Evidence to Action: Increasing the Impact of Research to Mobilize Efforts against Forced Labor

The Global Estimates of Modern Slavery provide broad information about the scale and distribution of forced labor. But they also highlight the need for targeted, sector-specific, and country-specific data that can inform policy design and action to combat forced labor. To date, high-quality research on forced labor has been hindered by significant practical and methodological challenges, from sampling challenges with hard-to-reach populations, challenges of underreporting, and definitional differences. Moreover, research on forced labor can be expensive and requires a strong on-the-ground presence. Additionally, research on sensitive topics concerning highly vulnerable populations requires robust ethical considerations and protocols. As a result, existing research on forced labor tends to be sparse and fragmented, making it difficult to compile and compare. Research and data have thus often played a limited role in informing the design of effective interventions to prevent and address forced labor and other forms of modern slavery.