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MSU Professor: Businesses Have a Social Responsibility to End Human Trafficking

Courtesy of Dr. Katherine Taken Smith

We begin a new series of reports called Racer Scholar Profiles, highlighting Murray State Faculty research, scholarly and creative activities across colleges and schools. Our first guest is Dr. Katherine Taken Smith, who teaches consumer behavior and promotions management in the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business. She published an article on human trafficking and its connection with businesses, what corporations can do to eliminate human trafficking in their supply chains and how consumer behavior can put pressure on businesses to be proactive in curbing the demand for this modern form of slavery. 

Dr. Smith says corporations have a social responsibility to do things that benefit the society and environment. Her article focuses on Fortune 500 companies, some with revenues that exceed a small country. These companies have a lot of power in the market and over their suppliers, she says. If they don't like something or if they want something done a certain way, they can tell their suppliers and made them change by saying something like 'I'm not going to do business with you unless you make this right' and that can be done in ending human trafficking as well.

Human trafficking is more more prevalent than you might think. Because we're so civilized, we think slavery doesn't exist anymore, Dr. Smith says. Human trafficking is the abducting of people - where most times they end up in a form of slavery. There are three forms of exploitation: forced labor in the fields or in a factory, sexual exploitation as in favors of pornography and the organ trade, where slaves are bought and harvested for organs. Sadly, Dr. Smith says, children often end up in the latter two categories.

Since this is an illegal industry, it's difficult to report what companies and their supply chains are actually doing. The numbers emerge as estimates from cases reported. There are approximately 30 million victims of human trafficking in the world and over one million in the United States. In 2014, there were 55 cases in Kentucky and 140 in Illinois. It's happening right under our noses, she says. Almost half of the overall cases are in India, fewer in the west - Europe has fewer than the United States.

Dr. Smith's publication brings general research about human trafficking into the business world. Most of the research has to do with legalities in public policy journals, not in business journals. Human trafficking is a huge industry and it's profitable. It's profitable because of demand. Dr. Smith says corporations and consumers have to get involved in order to stop it, laws alone can't do it. She recommends that human trafficking be part of their corporate social responsibility missions. Only 1/3 of Fortune 500 companies mention trafficking as a concern on their website. To their credit, she calls out Coca Cola, Microsoft, Exxon-Mobile, Ford and Walmart for taking action. Delta Airlines train their flight attendants to look for signs of human trafficking in passengers.

Consumers can get involved by putting pressure on companies to get engaged. Just like environmental concerns, if enough consumers demand corporations to investigate their supply chains to make sure none of their products are a result of slave labor, businesses will respond to that. To further this line of action, Dr. Smith is looking into auditing firms - finding ways accounting firms can look into this as part of their audits.

The Global Business Coalition Against Human Trafficking

International Justice Mission

Polaris Project

Be listening for our next Racer Scholar Profile guest - Dr. Shea Porr of Equine Sciences. We appreciate the assistance of MSU Jesse D. Jones Endowed Professor of Geosciences Dr. Kit Wesler as ambassador for this series. It will highlight faculty pursuing interesting and productive ideas that advance knowledge or create novel works of art and literature, to inform their teaching and excite students.

Matt Markgraf joined the WKMS team as a student in January 2007. He's served in a variety of roles over the years: as News Director March 2016-September 2019 and previously as the New Media & Promotions Coordinator beginning in 2011. Prior to that, he was a graduate and undergraduate assistant. He is currently the host of the international music show Imported on Sunday nights at 10 p.m.
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