Global Slavery Index
Mexico City, Mexico, August 2021. A young boy searches through waste for food to eat. His family’s economic situation has been affected by lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he must work with his parents to be able to eat. Photo Credit: Aidee Martinez / Eyepix Group / Future Publishing. Getty Images.
Global Slavery Index / Regional Findings

The Americas

Regional Highlights

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Overview

The Americas region is home to 13 per cent of the world’s population, with varying levels of wealth, mobility, and security across and within countries in the region. Modern slavery in the region is driven by inequality,1 increasing poverty,2 discrimination against migrants and minority groups, political instability, and conflict. The situation has been exacerbated by economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it,3 as well as the impacts of climate-related displacement.

An estimated 3.5 per thousand people in the region are in forced labour and 1.5 per thousand in forced marriage. Mass migration fuels forced labour, particularly in the world’s largest migration corridor from Mexico to the United States (US). Migrants flee countries such as Venezuela and others and congregate on the border between the US and Mexico.4 Forced marriage is linked to increased poverty and lower educational attainment,5 and is driven by longstanding patriarchal norms and fundamentalist religious beliefs within the region; for example, in North America forced marriage is reported in conservative religious sects.6

The US has taken the most action to tackle modern slavery in the Americas, followed by Canada, Argentina, and Uruguay. Cuba, Suriname, and Venezuela have taken the least action. Of the five G20 countries in the region (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the US), Brazil, Canada and the US have taken action to tackle modern slavery in supply chains. Much more needs to be done to strengthen legislation to hold businesses to account and to tackle gender inequality that drives modern slavery of women and girls.

What is the extent and nature of modern slavery in the region?

An estimated 5.1 million men, women, and children were living in modern slavery on any given day in 2021. The Americas had the lowest prevalence of modern slavery among the five regions, with 5 in every thousand people living in modern slavery. The Americas had the third highest prevalence of forced labour (3.5 per thousand) and the lowest prevalence of forced marriage (1.5 per thousand) compared to other regions.7

Within the region, Venezuela, Haiti, and El Salvador had the highest prevalence of modern slavery. In Haiti8 and Venezuela9 modern slavery is intertwined with migration, political instability, and drug trafficking routes from South America to Central and North America,10 while in El Salvador it is associated with gang violence and gender-based violence.11

The largest estimated numbers of people in modern slavery include some of the region’s most populous countries — Brazil, the US, and Mexico. Three of every five people in modern slavery in the Americas are exploited in one of these countries. The countries with the lowest prevalence in the region are Canada, Uruguay, and Chile.

Children in the Americas are at particularly high risk of all forms of modern slavery. They have been recruited as soldiers in protracted civil conflicts in Colombia and Venezuela, resulting in long-lasting trauma.12 Child recruitment by armed groups, gangs, and organised crime has increased in the region, impacting children in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and El Salvador.13 Moreover, children are reportedly involved in hazardous labour in industries such as mining in gold and tin,14 drug trafficking,15 and agriculture, most notably in cotton, cattle, fishing, and tobacco.16 Commercial sexual exploitation of children occurs in the region. In the Caribbean, sex tourism,17 particularly involving children18 remains an issue, with sex tourists, primarily from the US, seeking to exploit children in countries such as Belize.19 UN estimates reveal that child marriage is prevalent in the region with 22 per cent of women between ages 20 and 24 having been married before the age of 18 years.20 In the US, recent research estimated that 300,000 children were married between 2000 and 2018.21

Seasonal, temporary, and undocumented workers in the agricultural sector are vulnerable to forced labour, including workers in higher-income countries such as the US and Canada.22 This is particularly true in informal or rural labour contexts where there are limited regulations and few labour inspections.23 Forced labour in US supply chains remains an issue in the Americas,24 with agricultural workers in countries that supply products to the US market vulnerable to exploitation. Moreover, there are reports of compulsory prison labour in public and private prisons in Brazil25 and the US.26

“The farm owner hired me… [and] he used to say to me to wait when the work was done then he would pay me, but at the end he did not pay.” 42-year-old Brazilian male survivor of forced labour

Although these estimates are the most reliable to date, they are conservative given the gaps and limitations of data collection in the Americas. These figures do not capture all forms of modern slavery, such as recruitment of child soldiers, trafficking for the purposes of organ removal, and all child marriages.

