Fighting Forced Labour : The Example of Brazil

Brazil has been successfully fighting forced labour since 1995, when a new inter-ministerial body was created to coordinate action against it. Government agencies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society and others have participated in the struggle. The creative measures taken, which include publishing a “dirty list” of offenders, reflect the need for extraordinary steps to deal with a human rights problem difficult to identify and to punish through effective law enforcement, especially in remote areas. Brazil has also developed a highly effective media campaignto raise mass awareness of the problems caused by forced labour in the country today, and to mobilize public opinion against it. The book shows how Brazil is leading the way for the rest of Latin America, where similar patterns of forced labour can be found.