Modern slavery is often discussed through the language of risk, compliance, audits, and supply chains. But behind every audit finding, risk assessment, and escalation is a person whose safety, freedom, or dignity may be at stake.
For organizations trying to identify and address exploitation, that makes effective due diligence about more than meeting regulatory requirements. You need practical ways to understand what is happening across your supply chain, safe routes for workers to raise concerns, trusted grievance mechanisms, and effective approaches to remediation.
This becomes harder as supply chains grow more complex. Exploitation can be hidden several tiers away, beyond direct supplier relationships and outside the visibility of traditional audits. Pressure on cost and speed can add further complexity, while workers themselves may have limited opportunities to speak up.
As the UK modern slavery and exploitation charity, Unseen, reminds us, supply chain due diligence ultimately needs to tell us more than what’s written in policies and audits. It needs to help us understand the conditions that real people are facing.
To explore this, BSI commissioned independent research among 600 senior decision-makers across the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and South Africa. The findings were then brought together in a report co-created with the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS).
The findings, explored in full in Slavery-free? Prove it. Social Risk Report 2026, reveal a significant tension between what organizations believe they know about their supply chains and what their evidence can actually show.
96% found serious labour rights issues. What does that tell us about the confidence behind due diligence?
What would you expect to find if you looked closely for modern slavery in your supply chain?
Our research with CIPS found that 96% of organizations had identified modern slavery, forced labour, or serious labour rights violations in their supply chains in the previous 12 months.
That finding is striking. But perhaps the more revealing figure is the 77%.
That number is the proportion that believe they have enough evidence to prove their supply chain is free from modern slavery. Both findings can be true. The full report explores what they reveal about the confidence organizations have in their due diligence. And together, they raise a more important question: how confident can you be in your due diligence if you can’t always see what’s happening?
Finding something isn’t the same as failing
At first glance, the 96% of organizations identifiying modern slavery or violations could suggest that due diligence is failing. However, finding exploitation doesn’t necessarily mean due diligence has failed. It can also mean organizations are identifying problems that might otherwise remain hidden.
CIPS research shows strong commitment to identifying and addressing modern slavery and wider human rights issues, with 75% of respondents reporting they were highly committed to doing so.
So, organizations actively looking for violations isn’t the issue. Instead, it’s if they can see enough, trust what they find, and know what to do next.
When confidence goes beyond what you can see
The deeper you look into a supply chain, the harder it becomes to see what’s happening.
Only 18% of respondents reported comprehensive visibility at Tier 3. At Tier 2, that figure was 26%, rising to 38% at Tier 1.
This is significant because confidence in your due diligence depends on the quality of the evidence behind it. The research found that 74% of respondents were confident their social audits and assessments reflect real-world conditions, but only 29% were extremely confident they do.
Resolving this issue isn’t by simply having more data. Organizations require evidence that can be trusted from deep enough in their supply chains to show what’s really happening.
While it can be seen that visibility does become harder as supply chains extend past Tier 1, this isn’t the most revealing find from the report.
What happens when you find it?
Finding exploitation is only the start. The research found that 54% of organizations have identified, documented, and remediated a violation without terminating the supplier. A further 31% had remediated the issue and then ended the relationship.
This distinction reveals that ending a supplier relationship doesn’t automatically end exploitation. In some situations, remediation and continued engagement could give organizations more opportunity to address underlying conditions and protect workers. The focus needs to be on improving conditions, not simply identifying problems.
The full report explores this tension in more detail, including what happens after exploitation is identified and the role of remediation in protecting workers.
Takeaway: Build evidence, visibility, and action into due diligence
As an organization, your goal isn’t to build a supply chain where nothing uncomfortable is ever found.
Instead, work to build the visibility and evidence required to monitor what is happening, respond when problems emerge, and keep improving the conditions for workers.
To do this means to look beyond confidence in your processes and ask harder questions about the evidence behind them.
Can you see far enough into your supply chain?
Can you trust what your data is telling you?
And when you find exploitation, can you respond in a way that protects people and drives change?
The research behind the full report suggests that confidence is only the starting point. Your credibility comes from being able to see, evidence, and act.
The findings in the full report, Slavery-free? Prove it. explore these tensions in more detail, including how organizations assess visibility, evidence, audit confidence, and remediation across their supply chains.