Mariana Ruenes has been working since she was 17 years outdated to finish modern-day slavery. Now, her Mexico Metropolis-based group companions with the personal sector, serving to companies in key industries establish, report, and finally forestall human trafficking and exploitation all through Latin America. Right here, she speaks with Ashoka’s Maria Merola.

Maria Merola: Mariana, we’re all fortunately listening to extra about human trafficking as one of the vital human rights problems with our time. Can I ask, what was your entry level?

Mariana Ruenes: I come from the NGO world and realized about human trafficking immediately from survivors. Early on, one story particularly helped me perceive the issue — the story of Anita. As a minor, Anita was exploited for home work on the home the place she lived. She was additionally sexually exploited by a member of the family at completely different resorts in Mexico Metropolis and the metropolitan space. She was marketed in a nationwide newspaper and was moved across the metropolis by automotive. At one of many resorts, a workers particular person, a room cleaner, noticed some indicators and sensed one thing was flawed. He helped Anita escape however received fired for it. Taken collectively, this story reveals how a bootleg crime like human trafficking can depend on reliable companies to function.

Merola: How did you shift from a broader technique to specializing in companies?

Ruenes: The primary time I approached somebody within the personal sector, it was an vital bus firm with a route that goes by way of the middle of the nation. I defined to the supervisor that trafficking networks have been shifting victims alongside the bus route and we wanted to coach their workers to establish and report what was happening. The particular person requested me, “What’s your proof?” It took a short while however we gathered the proof. We began systematizing tales, making a database, getting actually good at doing analysis — so we might map precisely how, when, and the place trafficking was going down. Right now, we method companies and say, for instance, “Look, 20% of this sure sort of trafficking is going on in what you are promoting. You’ve a duty to interact with it and defend your organization — and we’re going to enable you to try this.”

Merola: Are some industries extra affected than others?

Ruenes: Sure. At the least 40% of recent slavery and labor exploitation has been recognized in international economies corresponding to agriculture, fishing, development, and home companies. However we additionally know that social media platforms and journey and tourism industries are prone to intersecting with some type of trafficking or exploitation.

Merola: What actions do you advise corporations take?

Ruenes: Consider your dangers and be clear. Undertake preventive and due diligence practices for zero tolerance of recent slavery — all through your operations and business partnerships. Attain out to companions like us for assist and experience. We’ve needed to turn into specialists in a few of these sectors and we’ve seen that many applications fail as a result of the design course of doesn’t think about the challenges confronted by these implementing, corresponding to lodge homeowners.

With the Inter-American Improvement Financial institution (IDB Make investments), we printed an evaluation final yr of the dangers of the lodge sector in Mexico. Primarily based on these findings, we’re creating finest practices and a certification for almost all SME (small and medium enterprise) lodge sector to assist forestall sexual exploitation of their amenities, and curb dangerous labor practices with weak employees.

Merola: Have you ever talked with hoteliers, gotten their perspective?

Ruenes: Sure, completely. We surveyed over 200 SME lodge homeowners and realized a lot from them. We’ve listened to the obstacles they face. Over 90% say they need to take motion towards trafficking and exploitation — they imagine that it prevents different organized crime exercise and {that a} certification can have a enterprise worth. Even so, they’ve restricted entry to worldwide certifications, few sources to coach workers, and a whole lot of mistrust for authorities. Because of their isolation, they might be unaware of finest practices. That’s the place our coverage co-design work, use of latest applied sciences, and partnership constructing is available in.

Merola: You’re employed with unbiased enterprise homeowners — but in addition massive corporations.

Ruenes: Right. For instance, we’ve labored with Uber for 5 years. It was our first personal sector partnership. Why Uber? As a result of drivers and couriers have excessive mobility. They know cities higher than anybody, they see the whole lot. Yearly, resulting from our partnership, round 200,000 drivers learn to safely establish and report trafficking with particular indicators — and know-how permits us to experiment with completely different communication methods and approaches to impression analysis. The initiative has expanded to Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador.

Merola: Throughout these efforts and campaigns, are you finally in search of a mindset shift?

Ruenes: Sure — inside the personal sector and among the many common public as customers of companies and items. Till lately, the entire dialog about sustainability revolved across the setting. However our planet’s well being and our human rights — they’re intertwined. We need to assist corporations and customers have a look at sustainability broadly. Companies must learn to forestall unfavorable penalties of their operations and merchandise. For the tourism sector to be sustainable, resorts want to consider their impression each within the setting as within the native communities they’re hiring – which are usually weak populations to each sexual and labor exploitation. Resorts could notice, as an illustration, that by offering girls and migrant employees good working circumstances and alternatives to develop, they may additionally mitigate their employment and rotation disaster, that affects cities like Cancún or Merida.

Merola: Mariana, I discover you employ the time period “fashionable slavery” as a lot or greater than “human trafficking.” Why?

Ruenes: Sure, I exploit fashionable slavery increasingly more, because it contains stopping sexual exploitation within the context of organized crime, and likewise permits us to account for conditions that stray from “first rate work” into extra extreme types of exploitation. In truth, the trendy slavery framework was designed with the personal sector in thoughts — initially developed within the U.Okay., it has been adopted internationally and can proceed evolving. It asks companies to frankly have a look at their operations and say, “That is our plan to deal with these dangers in our enterprise mannequin. It does not imply that we’ll have the ability to do it instantly as a result of provide chains may be difficult. However right here’s our 3- to 5-year plan.”

Some years in the past, the notion of Company Social Accountability (CSR) was primarily one thing to be delivered outdoors the corporate and our counterparts have been in HR. Right now? Properly, immediately, we’re having a distinct dialog with the security and coverage groups inside corporations. They’re changing into extra conscious and extra thinking about transparency and innovation. It’s our work to acknowledge the companies which are on the precise path and displaying what’s attainable. And I am very hopeful to see the place it results in in Mexico.

Mariana Ruenes is an Ashoka Fellow. You’ll be able to learn extra about her and her impression right here.