In 2016, there were approximately 25 million people in forced labour, with the the domestic work sector being the largest area (24%) using forced workers - see graph below for a more detailed breakdown (ILO & Walk Free Foundation, 2017). Labour trafficking can be described as "recruiting, transporting or holding victims to coerce them into doing any kind of work. Labour traffickers get their victims to work through different forms of coercion" (Public Safety Canada, 2021). Forms of coercion include withholding wages, threats & acts of violence, sexual abuse, drugging, and more (ILO & Walk Free Foundation, 2017).
Sources:
The authors of Forced Labor present state-of-the-art research on the manifestations of these slavery-like practices, why they continue to survive, and how they can be eliminated. Also available from UFV Library as a print book.
The International Labour Organization's (ILO) efforts since the early 1990s to address the forced labour situation in Myanmar represent a rare example of success in influencing the behaviour of that regime, and this book gives a first-hand account of these efforts.
On Coerced Labor focuses on forms of labor which, unlike chattel slavery, have received little scholarly attention. It provides discussions of legal definitions of unfree labor as well as empirical findings on convict and military labor, indentured labor, debt bondage, and sharecropping.
The UFV Library has a vast collection of print and electronic books and videos for students to use for their studies. Remember: when accessing resources off-campus, users will be prompted to enter their UFV credentials to gain access. For tips on searching, check out the links below.
Example keywords to use when searching (click on the links to see results):
Databases are collections of different types of sources (usually digital) such as:
Here are a few databases to try searching for sources related to labour trafficking.
This multi-disciplinary database provides full text for over 9000 journals, including many which are peer-reviewed.
Permitted Uses for this Database
For more information on types of sources (including scholarly articles), please review our Evaluating Sources LibGuide and make sure to check your assignment instructions before your start your research to see what types of sources your professor has asked you to use for your project(s).
The following strategies can be useful to help you search for and choose an academic/scholarly research article
1. Analyze your topic statement for search terms
2. Connect different concepts with "AND"; connect similar (or synonymous) concepts with "OR" You also need to use quotation marks to search complete phrases.
e.g. Labour Trafficking AND Agriculture
e.g. Labour OR Labor
3. Use limiters (options on the left or right side of the search results) to narrow your results list such as publication dates, peer-reviewed, and full text
4. Be sure to read the abstracts - they will often reveal enough "clues" to tell you if the article is relevant or not.
5. If you do not find articles that interest you, look at your results. See if there are new words or new search terms that you can use that will help you improve your search.
