According to the 2017 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery published by Alliance 8.7, 40.3 million people were estimated to be victim of modern slavery in 2016. The rise of Modern Slavery is one of the most shameful issues of our life and times. As the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery stated: “Covid-19 has exposed pre-existing systemic gaps in social protection and justice systems, including with regard to identification and prosecution of contemporary forms of slavery, despite commitments made by States to meet target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals”. Modern Slavery is a threat to the rule of law in the world and a profound human tragedy, yet few jurisdictions have directly addressed it.
During this session, we have presented the work of the IBA Taskforce on Modern Slavery and we have considered whether Modern Slavery in the supply chain of a company already breaches or could easily breach laws in other parts of a legal system. This significant issue has not been analysed in such a holistic way before. Watch the recording of this important Presidential Showcase session to learn about how the IBA and the wider legal profession can align national legal systems against the global crime of Modern Slavery and begin to eradicate it.