persons Report and the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor published and maintained by the International Labor Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor. The map is intended to illustrate countries where a risk of forced labor and/or child labor has been noted by these sources; it does not represent an exhaustive or determinative list of all countries where these abuses occur. As it seeks to represent risk rather than prevalence or incidence, the map also cannot differentiate between relative levels of risk. Given the challenging nature of studying labor rights abuses, particularly abuses such as forced labor and human trafficking, it is important to consider that gaps in country-based data may, in many cases, reflect a lack of authoritative research rather than a lack of risk. In the case of service sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, housekeeping/facilities, and transportation and warehousing, data underpinning the map visualization is drawn primarily from the Trafficking in Persons Report, as the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor focuses on risk in the production of goods rather than in service delivery. (However, efforts have been made, where feasible, to link risk in the production of goods with relevant sectors – such as tying risk in the production of medical equipment to risk in the healthcare sector.)
Given data limitations, it was necessary to examine other indicators of risk related to human trafficking. One key indicator of risk was the incidence of child labor. Child labor is not synonymous with forced labor or trafficking. Child labor can vary considerably from sector to sector, country to country, and household to household. For the purposes of helping website users understand risk, however, child labor provides a helpful factor for evaluating potential risk of trafficking in a country or supply chain, given that the drivers for both may be similar in some contexts, such as demand for cheap, exploitable, unskilled labor; poverty; unequal access to education; and exclusionary social attitudes based on caste, gender, immigration status, or ethnicity. In short, it should be noted that the description of child labor risk associated with commodities on this website should not be used exclusively to evaluate the risk of trafficking in a supply chain, but rather to provide additional context and information.
The country profiles on this website provide information about key demographic, economic, labor force, and socio-political conditions. In addition to a narrative report on the country’s trafficking situation, the graphics present information on factors like corruption, poverty, unemployment, migration rates, civil liberties, union rights, etc. that provide important (though not absolutely determinative) insights into the conditions and structures of a society that are associated with risk of trafficking, as well as other forms of labor exploitation.
All data and analysis on this website are meant to introduce users to the issues and risks associated with human trafficking and encourage users to explore the issues in more depth. The resources and tools on this website are not meant to be exhaustive or determinative. Resources and information points will be updated periodically.
Risk information and reports will be updated on a periodic basis.
Tutorial
The following video tutorial explains how users including companies, federal contractors, federal procurement and contracting professionals, advocates, investors and others can use this website to understand and prevent risks of human trafficking in supply chains.
