Context: Recently, CHRI announces the launch of a major new international report "Eradicating Modern Slavery: An assessment of Commonwealth government progress on achieving SDG Target 8.7" in collaboration with global anti-slavery organisation Walk Free.
About Modern Slavery

• There is no universally accepted definition of “modern slavery” or “contemporary forms of slavery.”
• Slavery is defined as situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. 
• Modern forms of slavery can include debt bondage, where a person is forced to work for free to pay off a debt, child slavery, forced marriage, domestic servitude and forced labour, where victims are made to work through violence and intimidation.
• Forced labour is any work or service which people are forced to do against their will, under threat of punishment.

Key highlights of the report

• It assessed the progress made by Commonwealth countries on the promises made in 2018 to end modern slavery by 2030 and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ending forced labour, human trafficking and child labour.
• It mentions that Commonwealth countries account for about 40% of people living in conditions of modern slavery in the world and the 54 nations were found lacking in actions to eradicate modern slavery by 2030.
• It states that the Commonwealth countries have made little progress towards their commitment to eradicate modern slavery by 2030, despite an estimated one in every 150 people in the Commonwealth living in conditions of modern slavery. 
• It reports that one-third of the Commonwealth countries had criminalised forced marriage, while 23 had not criminalised commercial sexual exploitation of children.
• It mentions that Out of 54 countries, only four engage with business to investigate supply chains, and all countries report gaps in victim assistance programs. 

Indian Context

• It raised the concern that  India had fared the worst in terms of coordination. It has no national coordinating body or National Action Plan in place to deal with modern-day slavery.
• India, like all other Commonwealth countries in Asia, had not ratified the International Labour Organisation’s 2011 Domestic Workers Convention or the 2014 Forced Labour Protocol.
• India accounted for one-third of all child brides in the world.

Constitutional and legal provisions in India against slavery

• Article 21 provides the Right to Life and Personal Liberty.
• Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits forced labour.
• Article 24 prohibits the employment of children (below the age of fourteen years) in factories, etc.
• Article 39 directs the State to secure the health and strength of workers, men and women, and to see the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.
• Article 42 directs the State to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.
• Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 has come into force wherein Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code has been substituted with Section 370 and 370A IPC which provide for comprehensive measures to counter the menace of human trafficking including trafficking of children for exploitation in any form including physical exploitation or any form of sexual exploitation, slavery, servitude, or the forced removal of organs.

There are other specific legislations enacted relating to trafficking in women and children like 

• Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, 
• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 
• 1994, apart from specific Sections in the IPC, e.g. Sections 372 and 373 dealing with selling and buying of girls for the purpose of prostitution.
• State Governments have also enacted specific legislation to deal with the issue. (e.g. The Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act, 2012).

Impact of COVID-19 and Modern Slavery

• COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated both existing vulnerabilities and gaps in protection and created new challenges in the fight to achieve SDG Target 8.7.
• By altering migration patterns and increasing poverty, unemployment, and inequality, COVID-19 has placed already vulnerable individuals at higher risk of exploitation.
• Millions of vulnerable workers lack access to COVID-19 testing, health care, sick leave or the physical or financial ability to self-isolate.
• Lockdown measures and the collapse of many parts of the economy mean that large numbers of people are now out of work, with no means to support themselves and their families making them more vulnerable to traffickers.
• Border closures and other travel restrictions have left migrant workers stranded, unable to support themselves or return home.
• Domestic workers, sex workers and those in forced marriages are particularly at risk behind closed doors at a time when usual support services are struggling to operate.

Recommendations by Commonwealth Countries to tackle Modern Slavery

• Support Survivors: Increase identification of, and improve support for, modern slavery victims and survivors by providing regular, systematic training for all frontline service providers.
• Strengthening Criminal Justice: Criminalise all forms of modern slavery, and ensure penalties are proportionate to the seriousness of the offence.
• Improve Coordination & Accountability: Improve coordination among national agencies by developing evidence-based national actions plans and establishing national referral mechanisms involving civil society, law enforcement agencies, and other groups.
• Address Risk Factors: Ensure labour protections extend to all groups, including migrant workers and children, in formal and informal economies and high-risk sectors, by strengthening and enforcing national laws and policies and regulating recruitment processes.

About the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)

• It is an independent, non-partisan, international non-governmental organisation, headquartered in New Delhi, working for the practical realisation of human rights across the Commonwealth.
• Commonwealth- It is also called the Commonwealth of Nations. 
• It is a free association of sovereign states comprising the United Kingdom and a number of its former dependencies who have chosen to maintain ties of friendship and practical cooperation and who acknowledge the British monarch as symbolic head of their association. 
• In 1949, the Commonwealth came into being and in 1965 the Commonwealth Secretariat was established in London to organize and coordinate Commonwealth activities.
• Its membership is based on free and equal voluntary cooperation. Presently it has 54 independent and equal sovereign states. India is a member.