Monitoring and investigating human rights risk in the supply chain

Forced labor, an unfortunate reality in much of the world, may lie hidden (or in plain sight) in companies’ supply chains. Governments are taking notice, and CFEs have a key role to play in combating the problem.

We’d like to think we live in a world in which all jobs are opportunities that come with protections for personal safety and sovereignty. But for many workers around the world, their labor is the product of coercion and exploitation. A recent study by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a U.N. agency, found that forced labor generates $236 billion a year in illegal profits. The study found that higher levels of exploitation correlated to higher profits, and traffickers and criminals can generate around $10,000 per victim of forced labor. (See “New Study Reports Widespread Forced Labor Abuses,” Voice of America, March 19, 2024.)

In this column, I’ll explain what this all has to do with Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs), but first, let’s examine what “forced labor” means.

What is forced labor?