Child slavery in supply chains: Actors of the dirty scene

Abstract

Background: Child slavery in global supply chains is a complex problem because it involves various supply chain actors, including corporations, at different tiers, and external organisations and society. Many corporate sustainability on child labour, present a unilateral perspective which renders the development of child labour measures under the leadership of many companies tardy and inefficient.

Objectives: This study conducted a comprehensive investigation into child slavery in supply chains to identify the key actors that can combat child slavery in the supply chain.

Method: Thematic analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles, containing the keywords; child labour; supply chain, and child slavery; used interchangeably, based on three inclusion criteria; high frequency of relevant keywords; recent publication period; and high number of citations, was conducted.

Results: Four main actors and their influence on child slavery were identified namely i.). Corporations - through industrial characteristics, strategy, corporate social responsibility obligations, and internal stakeholders; ii.). Governments – through regulations, policies, and intentions to combat child slavery; iii.). Societies - through the establishment of social benchmarks and social accountability frameworks to address the social crisis; and iv.). External organisations - such as ILO, NGOs and trade unions as the dominant actors in combatting the child slavery phenomena in supply chains.

Conclusion: The findings provide a nascent conceptual model for empirical work and a foundation for descriptive and normative research on child slavery in supply chains.

Contribution: The study’s contribution is the assessment of the child slavery phenomenon using a multi-stakeholder perspective to gain a better understanding of the dynamics associated with child slavery.