The Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking’s report “No country is immune: working together to end modern slavery & human trafficking” recommends the WSR model as a key solution to address, remediate, and prevent forced labor and human trafficking.

As the report notes, “In order to monitor labour standards in business supply chains, retailers have often relied on third-party social audits. However, tragedies such as the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh and multiple revelations of slavery within audited supply chains have highlighted serious weaknesses, significantly undermining confidence in social auditing. The concern is that these monitoring systems have tended to reassure businesses and consumers but have not created spaces where workers can safely report on their real conditions.”

The report also emphasizes the importance of worker-driven models to implement any and all mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) legislation: “Workers need to be at the centre of HRDD. Companies should explore worker-driven models and the power of contracts to develop responsible practices in areas with known links to forced labour and worker exploitation, such as recruitment, procurement, wages, and working conditions.”