Table 1: Estimated prevalence and number of people in modern slavery, by country
Regional rank  Country Est. prevalence of modern slavery (per 1,000 population)  Est. number of people in modern slavery Population 
1 Venezuela 9.5 270,000 28,436,000
2 Haiti 8.2 94,000 11,403,000
3 El Salvador 8.1 52,000 6,486,000
4 Guatemala 7.8 140,000 17,916,000
5 Colombia 7.8 397,000 50,883,000
6 Ecuador 7.6 135,000 17,643,000
7 Nicaragua 7.3 49,000 6,625,000
8 Jamaica 7.3 22,000 2,961,000
9 Bolivia 7.2 83,000 11,673,000
10 Peru 7.1 234,000 32,972,000
11 Honduras 7 69,000 9,905,000
12 Dominican Republic 6.6 72,000 10,848,000
13 Mexico 6.6 850,000 128,933,000
14 Paraguay 6.4 46,000 7,133,000
15 Cuba 5.4 61,000 11,327,000
16 Brazil 5.0 1,053,000 212,559,000
17 Trinidad and Tobago 4.7 7,000 1,399,000
18 Panama 4.7 20,000 4,315,000
19 Guyana 4.2 3,000 787,000
20 Argentina 4.2 189,000 45,196,000
21 United States 3.3 1,091,000 331,003,000
22 Costa Rica 3.2 16,000 5,094,000
23 Chile 3.2 61,000 19,116,000
24 Uruguay 1.9 7,000 3,474,000
25 Canada 1.8 69,000 37,742,000

What drives vulnerability to modern slavery in the region?

Figure 1: Level of vulnerability to modern slavery, by dimension

Vulnerability to modern slavery in the Americas region is driven largely by inequality, political instability, and discrimination against migrants and minority groups (Figure 1). Conflict disproportionately impacted two countries in the region, Mexico and Colombia, while vulnerability was further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate-related disasters across the region. At the country level, vulnerability to modern slavery is highest in Haiti and lowest in Canada (Table 2).

Inequality represents the greatest driver of vulnerability in the Americas. Certain populations, including women, children, migrants, and Indigenous people, face heightened vulnerability as a result of systemic discrimination. In Haiti, children known as restavecs (stay withs), who are given away by their parents to a host household, are vulnerable to exploitation in domestic servitude, with girls particularly at risk.27 Restavec children are trafficked and are at increased vulnerability to sexual abuse.28 Across the region, Indigenous populations are particularly vulnerable to modern slavery. For example, although Indigenous women make up only 4 per cent of the population of Canada, they comprise at least 50 per cent of identified survivors of human trafficking.29 Migrant workers are also at greater risk, with the absence of protections in several countries, such as the right to form a union or laws prohibiting recruitment fees.30

Governance issues, such as political instability, lack of political rights, and poor regulatory quality, also drive vulnerability to modern slavery by causing displacement and hampering the national response. Violent protests in Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, the assassination of the President of Haiti in 2021 and increasing control of the country by street gangs and growing political polarisation in Brazil and the US31 drive vulnerability across the region. High rates of violent crime in several countries including Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Jamaica,32 and weak confidence in judicial systems in Mexico, Haiti, and Venezuela, diminish accessibility to legal rights, representation, and prosecution.33 In Venezuela, political instability and corruption among the prosecution and judiciary undermines law enforcement efforts,34 while armed groups continue to commit acts of violence against civilians, thereby driving mass migration.35

Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by governance issues across the region, as patriarchal attitudes that suppress women’s agency persist at both the household and institutional levels.36 Such attitudes contribute to the absence of laws protecting women and girls — for example, laws that set the minimum age of marriage at 18 without exception37 — and a lack of enforcement of existing legal frameworks covering violence against women.38

Violence, poverty, political dysfunction, and environmental degradation across the region have led to a substantial increase in refugees, asylum-seekers, and other vulnerable and displaced populations.39 The continual movement of migrants and refugees is a pressing issue in the Americas, which hosted 26 per cent of the world’s international migrants in 2020.40 Venezuela’s political instability and socio-economic breakdown has pushed more than 6 million citizens to flee the country as of November 2021.41 The Mexico-US border is the world’s most popular migration corridor;42 over the five years from 2016 to 2021, some 4 million migrants were apprehended along the Mexico-US border, nearly half of whom came from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The remaining came predominately from Mexico and other nations.43 In Mexico, migrants are held in crowded detention centres, while those who had sought assistance in shelters reported experiencing robbery, extortion, bodily harm, kidnapping, and abuse of authority while migrating, all factors which make these individuals vulnerable to modern slavery.44 As many countries in the Americas have restrictive immigration policies, which force migrants to take increasingly precarious routes, thereby further exacerbating their vulnerability to trafficking and other forms of modern slavery.45

Table 2: Level of vulnerability to modern slavery, by country
Country  Total (%)
Haiti 66
Venezuela 66
Honduras 62
Mexico 58
Guatemala 57
Nicaragua 54
El Salvador 53
Colombia 51
Ecuador 48
Paraguay 48
Peru 47
Brazil 47
Bolivia 47
Jamaica 45
Cuba 43
Guyana 41
Dominican Republic 41
Trinidad and Tobago 38
Argentina 36
Panama 34
Uruguay 27
United States 25
Costa Rica 24
Chile 22
Canada 11

What are governments in the region doing to address modern slavery?

Walk Free has assessed government responses to modern slavery in 32 countries in the Americas. Governments across the region scored an average of 48 per cent, second only to Europe and Central Asia. National responses in the Americas are mixed. Despite some strong responses in the region, there is evidence of weak criminal justice systems and inadequate protection for survivors, which are compounded by government crises, corruption, and large migration flows.

Wealth disparity impacts government responses to modern slavery within the region. Wealthier countries typically demonstrated stronger responses to modern slavery, with the US (67 per cent) and Canada (60 per cent) — the region’s wealthiest countries — ranking first and second respectively. The US also performed well at the global level, ranking within the top five. At the same time, some countries with comparatively lower wealth also demonstrated strong responses to modern slavery. Argentina’s response (58 per cent) ranked third in the region, only just below Canada, despite having less than half the GDP per capita PPP (current international $) (US$20,769 compared to US$46,572).46 Some of the countries that demonstrated the least action to respond to modern slavery had the lowest GDP per capita among countries assessed and had experienced political and economic disruption; for example, Venezuela (27 per cent) and Cuba (31 per cent).

The US, Canada, Argentina, and Uruguay demonstrated the strongest responses to modern slavery. Compared to others in the Americas, these countries are generally taking concrete actions to improve certain aspects of survivor support, strengthen criminal justice systems, and address risk factors. The Canadian government routinely releases annual reports describing actions to combat modern slavery and has an independent oversight mechanism in place for monitoring the functioning and effectiveness of its National Action Plan.47 In 2019, Canada also ratified the ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 with its ratification entering into force on 17 June 2020.48 Venezuela demonstrated the weakest responses to modern slavery. Venezuela continues to be affected by protracted economic and political instability, which hampered the government’s ability to respond.49

"My employer took away my passport, locked me in the house and disconnected the phone whenever she left home. I was made to sleep on the basement floor. I was so isolated from the outside world that I had no idea there was help available." Fainess Lipinga, United States50

