See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? Barriers to modern slavery risk management in supply chains: an empirical investigation

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify the barriers that prohibit the detection, prevention and remedying of modern slavery incidents in supply chains. A conceptual model is developed that draws on literature on supply chain risk management and barriers to modern slavery. 22 semi-structured stakeholder interviews were conducted to examine common challenges. We distinguish between barriers at different levels–macro, supply chain and organisational–and before and after a modern slavery incident happens–pre-incident and post-incident phases. New barriers emerged in the pre-incident phase, including disparities in terminology, a lack of global law, and limited power in the supply chain; and in the post-incident phase, a lack of remediation frameworks emerged. Modern slavery is notoriously difficult to research as companies fear exposure, and we make a novel contribution by collecting primary data from 22 stakeholders engaged in the management of modern slavery.