CHRI announces the launch of a major new international report: "Eradicating Modern Slavery: An assessment of Commonwealth governments' progress on achieving SDG Target 8.7" in collaboration with global anti-slavery organisation Walk Free, which exposes the existing gaps in Commonwealth government responses to modern slavery and a roadmap for action to end it.

This publication highlights Commonwealth government action, and inaction, to tackle modern slavery. In 2018, Commonwealth governments committed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7. Two years on, this report finds that progress has been slow and concrete action is urgently needed to achieve this target by 2030.

A review of 54 Commonwealth government responses reveals that a lack of legislation across many states undermines attempts to deter and convict perpetrators of modern slavery. Almost a fifth of countries have yet to criminalise human trafficking, while two-thirds have failed to make forced marriage illegal. The effectiveness of criminal justice systems across the Commonwealth continues to be compromised by weak enforcement of this legislation. Restrictive immigration policies also facilitates coercion and prevents workers from leaving an exploitative employer. Discrimination, including harmful traditional practices, plays a significant role in exacerbating the vulnerability of groups to exploitation — for example, caste-based discrimination in India, the exclusion of the Rohingya population from accessing some services in Bangladesh, and the widespread criminalisation of homosexuality across the African region.

CHRI and Walk Free call for modern slavery to be set firmly on the agenda for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), and for member states to commit to launch a major initiative to combat modern slavery and protect those who are most vulnerable.

The report was launched during an online event which took place on 30 July 2020, the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons - the press release is available here. he recording of the event is available here.

An op-ed article from CHRI and Walk Free based on the findings of the report is available here: