Tackling modern slavery head on: Achilles partners with Unseen

Achilles Information, global leader in supply chain risk and performance management announces an important partnership with anti-slavery charity Unseen, bringing deeper insight and greater awareness of the presence of modern slavery in the supply chain. Using data from the Unseen Modern Slavery Helpline, the Labour Practice Audit team at Achilles will now be able to provide customers with greater visibility into reported cases of exploitation and Modern Slavery , giving a deeper insight into issues that may be present in their supply chain.

Unseen set up the Modern Slavery Helpline in October 2016, as a way to support and advise both victims and concerned individuals. In 2019, the helpline received over 9,000 contacts, an increase of over 25% on the previous year, the majority of which concerned modern slavery and labour abuse situations.

Eradicating modern slavery is a collective responsibility – working in partnership, monitoring progress, and continuously collaborating to ensure the continuous exchange of information.  The partnership between Achilles and Unseen will provide customers with unprecedented levels of information into this issue, which hides in plain sight.

Providing these insights to our customers will allow buying organisations to act quickly to eliminate any issues and uncover the exploitation of vulnerable individuals before it escalates into a major incident.

Adam Whitfield, Quality Assurance & Audit Programme Manager, Achilles commented: “Through our Labour Practice and Responsible Sourcing audits we are aware of the great work Unseen and the Modern Slavery Helpline are doing to tackle modern slavery and exploitation. With this partnership we hope to be able to help both Unseen and our customers in preventing the potential for exploitation and modern slavery across the United Kingdom. Access to data from the Modern Slavery Hotline will enable us to offer even more focussed services across a variety of industries to deliver meaningful insights and positive action to bring an end to modern slavery.”

Justine Currell, Executive Director, Unseen commented “At Unseen, we are committed to working in partnership with others as we know this is the only way we can tackle the issue of worker exploitation.  Our mission is to end slavery by working with businesses to help them become more resilient and prevent worker from being exploited in their supply chains and own operations. Our collective experience, understanding and first hand knowledge of reported instances of modern slavery and worker exploitation will be invaluable to those businesses who simply want to do good business and put workers at the heart of their operations.”

For more information visit www.achilles.com / www.unseenuk.org

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