Saint Lucia, Canada, and Uruguay have all taken further action to combat modern slavery since the previous assessment of government responses in 2018. In Saint Lucia, the government introduced a hotline that facilitates reporting to specialised human trafficking task forces, federal authorities, local law enforcement, and service providers.51 This was accompanied by a widespread awareness campaign to promote the hotline.52 Since the last report, Peru, Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, and Suriname have also ratified the ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930,53 while the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) entered into force in Mexico, Peru, and Antigua and Barbuda.54

The strength of legislative frameworks to combat modern slavery in the Americas is varied. Across the region, 21 countries criminalise human trafficking, 12 countries criminalise forced labour, and only seven countries criminalise forced marriage (Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Saint Lucia, Bahamas, Canada, and Belize). The US provided up to US$10 million in funding for programs to prevent child marriage around the world from 2017 to 2020,55 yet most of its states still allow children under the age of 18 to marry and eight have not set a minimum age.56 In most countries assessed, governments provided training for the judiciary and prosecution, however only 11 countries provided this training regularly. When considering protections for children, 15 countries have criminalised child commercial sexual exploitation; however, only Colombia, Nicaragua, and Panama have criminalised the use of children in armed conflict. Only Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago are yet to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

While the majority of countries in the region had specialised law enforcement units to investigate modern slavery, 16 of them did not have the resources to operate effectively. In El Salvador, both the anti-trafficking police and prosecution units did not have enough resources to investigate and prosecute cases and were further impeded by the lack of an electronic case management system.57 Additionally, there is evidence that survivors of modern slavery have been treated as criminals for conduct that occurred while under the control of criminals in the US, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, and Honduras. In the US, survivors are criminalised and face challenges finding employment and housing because of charges laid against them while they were under the control of criminals.58

All countries in the Americas are involved in a regional response to modern slavery. National coordination bodies exist in all but two countries (Cuba and Venezuela); however, only the US, Guyana, and Canada include survivors of modern slavery in this coordination. Almost all countries in the Americas have a National Action Plan to combat modern slavery; only Chile does not. Chile’s draft National Action Plan has not been formally approved or made public, while after years of awaiting approval, Paraguay finally implemented a National Action Plan covering the period from 2020 to 2024.59

While nearly all countries in the Americas have criminalised corruption, allegations of official complicity in modern slavery cases were reportedly not investigated in 17 countries. In Mexico, where an anonymous hotline to report corruption of officials received no tips despite reports of government officials facilitating modern slavery, some officials have been investigated but there have been no convictions.60 Labour inspections specifically targeting modern slavery occur in 24 countries, although none have sufficient labour inspectors to cover the entire population or to allow labour inspectors to enter premises unannounced. Only in Honduras are labour inspectors able to enforce fines. In 12 countries, not all children are able to access birth registration systems, which creates significant vulnerability due to related barriers to accessing education and employment.

There is evidence of awareness campaigns targeting known modern slavery risks in all but two countries in the region. In 2021, Canada launched a five-year awareness campaign based on a survey of public attitudes and awareness on human trafficking.61 There is also evidence that governments have facilitated research on modern slavery in 19 countries, including, for example, a 2021 study on the state of human trafficking in Honduras62 and a 2020 study to reduce vulnerability to human trafficking and crime in Saint Lucia.63 That being said, state-imposed forced labour, such as abuse of compulsory prison labour, undermines any government efforts to tackle modern slavery in Brazil64 and the US.65

Although the Americas has the second strongest response in terms of addressing forced labour in global supply chains in comparison to other regions, the level of action remains low. Recently, Canada and Mexico joined the US in enacting legislation that prohibits companies from importing goods produced through forced labour and, more recently, passed its own “Modern Slavery Act” which imposes a mandatory reporting obligation on certain government institutions and private sector entities.66 The US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement came into effect in July 2020 and prohibited the importation of goods produced with forced labour into each country’s territory.67 In the same month, Canada amended its Customs Tariff to incorporate the restriction on goods produced with forced labour.68 The US also passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2021, which entered into effect in June 2022, to prevent goods made with forced labour of Uyghurs from entering the US market.69

