Free From Slavery
Free From Slavery is a new global initiative to create a trusted label that guarantees goods and services have been produced without forced labour, human trafficking, or modern slavery. Much like FairTrade for ethical sourcing, but entirely focused on ending slavery in supply chains, the aim is for this to become a recognised standard in the UK and internationally, adopted by companies, supported by governments, and demanded by consumers. By making it visible on products and services, we give people the ability to make informed ethical choices every day.
This is urgent and necessary. According to the ILO, 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery worldwide, and UNICEF reports a massive 160 million children stuck in labour across industries from clothing and food to electronics, construction, and hospitality. While there are laws requiring transparency, they rarely ensure products are truly slavery-free. People want to avoid supporting exploitation, but they can’t if they can’t see it on the label. Free From Slavery changes that — making it clear, simple, and trusted.
Free From Slavery label could be applied across key industries — indicating that no slavery or forced labour was involved at any stage of production or service delivery:
Clothing & Textiles
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T-Shirts, Jeans, Footwear – audited from cotton farming to factory sewing floors
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Luxury Fashion Brands – especially where outsourced handwork or embroidery is common
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Uniform suppliers – including schoolwear, emergency services, and military contracts
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Home textiles – bedsheets, towels, carpets, and curtains
High-risk stages: cotton picking, spinning mills, and garment factories (often in South Asia, China, and West Africa)
Food & Agriculture
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Chocolate – especially cocoa sourced from West Africa
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Coffee and Tea – where child labour and trafficking are known risks
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Seafood – including prawns and fish, particularly from Thailand and parts of Southeast Asia
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Fruit & Veg – especially seasonal or migrant labour (UK, Spain, Italy, US farms)
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Packaged foods – indicating slavery-free status across supply chains (e.g. palm oil sourcing)
High-risk stages: plantations, fishing boats, packing facilities
Electronics & Technology
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Smartphones & Tablets – audit rare mineral extraction (e.g. cobalt from DRC) and assembly factories
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Laptops & Accessories – including chip manufacturing and plastic moulding plants
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Solar panels & batteries – increasingly under scrutiny for forced labour links
High-risk stages: mining, assembly lines, supply component factories
Retail and Consumer Goods
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Supermarket products – Free From Slavery-labelled items on shelves, from bananas to beans to basics
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Toiletries & Cosmetics – especially mica, shea butter, and palm oil sourcing
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Furniture – timber and assembly (e.g. in Vietnam, Indonesia, China)
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Toys – especially hand-assembled goods made in hidden factory networks
High-risk stages: subcontracting, seasonal production, hidden or home-based factories
Services
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Cleaning and facilities management – Slavery Free employers and contractors
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Car washes – where trafficking is widespread in the UK
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Construction firms – site labour vetted for fair recruitment
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Hospitality – hotels, catering, domestic work, especially in international chains
Certification could include: recruitment practices, wage verification, and worker interviews
Public Sector Procurement
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School uniforms & lunches
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NHS suppliers
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Military & prison contracts
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Infrastructure contractors
Use of Free From Slavery labels and criteria in government tenders and frameworks can drive mass adoption.
