The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK (CPA UK) has launched the second volume of the e-Handbook on Legislating against Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking & Forced Labour, which is a comprehensive resource for parliamentarians and parliamentary officials on legislating effectively against modern slavery-related crimes.

The first volume, published in 2018, looked in detail at the process of reviewing and strengthening legislation from gaining cross-party support to drafting a bill itself. Urmila Bhoola, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (2014-2020), described it as “the most comprehensive, insightful and practical guide that exists in its field.”

Recognising that modern slavery-related crimes are ever evolving - and with growing global awareness - CPA UK has produced a second volume of the e-Handbook titled Legislating against Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking & Forced Labour: The Role of Parliament to Scrutinise and Raise Awareness, which takes into account emerging trends in addressing modern slavery, human trafficking and forced labour.

The resource covers themes such as good practice for parliamentary committees and evidence hearings; the importance of raising awareness in parliament and constituencies; and the role of the media in combatting these heinous crimes.

The e-Handbook contains contributions from over 40 parliamentarians, experts and organisations from across the Commonwealth and includes a foreword from former Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Theresa May MP.

It has been produced under the banner of CPA UK’s Modern Slavery Project: a four year multilateral project funded by the UK Government as part of its Commonwealth fund. The project aims to encourage and facilitate a greater understanding of the national and international benefits of introducing and strengthening modern slavery-related legislation and exchange learning.

Darren Jones MP, who is one of the e-Handbook’s contributors, stated:

“Once again, the CPA UK team have pulled together a comprehensive resource with groundbreaking multi-lateral work from across the Commonwealth on tackling human trafficking and, importantly, what legislators can do to have a real and meaningful impact in their own countries.

I’d encourage anyone with an interest in tackling this global problem to read the e-Handbook and consider what they might do to help.”

Download the e-Handbook here.