Table 3: Government response score, by country and milestone
Country Survivors identified and supported (%) Criminal justice mechanisms (%) National and regional level coordination (%) Risk factors are addressed (%) Government and business supply chains (%) Total (%)
United States 86 62 63 64 38 67
Canada 59 58 75 79 25 60
Argentina 50 73 75 64 0 58
Uruguay 55 73 50 64 0 56
Chile 55 69 50 64 0 55
Mexico 50 65 88 57 0 55
Peru 59 65 63 57 0 55
Bahamas 68 65 25 50 0 53
Brazil 45 50 75 57 38 51
Costa Rica 50 62 63 50 13 51
Ecuador 50 58 63 57 13 51
Guyana 50 65 63 50 0 51
Jamaica 41 62 88 57 0 51
Panama 41 65 50 71 0 51
Saint Lucia 45 69 50 57 0 51
Paraguay 41 69 63 43 0 49
Trinidad and Tobago 50 65 63 36 0 49
Bolivia 32 58 75 57 13 47
Guatemala 59 50 63 43 0 47
Honduras 45 54 50 64 0 47
Colombia 45 46 63 57 13 46
Dominican Republic 32 62 63 57 0 46
Belize 50 58 38 43 0 45
El Salvador 45 58 50 43 0 45
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 59 50 63 29 0 45
Antigua and Barbuda 36 54 63 50 0 44
Barbados 36 54 38 50 0 41
Haiti 41 38 38 50 0 37
Nicaragua 27 50 38 43 0 36
Cuba 27 38 50 29 0 31
Suriname 36 35 25 36 0 31
Venezuela 14 46 25 29 0 27

Recommendations for governments

  1. Introduce legislation requiring governments and businesses to take steps to identify and address modern slavery in their supply chains, including mandatory human rights due diligence.

  2. Enact or strengthen existing legislation to ensure that all forms of exploitation are criminalised and penalties for crimes associated with forced labour, forced marriage, and human trafficking are appropriate for the severity of the crime.

  3. Improve support and identification efforts for all victims throughout the Americas by providing services to all survivors of modern slavery, including men, children, and migrants.

  4. Establish bilateral agreements protecting labour migrants between countries of origin and destination.

  5. Adopt and distribute national guidelines for identifying and screening victims and provide systematic and regular training for police and other first responders, as well as border guards, immigration officials, labour inspectors, teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, and tourism sector workers, with a particular emphasis on countries receiving large influxes of migrants fleeing crisis in the region.

