Haldane Room, Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford, OX2 6UD
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Thursday, 8 May 2014 - 9:30am to 4:00pm
The Business of Traffic in Humans
This workshop will explore the role of the state and businesses in the fight against trafficking in human beings, addressing recent developments in the European and national policy context, requirements under human rights law, and the issues of business compliance and due diligence.
In the business of human trafficking, human beings are treated as commodities to be bought and sold, with unscrupulous perpetrators preying on the vulnerability of economic migrants. Such practices are carried out under the cover of legitimate business activities, in agriculture, construction, domestic service, the transport sector, and the food service industry.
The workshop will examine the duty of the state to develop appropriate policies and legislation to protect against human rights abuses by business. It will also explore the more contested limits of the responsibility of business to respect human rights, including the duty to act with due diligence to avoid infringing the rights of others, and to address adverse impacts of business activities.
The policy context within which the discussion will take place includes the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights, the UK Action Plan on Business and Human Rights announced in September 2013, which establishes clear expectations that UK companies should respect human rights, and the draft Modern Slavery Bill.
Academics, policymakers, and practitioners will assess the lack of effective legal requirements placed on UK companies to comply with these principles, and the effectiveness of possible incentives for compliance or sanctions for non-compliance.
Frank Field MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Modern Slavery Bill
Catherine Bearder MEP, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Parosha Chandran, human rights barrister, Pump Court Chambers
Neil Wilkins, Institute for Human Rights and Business
Darryl Dixon, The Gangmasters Licencing Authority
Colleen Theron, Finance Against Trafficking
Petya Nestorova, Council of Europe, Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)
Jason Nunn, Finance Against Trafficking
Klara Skrivankova, Anti-Slavery International
Professor Denis Galligan, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford University
Professor Ryszard Piotrowicz, Department of Law & Criminology, Aberystwyth University
Marija Jovanovic, DPhil Candidate, Faculty of Law, Oxford University
Mei-Ling McNamara, Journalist, filmmaker, and PhD candidate in Trans-Disciplinary Documentary Film, University of Edinburgh
Watch Mei-Ling McNamara's investigation into Vietnamese children trafficked to work in the UK's cannabis trade
The Business of Traffic in Humans - Programme.pdf