When We Raise Our Voice: The Challenge of Eradicating Labor Exploitation

Jewel Gausman, Miriam Chernoff, Angela Duger, Jacqueline Bhabha, and Hillary Chu

Manav Sansadhan Evam Mahila Vikas Sansthan (MSEMVS) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has worked for decades with communities in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) to eradicate forced and bonded labor. These communities are home to some of the most economically disenfranchised and vulnerable populations in India; community members are employed in local agriculture, carpet and brick industries, widely recognized hubs for exploitative and abusive labor conditions. This report is an independent, evidence-based assessment of MSEMVS’s work, produced by the FXB Center, Harvard’s only university-wide human rights center.