Endnotes

1Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean 2022, ‘Extreme Poverty in the Region Rises to 86 Million in 2021 due to the Deepening of the Social and Health Crisis Prompted by the COVID-19 Pandemic, ‘ 25 January, United Nations. Available from: https://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/extreme-poverty-region-rises-86-million-2021-due-deepening-social-and-health-crisis. [14 March 2022].
2The World Bank 2021, ‘Pandemic Crisis Fuels Decline of Middle Class in Latin America and the Caribbean’, 24 June, The World Bank. Available from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/06/24/pandemic-crisis-fuels-decline-of-middle-class-LAC. [14 March 2022].
3Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean 2022, Extreme Poverty in the Region Rises to 86 Million in 2021 due to the Deepening of the Social and Health Crisis Prompted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Available from: https://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/extreme-poverty-region-rises-86-million-2021-due-deepening-social-and-health-crisis. [14 March 2022]; International Labour Organization 2020, Impact on the labour market and income in Latin America and the Caribbean 2. Available from: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—americas/—ro-lima/documents/publication/wcms_756697.pdf. [14 March 2022].
4Congressional Research Service 2021, Central American Migration: Root Causes and U.S. Policy. Available from: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/IF11151.pdf. [14 March 2022]; Mixed Migration Centre 2021, Getting it together: Extra-regional migration in South, Central and North America and the need for more coordinated responses. Available from: https://mixedmigration.org/resource/getting-it-together-extra-regional-migration-in-south-central-and-north-america/. [14 March 2022]; Regional Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants of Venezuela 2021, R4V Latin America and the Caribbean, Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in the Region – November 2021, UNHCR and IOM. Available from: https://www.r4v.info/en/document/r4v-latin-america-and-caribbean-venezuelan-refugees-and-migrants-region-november-2021 [24 January 2022].
5United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund 2019, A Profile of Child Marriage and Early Unions in Latin America and the Caribbean, p. 8. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/lac/media/8256/file/Profile%20of%20Child%20Marriage%20in%20LAC.pdf. [9 March 2023]; Cassidy, P & Turner, T 2021, ‘The Fight Continues to End Child Marriage in the U.S’, United Nations Children’s Fund, 25 August. Available from: https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/fight-continues-end-child-marriage-us. [9 March 2023].
6International Labour Organization, Walk Free & International Organization for Migration 2022, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. Available from: https://cdn.walkfree.org/content/uploads/2022/09/12142341/GEMS-2022_Report_EN_V8.pdf. [8 November 2022].
7International Labour Organization, Walk Free & International Organization for Migration 2022, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. Available from: https://cdn.walkfree.org/content/uploads/2022/09/12142341/GEMS-2022_Report_EN_V8.pdf. [8 November 2022].
8United Nations Office on Drug and Crime 2023, Haiti’s criminal markets: Mapping trends in firearms and drug trafficking. Available from: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/toc/Haiti_assessment_UNODC.pdf. [14 March 2023].
9Human Rights Watch 2019, The War in Catatumbo: Abuses by Armed Groups Against Civilians Including Venezuelan Exiles in Northeastern Colombia. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/colombia0819_web_0.pdf. [24 January 2022].
10Villaverde, J 2021, ‘Ecuador y Venezuela, la primera parada de la ruta de la droga hacia EE UU.’, La Razon, 5 December. Available from: https://www.larazon.es/internacional/20211205/7i5r2roxjjd2lp3nj2wcmghxku.html. [14 March 2023]; International Organization for Migration 2018, ‘Central, North American Countries Work on Joint Strategy Against Migrant Smuggling with IOM, UNODC support’, IOM, 13 March. Available from: https://www.iom.int/news/central-north-american-countries-work-joint-strategy-against-migrant-smuggling-iom-unodc-support. [14 March 2023].
11Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 2022, Trafficking in Persons Report, United States Department of State, p. 218. Available from: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20221020-2022-TIP-Report.pdf. [13 March 2023].
12Human Rights Watch 2019, The War in Catatumbo: Abuses by Armed Groups Against Civilians Including Venezuelan Exiles in Northeastern Colombia. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/colombia0819_web_0.pdf. [24 January 2022]; Human Rights Watch 2020, ‘The Guerrillas Are the Police’ Social Control and Abuses by Armed Groups in Colombia’s Arauca Province and Venezuela’s Apure State. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/colombia0120_web.pdf. [24 January 2022].
13Save the Children Colombia 2022, Child Recruitment in Colombia: Fear in the River. Available from: https://www.savethechildren.net/blog/child-recruitment-colombia-fear-river. [7 March 2023]; United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund 2021, Country Office Annual Report: El Salvador. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/media/116261/file/El-Salvador-2021-COAR.pdf. [7 March 2023].
