King's College London

To mark Anti-Slavery Day last month, Dr Gabriela Gutierrez Huerter O chaired the roundtable: ‘Accelerating action on modern slavery’, attended by key stakeholders in the construction and built environment sector.

The session aimed to critically discuss current barriers that organisations in the sector are facing in the eradication of modern slavery. Participants were able to hear first-hand from an SME (small to medium enterprise) adopting the recent standard on Organisational Responses to Modern Slavery.

Below, Dr Gutierrez Huerter O reflects on some of the most prominent issues discussed.

Progress and ongoing challenges

Looking back at what meaningful changes Section 54 of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 triggered, participants recognised that the sector is in a different place. There are pockets of good practices in different organisations and there are signs that collaboration is taking place. Irrespective of the quality of these modern slavery statements, the awareness and mitigation measures are much better they were five years ago.

However, participants agreed on the three key factors deterring effective action: the lack of pressure from regulators and clients, the complexity of the issue, and the decoupling of policies between the organisational and the site level. It is indeed at the site level where things get muddled and there is a lack of clarity about who bears responsibility for the issue.

Driving action against modern slavery

Discussing the current developments outside the UK, particularly with the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD)  on the horizon, participants agreed that the UK is falling behind the game in the eradication of modern slavery.

Forced labour bans and due diligence enforcements could substantially be game changers and accelerate action in the UK. However, in the absence of strong legislation, initiatives like the CCLA Modern Slavery Benchmark have been successful in prompting companies to take meaningful action through name and shame approaches.

Renewed motivation from government to tackle the issue

Participants concurred that the change in government poses an interesting juncture for the anti- slavery and human trafficking community. Efforts like the Home Office hire of 200 staff to clear a backlog of 23,300 modern slavery cases were welcomed. Moreover, the current proposal of the Employment Rights Bill to create a Fair Work Agency with powers to fine and prosecute employers who breach employment rights was seen as a step forward in holding businesses accountable.

The importance of framing the problem

My research in the construction sector has revealed the pervasive impact of some frames which have failed to direct responsibility to businesses and hampered the development of collective solutions.

At the roundtable, participants recognised the importance of language and terms that may emphasise certain facets of the problem, including its causes. While there are still debates on whether the use of the term modern slavery or labour exploitation are the most effective ways to define the issue, participants raised concerns that across the supply chain, many organisations are not able to grasp the differences across these terminologies.

Other terms like trafficking are also frequently used. Yet there is little understanding of the differences and nuances among them. This is one of the areas where BS 25700 has helped to improve understanding. In addition to outlining best practices in areas such as prevention, identification, mitigation and reporting, the standard provides a holistic overview of the issue to educate users.

One of the participants suggested that a way to attract attention from a client and senior executive perspective may be through the use of the term slavery discount. The term was coined by Sharon Prince, CEO and founder of Grace Farms Foundation and is now widely used in the Design for Freedom movement. Participants mentioned this could become a powerful device to engage clients when prompting the question on whether a building project is going to cost more.

BS 25700: Supporting organisations on their journey tackling modern slavery

The case of adoption of BS25700 presented in the session showcased how an SME can undertake action beyond simply reporting and affect change within the sector. The SME that works in the Built Environment sector has been one of the early adopters of the standard.

They provided an inspiring account of how the standard has enabled them to understand better modern slavery within the organisation and triggered questions about how truly ethical their practices are and how to they hold themselves, their supply chain and their clients to account.

To find out more about Dr Gabriela Gutierrez Huerter O’s work, visit her profile.