* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
When it comes to holding business and governments to account, do we name and shame? Name and sue? Name and engage?
These were just some of the many different approaches to holding governments and businesses to account, discussed by the panel on data and trafficking at the Thomson Reuters Trust Women conference yesterday in London.
No matter which of these approaches is preferred, all panelists agreed - data is a critical pre-condition to being able to hold governments and business to account.
In an effort to hold governments to account, the Global Slavery Index includes a strong focus on what Governments are doing - and not doing - to combat modern slavery.
While much of the focus is on the prevalence estimates in the Global Slavery Index, the "Government Response" part of the Index brings together a total of 17,000 data-points, covering 167 governments, as part of providing a sound basis for assessing strength of government responses to modern slavery.
While we do look at factors such as laws and policies, we also look at other indicators that are about results - not words on paper.
For example, when we look at training for police, we look at whether training happened - but we also look at the scope and geographical reach of the training, and whether this leads to an increase in identification of victims.
Many of the variables we collect are not about laws and law enforcement but are about the factors, that Governments control, that make people vulnerable to exploitation. What are the rules on recruitment of migrant workers? By law, who pays the fees? Is there evidence of widespread withholding of passports?
Gathering data on this scale allows us to look at how effort compares to resources. Of course, it is no surprise that well-off governments with strong rule of law, like the Netherlands, rank highly on this Index. But its also important to look at outliers. When government responses are correlated with national GDP, countries such as Georgia and the Philippines are making a lot of effort. Vice versa, countries such as Malaysia and Qatar could do far more given their relative wealth.
Last year we undertook a survey of governments to better understand their efforts. We know that Governments put their best foots forward when describing their efforts to combat modern slavery. This year, we are undertaking a survey of NGOs and independent experts, to understand how these responses are experienced on the ground. We hope this will enable us to see past the spin, with a clearer view of how policies are being implemented in practice.
If you work for an NGO with a focus on modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour or forced marriage, I encourage you to take a look at the survey. It takes about 45 minutes to complete - a significant investment of time for any organisation - but worth-while as the results will help to build a strong, independent picture of how governments are responding to modern slavery.
Take part in the NGO survey here.