14United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 2020, Independence of the justice system and access to justice in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, including for violations of economic and social rights, and the situation of human rights in the Arco Minero del Orinoco region, United Nations. Available from: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3897807?ln=en. [24 January 2022]; Verité n.d., Commodity Atlas: Coltan, Tungsten, & Tin. Available from: https://www.verite.org/project/coltan-tungsten-tin-2/. [31 January 2022].
15World Vision International 2020, A Double-Edged Sword: Protection Risks Facing Venezuelan Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Available from: https://www.wvi.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/A%20DOUBLE-EDGED%20SWORD.pdf. [24 January 2022].
16Bureau of International Labor Affairs 2021, List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, United States Department of Labor. Available from: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods-print. [31 January 2022]; Wurth, M 2021, US Government Should End Child Labor at Home, Human Rights Watch. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/30/us-government-should-end-child-labor-home. [31 January 2022].
17John, M 2020, ‘A critical approach to understanding human trafficking in the Caribbean’, The International Journal of Human Rights, vol. 24. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341357868_A_critical_approach_to_understanding_human_trafficking_in_the_Caribbean. [28 January 2022].
18Campos, M 2020, ‘The increase of prostitution in Latin America’, LatinAmericanPost, 3 October 2020. Available from: https://latinamericanpost.com/34572-the-increase-of-prostitution-in-latin-america. [14 March 2023].
19Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 2022, Trafficking in Persons Report, United States Department of State, p. 125. Available from: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20221020-2022-TIP-Report.pdf. [14 March 2023].
20United Nations Children’s Fund 2021, Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before age 15; percentage of women and percentage of men aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before age 18. Available from: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/. [24 January 2022].
21Reiss, F 2021, ‘Child marriage in the United States: prevalence and implications’, Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 69, no. 6, pp. S8-S10. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.07.001. [24 January 2022].
22Sainato, M 2021, ‘‘A lot of abuse for little pay’: how US farming profits from exploitation and brutality’, The Guardian, 26 December. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/25/us-farms-made-200m-human-smuggling-labor-trafficking-operation. [31 January 2022]; United Food and Commercial Workers Union & Agriculture Workers Alliance 2020, The Status of Migrant Farm Workers in Canada, United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Available from: https://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/709696c3-7d67-4d2d-bf71-e600701a2c8c. [31 January 2022].
23ILO n.d., ILO Curriculum on ‘Building modern and effective labour inspection systems’. Available from: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—americas/—ro-lima/—sro-port_of_spain/documents/genericdocument/wcms_633613.pdf. [29 April 2022]; ILO 2018, A Guide on Labour Inspection Intervention in the Informal Economy A participatory method. Available from: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_dialogue/—lab_admin/documents/publication/wcms_626573.pdf. [29 April 2022].
24Bureau of International Labor Affairs 2021, List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, United States Department of Labor. Available from: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods-print. [31 January 2022].
25Teixeira, F 2019, ‘Volunteers or slaves? Brazil accused of illegal jail labor’, Reuters, 11 April. Available from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-slavery-idUSKCN1RN0CN. [18 August 2022].
26Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations 2021, Direct Request (CEACR) – adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021). Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105): United States of America, ILO NORMLEX. Available from: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID:4046585:NO. [16 December 2021].
27Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 2021, Trafficking in Persons Report: Haiti country narrative, United States Department of State, pp. 268-271. Available from: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TIPR-GPA-upload-07222021.pdf. [22 June 2022]; Walk Free 2020, Stacked Odds, Minderoo Foundation, p. 98. Available from: https://cdn.walkfree.org/content/uploads/2020/10/19130043/WF-Stacked-Odds-20210517.pdf. [30 September 2022].
28Walk Free 2020, Stacked Odds, Minderoo Foundation, p. 98. Available from: https://cdn.walkfree.org/content/uploads/2020/10/19130043/WF-Stacked-Odds-20210517.pdf. [30 September 2022].
29National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls 2019, Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, National Family Advisory Circle, p. 565. Available from: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/. [31 January 2022].
30Walk Free & Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative 2020, Eradicating Modern Slavery: An assessment of Commonwealth government progress on achieving SDG target 8.7, Walk Free. Available from: https://www.walkfree.org/reports/eradicating-modern-slavery/. [31 January 2022].
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