April 09, 2009
Corporate Efforts to Help Eradicate Human Trafficking and Child Sex Tourism are Insufficient
by Robert Kropp
Organizations dedicated to the eradication of human trafficking and child sex tourism find that US
companies are especially reluctant to take action. Second of a two-part series.
SocialFunds.com --
Statistics compiled by the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking
(UN.GIFT) detail the extent to which human trafficking, including forced labor and sexual
exploitation, permeates the fabric of the global economy. An estimated 2.5 million people are
victims of human trafficking, and 161 countries are affected.
The majority of the 2.5 million trafficking
victims are between 18 and 24 years of age, and 95% of victims experienced physical or sexual
violence during trafficking. 43% of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation, and
32% are used for forced economic exploitation.
At the UN Special Session on Children in
2002, the UN estimated that 1.2 million children are trafficked every year, primarily for sexual
exploitation and child labor. The underlying reason why children are susceptible to trafficking is
always poverty, according to the UN.
Global annual profits made from trafficking are
estimated to be $31.6 billion, of which $15.5 billion (49%) is generated in industrialized
economies. The International Labour Organization
(ILO) estimates that 80% of all forced labor abuse takes place in the private economy. The
remainder occurs at the hands of governments and rebel military groups.
The globalization
of the economy has resulted in the management of complex supply chains and outsourcing operations
by multinational corporations. While management of human rights in their supply chains has become
more of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate for companies, the reputational risks
associated with the use of forced labor remains considerable for many companies. A recent survey
undertaken by UN.GIFT and the UN Global
Compact found that the relationship between business and human trafficking remains poorly
understood.
A survey from the UN Global Compact, entitled Human Trafficking: Everybody's Business,
states that businesses should ensure that their operations do not contribute to human trafficking.
Furthermore, "companies should consider ways to help eliminate the existence of human trafficking
through the promotion of codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility."
Yet the
survey found that less than 20% of corporate participants believe that human trafficking represents
a serious threat to the security of their global supply chains, and only 31% identified themselves
as motivated to address human trafficking.
Ursula Wynhoven of the UN Global Compact said,
"While many companies visited the online survey, relatively few actually completed it. We found
that even if businesses want to do something about the issues, there is often a reluctance to have
their names associated with them."
The survey recommends that companies undertake risk
assessments to help eliminate involvement with human trafficking. It also recommends that companies
develop training programs to raise awareness of the problem.
Some members of the
industries most vulnerable to involvement in child sex tourism have begun to take steps to address
the issue. In response to a shareowner engagement effort led in the US by Boston Common Asset Management, an investment
management firm, Marriott International agreed to implement training programs to address criminal
activities taking place at its locations worldwide.
In addition, Catholic Health East, led by Sister Kathleen Coll, administrator of
shareholder advocacy, has engaged with airlines in order to develop programs to educate their
customers about the prevalence of child sex tourism in its destinations in developing countries,
especially Asia and Central America.
Yet examples of successful engagement remain few and
far between. And while many European companies have taken steps to address a particularly ugly
example of human trafficking, very few US-based companies have followed suit.
Carol
Smolenski is the Executive Director of ECPAT-USA, which is the US-based branch of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children
for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), a network of organizations dedicated to the elimination of the
commercial sexual exploitation of children. Smolenski spoke with SocialFunds.com about the
challenges her organization has faced in encouraging corporations to take responsibility on the
issue.
"From its start in 1991, ECPAT sought to engage the travel industry, and by the
mid-nineties travel companies had begun to engage in dialogue with ECPAT on the issue of child sex
tourism," Smolenski said. "In 1998, ECPAT Sweden created a Code of Conduct for the travel industry
and had much success getting travel companies in Sweden to sign."
The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual
Exploitation in Travel and Tourism contains criteria to which signatories agree to commit
themselves. Companies agree to establish ethical policies regarding commercial sexual exploitation
of children, train personnel in countries of origin and travel destinations, contractually require
suppliers to repudiate commercial sexual exploitation of children, provide information to travelers
and local key personnel at destinations, and report annually.
Of the 623 current
signatories to the Code, only five are based in the United States.
Smolenski said, "We
have been promoting the Code in the US since 2003, but we've always had extreme reluctance from US
companies to talk to us at all. We tried to get US airlines to train employees and show an
in-flight video, but they all refused. The US Department of Transportation stepped in and asked the
airlines to show an in-flight video addressing child sex tourism, but the companies would not."
Smolenski recounted one incident in which an airline replied to the US Department of
Transportation request by expressing concern that showing an in-flight video on child sex tourism
would lead its customers to associate it with the practice.
A successful outcome of
ECPAT's efforts to promote the Code in the US occurred in 2004, when the Carlson Companies became a
signatory. "We had hoped that it would lead to other companies signing the Code, but that did not
happen," said Smolenski.
Pointing out that an estimated 25% of sex tourists reside in the
US, Smolenski continued, "We still hope they will take some steps to act responsibly. But I have to
point out the striking contrast between the lack of action by US companies and the cooperation by
other companies with holdings in Central America, for instance."
Wynhoven of the UN Global
Compact also noted the reluctance of many companies to identify themselves with the subject of
human trafficking, and suggested that actions taken by companies under the umbrella of general
human rights issue might find more favor.
"It's possible that if the issues are rephrased
to encompass more generally acceptable themes such as human rights and child protection, then more
companies would be willing to address the issues," Wynhoven said.
"Many businesses have
leveraged their influence with supply chains to further issues of women's empowerment," she
continued. "Maybe in this context businesses could come up with initiatives pertaining to related
issues involving human trafficking, which most often has women as its victims."
Meanwhile,
efforts by shareowners to engage companies on the issue of human trafficking have found their way
onto proxy voting proposals in 2009. The use of forced labor in Burmese oil fields, and the forced
labor conditions under which pig iron is used to make steel in Brazil, are examples of current
shareowner activities on the issue.
"What some might think is a social justice issue is
becoming an investor issue," Lauren Compere of Boston Common Asset Management said. "Modern-day
slavery is occurring at the sources where commodities are produced. Investors are demanding that
corporations extend their responsibilities to the origins of their supply chains."
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