Social, Cultural, and

Humanitarian
Committee

-Study Guide-

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 Table of Contents
I.​ Welcoming Letter from the Chairpersons…………………………………...2
II.​ Introduction to the Committee………………………………………………3
III.​ Overview of the Topic……………………………………………………….3
IV.​ Definition of Key Terms……………………………………………………..4
V.​ Past Actions………………………………………………………………….5
VI.​ Timeline……………………………………………………………………...6
VII.​ Main Actors………………………………………………………………….8
VIII.​ Current Situation…………………………………………………………...10
IX.​ Points to be Addressed……………………………………………………..12
X.​ Bibliography………………………………………………………………..13

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 I.​ Welcoming Letter from the Chairpersons

Dear prospective delegates,

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we welcome you to the SOCHUM committee of this
year’s edition of LaudeMUN! We hope that you will have developed your public speaking skills
by the end of this conference and made amazing memories alongside us and your fellow
delegates. We believe that your participation in the proceedings of this committee is a sign of
devotion and we hope that, by partaking in this conference, your passion for international
relations and politics will be enhanced and at the same time, you will be able to explore one of
the most important events in recent history. This document will further discuss our topic,
Eradication of Modern Slavery.

The Study Guide you are currently reading is meant to be the basis of your research and guide
you in the right direction, helping you understand your country’s position on the topic under
consideration and the viewpoint of the international community. It is important to note that the
Study Guide should only represent the beginning of your research progress and should not be
your only source of information, as it is crucial that you further continue exploring the different
sides of this topic as well as get a firm grip on your country's stance. We expect you to dive deep
into this topic and address the main ideas that have been pointed out in this document.

As your Chairpersons, we want to make sure that this SOCHUM committee will be an
unforgettable experience for you. We hope that this committee will bring out the best in you and
help you discover new skills, such as but not limited to public speaking, brainstorming, and
critical thinking. We wish you all the best and are looking forward to meeting you!

Kind regards,
Ana & Dara
Chairpersons of the SOCHUM Committee

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 II.​ Introduction to the Committee

The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, or the Social, Humanitarian, and
Cultural Issues Committee (SOCHUM) was founded in 1945. The General Assembly allocates to
the Third Committee agenda items relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs, and human
rights issues that affect people worldwide. This committee focuses on the examination of human
rights questions, including reports on the special procedures of the Human Rights Council.

The SOCHUM committee promotes the adoption of fundamental freedoms and ideals such as the
right to life, the expression of different cultures, the freedom of political participation, and the
protection of children's rights. It also includes questions relating to the advancement of women,
the treatment of refugees through the elimination of all forms of racism and discrimination,
indigenous issues, and a wide range of social matters, such as issues related to youth, family,
aging, persons with disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice, and international drug
control.

Due to the wide range of issues that concern human rights, the Committee works jointly with a
wide range of international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), United
Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

III.​ Overview of the Topic

This year’s agenda of the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Issues (SOCHUM) Committee
addresses the Eradication of Modern Slavery. The notion of modern slavery is used as an
umbrella term that encompasses a set of specific legal concepts including forced labor, debt
bondage, forced marriage, slavery, and human trafficking, that reflects the terminology within
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7, however, there is no universally accepted
definition of “modern slavery”. In some regions, ongoing conflict, political instability, and forced
displacement are the key drivers of modern slavery. For this reason, this committee’s topic refers
to finding suitable ways to remedy this pending aspect.

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In recent decades, despite global advancements in human rights and international cooperation
that have occurred over the years, modern slavery persists in afflicting societies all over the
world. The eradication of such a concept is vital, seeing that it would mean the end of slavery.
This action has taken part throughout history as one of the most dehumanizing forms of labor, it
is described as ‘the state of control exercised over the slave based on violence or its threat, a lack
of any payment beyond subsistence, and the theft of the labor or other qualities of the slave for
economic gain’. All UN member states, including the 54 Commonwealth nations have
committed to achieving SDG Target 8.7, which states that we must “take effective measures to
eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and
elimination of the worst forms of child labor”. A third of the countries within the Commonwealth
have criminalized forced marriages; coerced labor is outlawed in only 35 countries out of the 54
nations in that group and 16 countries within the Commonwealth, there is evidence that formal
intricacy in slavery crimes has not been investigated, however, it doesn’t end here, since the lack
of information about modern slavery presented in many other states continues to pose as a threat
to the developing progress that has been made so far.

Moreover, as the United Nations Human Rights views it in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, Article 4, modern slavery is perceived as “a violation of human rights” and is mentioned
in that convention in the form of the following statement: “No one shall be held in slavery or
servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

IV.​ Definition of Key Terms

Human trafficking: a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or
services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or
psychological. Exploitation of a minor for commercial sex is human trafficking, regardless of
whether any form of force, fraud, or coercion was used.

Debt bondage: a status or condition, where one person has pledged their labor or service (or
that of someone under their control), in circumstances where the fair value of that labor or
service is not reasonably applied to reducing the debt or length of debt, or the length and nature
of the service is not limited or defined.

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Worst forms of child labor: comprises all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery - such
as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, and forced or compulsory labor, including
forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict -, the use, procuring, or
offering of a child for prostitution, the use, procuring, or offering of a child for illicit activities -
in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs -, and work which, by its nature or the
circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

Slavery and slavery-like practices: the status or condition of a person over whom any or all
sources of power attaching to the right of ownership are exercised; there are also some
“slavery-like practices” such as debt bondage, forced or servile marriage, exploitation of
children and decent-based slavery.

Forced or servile marriage: it refers to any situations in which the people involved, regardless
of their age, have been compelled to marry without their consent or against their will, some
examples being: a woman without the right to refuse a proposal, is promised or given in marriage
based on a payment of a monetary consideration; the husband or his family has the right to
transfer her to another person for value received or when a woman is liable to be inherited by
another person after the death of her late husband.

Forced labor: it occurs when individuals are compelled against their will to provide work or
service through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, or, according to the Forced Labour
Convention in 1930 (number 29), it is described as “work or service which is exacted from any
person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself
voluntarily.”

V.​ Past Actions

Modern slavery remains a grave issue in the twenty-first century, with an estimated annual profit
of $150 billion. Human trafficking, particularly prevalent in conflict zones, has been facilitated
by modern transportation networks. Approximately 50 million people worldwide are currently
enslaved, with children constituting more than 3.3 million of those. Efforts to combat slavery
have faced challenges due to fragmented legal initiatives and activists argue that comprehensive
legislation is essential to address all forms of slavery.

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Within the United Nations, the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery was
established in 1974 to adequately address the issue of modern slavery. In 2007, the United
Nations Human Rights Council further strengthened its commitment to tackling this problem by
establishing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including
its causes and consequences. The scope of modern forms of slavery includes classic slavery, debt
bondage, servitude, forced labor, abduction, sexual slavery, forced and early marriages, and
servile forms of marriage.

VI.​ Timeline

November 15th, 2000: The United Nations passes the Palermo Protocol or the Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons as a supplement to the Convention against
Transnational Organised Crime. This document requires parties to criminalize human trafficking
and implement specific training programs for law enforcement officials.

September 2001: The Harkin–Engel Protocol is signed with the aim of eliminating the worst
forms of child labor in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

2002-2003: The countries of the Economic Community of Western African States adopt the Plan
of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which tackles
human trafficking and aims to protect vulnerable communities from slavery.

2002: The International Cocoa Initiative is established as a joint effort of anti-slavery groups and
major chocolate companies to promote children’s rights and prevent and address child and forced
labor in cocoa production in West Africa.

April 20th, 2004: The United Nations appoints a Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking to
focus on protecting the rights of actual and potential victims.

2005: The National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour is launched by the UN’s
International Labour Organization (ILO) and three Brazilian Non-Profit Organizations: Instituto
Ethos - a forum for corporate social responsibility in Brazil -, the human rights organization
Observatorio Social, and the journalist collective Repórter Brasil. It recognizes the issue of
modern slavery in the country and the immediate need to eradicate it.

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March 1st, 2005: The ILO's first Global Report on Forced Labour puts the number of slaves
worldwide at approximately 12.3 million.

February 1st, 2008: The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human
Beings is ratified. The convention is a comprehensive treaty mainly focused on the protection of
victims of trafficking and the safeguarding of their rights. It also aims at preventing trafficking as
well as prosecuting traffickers. The convention applies to all forms of trafficking: national or
transnational, whether or not related to organized crime, for all victims, and all forms of
exploitation, sexual exploitation, forced labor, or services.

February 11th, 2008: The ILO estimates that annual profits generated from the trafficking of
human beings are roughly $32 billion.

June 16th, 2011: The ILO adopts the Convention on Domestic Workers, setting out labor
standards for domestic workers.

August 2011: Inspectors from the Brazilian federal government discovered 15 immigrants living
and working for Zara in appalling conditions in Sao Paolo. Workdays for laborers may last up to
16 hours, and they had limited freedom of movement. The investigation concluded that the
working conditions may be considered ‘analogous to slavery’. The company was subject to
several penalties, including being fined for 48 different violations discovered during the
inspection of the workshops, and ran the risk of being added to the ‘dirty list’ of slave labor,
which is a list of people or businesses found guilty of using labor under conditions that are close
to slavery.

January 1st, 2012: California enacts the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act. It
requires major manufacturing and retail firms to disclose their efforts to eliminate forced labor
and human trafficking from their supply chains.

2013: The first Global Slavery Index released by the Walk Free Foundation estimates that there
are 29.8 million slaves globally. The 2014 index increases that to 35.8 million, and the 2016
index to 45.8 million.

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March 26th, 2015: Britain's Modern Slavery Act is ratified and requires businesses to disclose
the action they have taken to ensure their supply chains are free of slave labor, along with other
anti-slavery measures.

September 2015: The United Nations adopts 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including a
target of ending modern slavery and eradicating forced labor and human trafficking.

2017: The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) is launched, bringing together
organizations within the public and private sectors to fund projects aimed at eradicating modern
slavery.

2019: Pinkcollar is Malaysia’s first ethical recruitment agency. It now has a long track record of
helping domestic workers in Malaysia operate safely and legally. Between 2019 and 2022,
Pinkcollar has placed and supported 180 domestic workers, saving them an estimated $70,000 in
exploitative recruitment debt.

2022: GFEMS launches the Selemat Project to create a safe environment for migrant workers.
Under Project Selamat, Pinkcollar is expanding in two directions: to provide services directly in
a new labor-sending country, Indonesia, and address a new sector, Malaysia’s growing
manufacturing industries.

VII.​ Main Actors

●​ The United Kingdom

There is a suspicion that victims of modern slavery are often being trafficked to the UK from
other countries, but the residents of the United Kingdom are also among those victims who are
exploited there and in other countries as well. Modern slavery is a serious crime being committed
across the UK, in which victims are taken advantage of for another person’s benefit. This
“process” can take many forms, including trafficking of people, forced labor, and servitude. The
information obtained from the Criminal Justice system doesn’t truly expose the actual level of
modern slavery within the UK, which emphasizes the need to use multiple data sources to fully
encapture and understand the crime that has been committed.

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When law enforcement authorities identify a modern slavery case, this is brought to the attention
of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), since they can provide early advice on the prosecution
assistance when putting together evidence for the case. They work closely with the National
Crime Agency (NCA) on complex cases, often collaborating across borders. Their government
has acknowledged modern slavery as a major issue and has taken measures against it through
legislation, increased awareness campaigns, and cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

●​ The French Republic

In January 2009, the government amended its anti-trafficking law to include a specific definition
of forced labor. There are only 62 out of 100 government responses regarding modern slavery
and about 135,000 people experienced forced labor or forced marriage in France in 2021.
However, of these horrible statistics during recent times, the French Republic joined the fight
against forced labor in 2016, and on that same note, in 1848, the revolution against slavery
occurred, intending to eradicate the legal structures of slavery. Nonetheless, this was not the first
time the French Republic had taken matters into its own hands regarding prohibiting any
slavery-like practices, as they restricted slave trafficking at the beginning of 1817. The
Committee Against Modern Slavery (CCEM) has taken up over 200 cases since it was first
founded in France in 1994, making a huge impact on the scale of forced labor cases in the French
Republic.

●​ The People’s Republic of China

China demonstrated efforts to tackle the subject of modern slavery through ongoing cooperation
on national and regional levels – including adopting a new national action plan for 2021 up to
2030 – its overall response being critically undermined because of the usage of state-imposed
forced labor. China is not only affected by modern slavery within its borders (as one of the
world’s largest economies) but it is also exposed to the risk of modern slavery through the
products it imports. Nearly two-thirds of all forced labor cases are linked to international chains,
with workers being exploited across a large range of sectors and at every stage of these supply
chains. Most forced labor occurs in the lowest-ranked chains; that is, in the removal of raw
materials and the production steps.

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 ●​ Bangladesh

Bangladesh is outperforming higher-income neighbors in its efforts to address modern slavery.

The government has among the strongest responses to modern slavery within Asia and the
Pacific and has taken steps to improve its response since the 2018 Global Slavery Index (GSI),
for example, through ratifying the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, and
launching national action plans to end child marriage and human trafficking. Forced labor is
reported in fish processing, ship-breaking, and the production of aluminum, bricks, tea, and
garments.

Garment sector workers are particularly at risk: while the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse led
to some reform of labor laws and improvements in the formal sector, reports of mistreatment
remain widespread. Over the last fifty years, the rate of child marriage among girls has fallen in
Bangladesh from more than 90 percent to just over 50 percent in 2020, yet Bangladesh still has
some of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. According to a 2020 UNICEF report, 38
million women and girls in Bangladesh were subject to child marriage.

VIII.​ Current Situation

Modern slavery is a highly widespread phenomenon, despite often being underrepresented in the
media. According to estimates, fifty million people were living in modern slavery in 2021. Of
these people, 28 million were in forced labor and 22 million were trapped in forced marriage. In
certain regions, ongoing conflicts, political instability, and forced displacement are the key
drivers of modern slavery. Poverty, workforce fluctuations, and climate change also increase the
vulnerability of individuals to exploitation.

