4 steps CEOs can take to stop exploitation in their business

Fast Company

2 days ago

Human trafficking and exploitation are closer than many realize. In a recent UC Irvine study —'Americans' Perceptions of Human Trafficking in the United States'—86.2% of respondents said they strongly agree that human trafficking is a global problem, but just 36.3% strongly agree that it's a problem in their own state.
Of course, trafficking is a problem in every state. It happens in cities, suburbs, and rural areas. It happens in your office, in your supply chain, and on websites you use every day. Nowhere is immune.
This is a blind spot for the public and business leaders, and one that can put your employees at risk and expose your organization to serious liability.
When you imagine trafficking to be a problem elsewhere or that Hollywood tropes reflect reality, you can overlook the systemic nature of exploitation. Only by understanding the truth behind common misconceptions can business leaders take steps to root it out.
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Many people think trafficking always involves kidnapping—51% of people surveyed said 'targeted kidnapping/abduction' was one of the top five ways victims are recruited or lured into human trafficking situations. More often, traffickers use fraud or coercion, building trust with their victims and exploiting vulnerabilities like poverty and social isolation. Another misconception is that trafficking always involves movement across borders. It can, but many victims of exploitation never leave their community or even their home.
We're seeing more of these cases as systematic, organized, tech-facilitated exploitation gives traffickers new ways to feed on existing vulnerabilities.
Social media, dating apps, and other online platforms offer traffickers new sources to groom victims with promises of work or romance, only to coerce them into forced labor or commercial sex. Fraudulent job ads lure the economically vulnerable into forced labor. Relationships born online can transform through coercion into exploitation monetized on platforms like OnlyFans. Online sextortion is a growing problem, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) continues to proliferate.
Online scams, often dismissed as bot comments, are often staffed by thousands of victims exploited by criminal syndicates. Even content moderation, often carried out in Africa and Asia, can be exploitative, exposing victims to traumatizing imagery, often for little more than a fast food lunch in compensation.
Misconceptions about where and how trafficking happens allow exploitation to flourish as the public and business leaders focus their attention elsewhere.
HOW MISCONCEPTIONS CAN COST YOUR BUSINESS
When you're looking in the wrong places for exploitation—or not looking at all—your company faces reputational and financial risks.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, as well as various state laws, can create civil and criminal exposure. Just this year, a group of Indonesian fishermen sued Bumble Bee Foods under the TVPRA, alleging the company 'knowingly benefited' from forced labor in its supply chain.
In another recent incident, at least four parts suppliers for Hyundai and Kia in Alabama were employing children as young as 12 to operate machinery, leading to investigations, fines, and lawsuits. The company claimed ignorance, but that didn't slow the consequences or headlines.
Italian prosecutors placed Dior's manufacturing arm under administration after a subcontractor—which had passed multiple audits—was found to be a front for another company that exploited undocumented workers.
These are just a few examples from the past few years, and only what has been uncovered. Companies that accept the myths about exploitation, content to let their business run in ignorance of how their supply chain operates, are not only tacitly supporting exploitation but inviting a wave of legal, government, and public blowback.
4 STEPS EVERY BUSINESS LEADER SHOULD TAKE RIGHT NOW TO PREVENT EXPLOITATION
1. Scrutinize Your Supply Chain
As Dior found out, cursory audits won't cut it. Map your entire supply chain to identify high-risk areas. Don't stop with direct suppliers—look into subcontractors and subsuppliers, too. Implement unannounced inspections. Interview individual workers confidentially.
Only by holding your supply chain to the highest standards and most transparent practices can you be confident that it's free of exploitation.
2. Embrace New Technology Like AI
Prioritize piloting new technology as a way to increase your competitiveness and advance your business, but also to better abide by your ethics.
AI tools, for example, can clarify the origin of product parts and raw materials in your supply chain and better identify signs of forced labor. Even companies with clean supplier audits have used these types of AI tools to spot vendors exploiting workers.
3. Create Reporting Systems
Anonymous reporting mechanisms, available 24/7 and in multiple languages, encourage employees to report suspected exploitation without fear of retribution.
Kymera International, for example, requires all employees to report trafficking in any part of the company's business or supply chains, and offers several ways to do so, including an anonymous tip line. Johnson & Johnson has its ' Our Credo Integrity Line,' which is operated by a third party and allows for confidential reporting.
4. Partner With And Support Survivor-Centered Organizations
The most effective way to address misconceptions around trafficking is through survivor-led education and storytelling that highlights the individual experiences of survivors that go beyond common public perceptions.
Firsthand accounts show the complexities of trafficking and dispel harmful stereotypes that often overshadow the realities of exploitation.
By partnering with these organizations, you can help spread these stories and help your team recognize the red flags of exploitation through awareness training that highlights survivors' diverse backgrounds and experiences.
BETTER AWARENESS MEANS BETTER LEADERSHIP
Unfortunately, trafficking is not a distant problem. It starts in our communities, our workplaces, and across tech platforms. It persists because traffickers exploit their victims' vulnerabilities, survivors lack support, and too many still believe the myths that mask reality.
Business leaders have the unique power to disrupt the networks of exploitation by taking measures across their operations and supply chains. By correcting myths and grounding policies and efforts in survivors' stories, we can better support survivors and prevent exploitation wherever it occurs.