There are over 50 million people in modern slavery today. It is estimated that 21 million people are caught in situations of forced labour or exploitation. Forced labour and human rights abuses of workers are endemic across several sectors of the global economy, like textile, industry, new technologies, construction work, minerals extraction, etc.. Due diligence is first and foremost, a moral obligation on businesses, especially with global activities, to check their supply chains in order to prevent voluntary or involuntary adverse effects on human, social and environmental rights.

In this brief article, I would like to make two points which I hope will persuade Christians that modern-day slavery is the concern of every one of us, and that we all should be doing whatever we can to work against it. The Bible makes it very clear that God takes bringing freedom and justice to the vulnerable very seriously indeed and that he expects his people to do the same. His desire that human beings should be able to live free and dignified lives is a thread which goes throughout the whole of the Bible.