People can be particularly vulnerable to modern slavery when external circumstances push them
into making risky decisions in search of opportunities to provide for their families, or when
people find they are simply pushed into jobs in exploitative conditions. From increasing the
likelihood of exploitation such as child labor and marriage, to disrupting the world's response
efforts, COVID-19 has stalled progress on human rights through various means.

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Firstly, risks for those under exploitation were heightened, due to exclusion from adequate
healthcare, movement restrictions by border closures, and travel disruptions. This mainly
targeted migrant workers, who often work in cramped spaces with lots of other people and are
unable to return home safely. For survivors of modern slavery, there is also a risk of a deepened
sense of isolation and exacerbation of mental health, as well as a struggle to access basic
resources or services, as a result of their economic vulnerability.

Secondly, due to growing unemployment and poverty rates, individuals were more exposed to
exploitation than ever. The crisis has amplified some of the major drivers of modern slavery,
such as poverty and financial crises. With education systems suspended, economic stress will be
caused for families - especially those residing in less-economically developed countries -, thus
risking them to exploitation and child marriages. Lastly, the social and economic disruptions
caused by COVID-19 have partly halted response efforts. Many governments, civil society
response organizations, and NGOs that provide shelter and reintegration programs have had their
movements impeded.

The forms of modern slavery include human trafficking - through transporting, enlisting, or
harboring individuals to use them for forced prostitution, labor, criminal activity, marriage, or
organ harvesting -, forced labor - which is the most prevalent form of modern slavery and is
observed in sectors with a high labor force and limited oversight, such as fishing, farming, and
construction -, debt bondage - a method that has existed for centuries and is most prevalent in
South Asian countries -, and child marriages or forced marriages - common practices in certain
countries, in which a majority of victims end up in slavery and suffering from isolation, as well
as being subject to assault, threats, and domestic violence. Men are deceived into accepting risky
job offers and trapped in forced labor on construction sites, farms, or factories. Women are
recruited to work in private homes only to be imprisoned, abused, and exploited behind closed
doors with no escape. Girls are groomed and forced into sexual exploitation.

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IX.​ Points to be Addressed

In order to effectively eradicate slavery in all its forms, the root causes of slavery such as
poverty, social exclusion and all forms of discrimination must be addressed. Some key areas that
you may wish to include (but are not limited to) are:

●​ What approaches can governments explore aimed at tackling the socio-economic,

cultural, and institutional factors that maintain vulnerability to modern slavery, including
poverty, inequality, lack of education, and conflict?
●​ How can local authorities strengthen procedures for identifying, protecting, and
recovering the victims and ensure their access to legal redress, healthcare, and
socio-economic inclusion, while also taking into consideration the economic support
needed for such actions?
●​ Through what means can governments foster multilateral cooperation, collaborating with
other governments and organizations to leverage resources and most efficient practices to
combat modern slavery?
●​ How can public awareness campaigns and education initiatives aimed at mobilizing
societal support and fostering a culture of human rights and dignity present the magnitude
of the issue of modern slavery in a form that can be understood by children and reach
underdeveloped communities?

●​ Why is modern slavery more prevalent in less economically developed countries rather
than in more developed countries? How can governments of developed countries support
impoverished countries in combatting modern slavery?

●​ Are the measures taken against companies found liable for forced or child labor
appropriate or should harsher punishments be applied? What about individuals accused of
human trafficking or other forms of modern slavery?

●​ What steps can companies and consumers alike take to promote moral supply chains?

●​ How can local authorities discourage child marriages in impoverished families that use
this form of modern slavery to sustain themselves?

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X.​ Bibliography
1.​ https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/
2.​ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/global-modern-slavery-trafficking/
3.​ https://gfems.org/ongoing-work/
4.​ https://daily.jstor.org/modern-history-slavery/
5.​ Winning the Fight: Eradicating Slavery in the Modern Age (harvard.edu)
6.​ Milestones in the fight against modern slavery | Reuters
7.​ Supporting the Eradication of Modern Slavery - Our World (unu.edu)
8.​ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid19-modern-slavery/
9.​ https://www.walkfree.org/what-is-modern-slavery/
10.​https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2022/653664/EXPO_STU(2022)
653664_EN.pdf
11.​https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/50-million-people-worldwide-modern-slavery-0
12.​https://freetheslaves.net/slavery-today-2/slavery-in-history/#:~:text=Egyptians%20captur
e%20slaves%20by%20sending,is%20more%20than%20half%20slave.
13.​https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-slavery#:~:text=Article%204%20of%20t
he%20Universal,prohibited%20in%20all%20their%20forms'.
14.​https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/forced-labor#:~:text=En%20espa%C3%B1ol,the%2
0United%20States%20and%20overseas.

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