Modern slavery audit disclosure is essential for corporate accountability in eliminating slavery from business operations, particularly in global supply chains. Detecting and disclosing modern slavery has become a crucial corporate transparency issue. Broader stakeholder concerns and recent modern slavery regulations create an unique research setting to explore how a particular transparency and accountability tool, the modern slavery audit (a form of social audit), is used to improve transparency in global supply chains. By employing the concept of political mediation from social movement theory, we examine the influence of protests by labour rights organizations and the political context in which these protests occur on disclosures related to modern slavery audits by global retailers. The notion of political mediation in social movements offers insights into the significance of tactics used by social movement organizations and the context that enhance their effectiveness.
We first developed a unique and insightful disclosure index comprising five components related to modern slavery audit, based on a comprehensive review of academic and grey literature and global standards on global supply chain transparency. The five key components are a) social audit standards used for the Modern Slavery Audit, b) the Modern Slavery Audit process conducted, c) the Modern Slavery Audit result/outcome, d) the involvement of a third-party auditor, and e) communication of the Modern Slavery Audit results with workers (potential victims of modern slavery) and local communities. We enhanced our understanding of relevant disclosure items for modern slavery audits by interviewing experts from civil society groups, retail companies, and government departments, reviewing existing legislation, and participating in discussions at workshops and conferences. Our index reflects the broader community’s expectations, while capturing critical insights about the audit process and its outcomes, thereby responding to stakeholders’ urgent calls for greater transparency in modern slavery audits and deepening our understanding of them.
We then conducted a content analysis of the initial modern slavery reports released by major global retailers in response to the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015., Our objective was to assess the extent to which the labour rights movements, through protests by labour rights organizations, and the surrounding political context affect the comprehensiveness of modern slavery audit disclosures by global retailers. We focused on initial disclosures, analysing 197 reports published during 2016 and 2017, which we hand-collected due to the lack of comprehensive databases. Utilizing various data sources, including the BHRRC database for protests and Dow Jones Factiva for media coverage, we performed statistical analyses revealing that political mediation factors—such as labour rights protests, media attention to labour rights abuses, and political contexts like existing regulations and press freedom—influence companies to disclose information about modern slavery audit practices within their supply chains.
Following the political mediation perspective of social movement theory, our results show how particular political contexts, such as those in the UK and USA, characterized by democratic openness, facilitate the enactment of social transparency Acts aimed at combating modern slavery in global supply chains. In this context, social movement organisations, particularly labour rights groups, mobilise opportunities to amplify their monitoring and activism, including protests against poor working conditions. This activism encourages companies to disclose their measures for mitigating modern slavery, along with the processes and outcomes of their audits.
Our findings enrich the social audit literature by identifying the critical factors that motivate companies to adopt modern slavery audits. We explain the differences in the explicitness of disclosures related to modern slavery audit practices across companies, addressing an important gap in previous research. Our findings have significant implications for regulators, policymakers, corporate leaders, and civil society groups, highlighting the factors that influence modern slavery audits and disclosure practices. In a world where companies must disclose details on modern slavery, regardless of its relevance to shareholders, we observe that activist protests and media scrutiny are linked to the clarity of these disclosures. The minimum disclosure requirements within the Modern Slavery Act may fall short of promoting true social responsibility and transparency. Instead, external forces, such as social movements’ ongoing scrutiny and demands for accountability, are vital in driving meaningful change in corporate transparency and ethical standards. Our work is not just academic; it seeks to drive meaningful change in the fight against modern slavery in global trade.
