Protections
Supply chains that source goods or services from countries with weak legal protections for civil liberties and workers’ rights are at risk for human trafficking. When safeguards for civil liberties such as freedoms of assembly, association, and expression are weak, civil society organizations are less able to monitor government and private sector actors and hold them accountable for unethical labor practices. Lack of formal protection for workers’ rights leaves workers with little legal recourse in the face of workplace abuses, and also undermines the potential for labor organizing, reducing the ability of workers’ to advocate for themselves in the face of exploitation and abuse. The impacts of such factors on human trafficking risk are exacerbated even further in countries where basic liberties are actively suppressed by repressive state regimes. Risk is also heightened in countries that protect workers’ rights for their own citizens, but fail to extend protections to foreign migrants or undocumented foreign migrants, particularly when such migrants make up a significant proportion of the low-wage workforce.
Corruption
A high degree of corruption is also associated with a risk of human trafficking. General disregard for the rule of law and lack of adherence to laws by government officials opens the door to trafficking of workers in many ways. Officials may be paid bribes to look the other way when faced with practices associated with human trafficking, such as the retention of migrant workers’ passports by employers, compulsory payment of “runaway insurance” fees by workers, or illegally high deductions from workers wages. Labor brokers may also bribe government officials in order to gain access to work permits or factory placements, passing along the cost of kick-back “commissions” to workers who are already being charged high recruitment fees, in this way contributing to vulnerability to debt bondage. In some cases, government officials may themselves own recruitment agencies or have a vested interest in them through familial or other personal ties.
Crime & Violence
Workers in countries with a high level of crime and violence are also at risk for trafficking. In particular, the presence of organized crime syndicates is often directly related, as crime rings trafficking in guns, drugs, or other illicit goods may also deal in human beings, facilitating delivery of workers to factories, farms, brothels, mines, or other sites of production. Countries in which organized crime flourishes often also have a high level of general lawlessness and corruption, both of which contribute to trafficking risk in their own right, both because workers may be fearful of leaving their jobs before paying off their debt or completing their contracts, and because they may be unlikely to file complaints with authorities who are perceived to be corrupt. More informally, the simple presence of gangs or street thugs in areas where workers live and work can significantly limit the freedom of movement of workers who may be far from home, increasing their dependence on their employers and limiting their ability to seek out resources that could help them resist unethical or abusive employment arrangements.
State Persecution
Countries in which some categories of workers – stateless individuals or undocumented migrants, for example – are actively persecuted by the state are also at risk of trafficking, since fear of government surveillance, detention, or deportation can act as a serious constraint on workers’ freedoms of movement and association, and consequently, on their ability to resist or advocate for themselves in the face of illegal labor exploitation.
Instability
Supply chains that rely on goods or services provided in countries experiencing political conflict or instability may be at risk due to a general destabilization of society and diminution in the rule of law. Such instability also increases the risk of the local population to being trafficked, a connection discussed below in the section on factors affecting trafficking risk in labor source countries. There are also cases in which certain areas of a country may be outside of government control, leading to an increased risk of trafficking in these regions. In some cases, organized crime syndicates or armed groups may rely on human trafficking as a means of financing the conflict or intimidating certain populations. Countries that are active theaters of war or other sites of emergent situations may also require rapid staffing of jobs in construction, housekeeping, security or other low-skilled fields, potentially leading to increased trafficking risk.