Slave-Free Alliance is now operating in Norway, offering flexible, tailored and affordable services to support organisations of all sizes in every sector to protect their operations, supply chains and people from modern slavery and labour exploitation.

The Slave-Free Alliance team are specialists in global supply chains, international human rights law, law enforcement and learning and development. They offer services such as training, gap analysis, site assessments, policy and public statement reviews, and crisis management processes to safeguard victims and the businesses where they might have been placed.

Impact of new legislation in Norway

Their services will be welcomed in Norway, which has seen major legislative changes in this area. The most important is the Transparency Act, in force from July 1^st 2022. It requires large organisations to carry out human rights due diligence assessments across their operations and supply chains in a transparent way. In addition, wage theft is now explicitly addressed in the Criminal Act, and the Working Environment Act has been updated to ensure foreign workers are hired on more permanent employment terms.

Slave-Free Alliance has a global track record of supporting businesses which fall within the scope of similar legislation, such as the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, California's Transparency in Supply Chains Act 2010, USA's Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act 2022 and Australia's Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2019.

Extent of forced labour and human trafficking in Norway

Norway's Transparency Act exists to address the huge problem of human exploitation. More than 9,000 people are estimated to be trapped in modern slavery in Norway. Exploitation is a hidden crime which often goes undetected because victims can feel ashamed or threatened, preventing them from seeking help. Forced labour is on the rise in Norway and there is not enough law enforcement focus on addressing it.

Analysis of crime and social welfare statistics suggests 357 potential victims of human trafficking were identified in Norway in 2020. However, reports of human trafficking are often dismissed too early, because evidence does not meet the threshold, suggesting this figure is just the tip of the iceberg.

Where should organisations start?

Slave-Free Alliance Director, Marc Stanton, said: “It is often the people in low-skilled and low-paid roles who are vulnerable to exploitation. Human rights issues can easily creep into the operations and supply chains of any unwitting business. High-risk industries include construction, fishing, utilities, garment-making, manufacturing and agriculture. Think about your cleaners, site and warehouse operatives, fruit pickers and temporary workers – how were they recruited? Do you know if they receive their full wage? Is someone always speaking on their behalf? How can they safely ask for help? Businesses must have prevention plans, be diligent and ready to take action if they encounter concerns.”

Many suppliers have limited capacity and the nature of some industries, such as construction, is that short-term workers are required for different phases of projects. These challenges can make it hard for organisations to know where to start.

Marie Nordby, Business Development Manager for Slave-Free Alliance Norway, said: “Slave-Free Alliance supports organisations to build their resilience to modern slavery and labour exploitation. Now that the Transparency Act is in force in Norway, we encourage businesses to review and assess their biggest risks and focus on addressing them. Don't forget to set up a system for sharing information with the public – and start drafting your annual statement now.”

Not-for-profit

Slave-Free Alliance is wholly owned by global charity Hope for Justice and all profits are reinvested in charitable activities to help victims and survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery, in Norway and across five continents. Both organisations have a country office in Oslo and their services span all of Norway.

Slave-Free Alliance works with organisations of all sizes and complexity – from multinational companies to individual hand car wash businesses. There are already approximately 100 members globally, including Aldi, AstraZeneca, Experian, Manchester and Liverpool Airports, River Island and University of Manchester.

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