For many in the West, slavery is a far off, historical concept. But a new index shows that consumers all over the world are getting products that at some stage were touched by the hands of modern-day slaves.
The Modern Slavery Index, put together by the risk consultancy group Verisk Maplecroft, looks at which countries practice modern iterations of the age-old practices of servitude, human trafficking, and forced and compulsory labor. The index found that companies continue to face exposure to practices of slavery within their business operations and supply chains in a whopping 115 countries—almost 60% of the world’s nations. And while many companies are trying to ensure that slavery does not occur among their first tier of suppliers, challenges persist lower down the supply chain, at the commodity level, or amongst subcontractors.