I USED THIS questionnaire to document slaves in Thailand’s seafood sector. I adapt the questionnaire for different industries and countries, but in all cases I interrogate all potential manifestations of slavery. The interview typically opens with a brief explanation of who I am and why I wish to speak with the individual. I then undertake a consent process in which I explain the kinds of questions I will be asking, assure the individual that he or she can stop speaking at any time and that there is no penalty for doing so, and explain that the individual can choose not to answer any question. For minors, I secure verbal assent because children cannot consent to human subject research. In addition, if I am in a shelter and there is a responsible adult in charge of the child, I ask that person for consent. If the child is being exploited and there is no responsible or trustworthy adult available, I secure verbal assent only from the child. With children, questions are adapted to be as innocuous as possible, and I take special care to pause often and assess whether the child appears uncomfortable. Children often feel pressured to continue answering questions even if they do not feel comfortable doing so. Rather than go down a list of questions, I engage in a semistructured conversation in which I intermix casual discussion with the questions. At no point do I document confidential information. I assigned a number, time, date, and location to each interview, as well as a pseudonym.
KEY INFORMANT QUESTIONNAIRE
Thank you for talking with me. My name is Siddharth Kara, and I’m a researcher. This is my translator ______________. We are working together to talk to people who work in the seafood industry in Thailand. I will be recording our conversation and taking notes while we talk. Is that okay?
Go through the CONSENT or ASSENT PROCESS. Document verbal consent/assent.
If the participant agrees to take part, continue with the interview.
Location of Interview: (City name and location of worksite by street name or intersection or other geographic landmark.)
Total number of workers in the site:
Let’s start by talking a little about your background.
Background and Nature of Work
1 What is your date of birth?
2 Gender?
3 Ethnic group or community?
4 Where were you born?
5 Where did you live before you came to Thailand?
6 Are you a citizen in your home country? A refugee? Unregistered?
7 Where does the rest of your family live?
8 What are the ages of the other members of your immediate family (spouse, siblings, parents, children)?
9 Can you read and write?
10 What level of education did you complete?
11 How long have you been at this workplace?
12 Do you have migration papers to work in Thailand? If so, please describe.
13 Please describe the work you do here.
14 Do you own your dwelling or any land? If so, please describe.
15 If you do not own your own dwelling or land, what is your tenancy arrangement?
16 What languages do you speak?
17 How long have you been working in the seafood sector in Thailand?
18 What other work have you done in the past?
19 Do you have a written agreement for this job?
20 If yes, did you understand the agreement when you signed it? Were all the terms explained to you?
21 How much do you get paid for the work you are doing (piece rate, weekly, monthly)?
22 Who pays you?
23 How often are you paid?
24 Do you receive the full wage you are promised?
25 If not, how much do you receive?
26 For how long have you not been receiving the full wage?
27 Is your payment ever delayed?
28 If payment is delayed, how often and by how long?
29 Have you been at other work places in Thailand? If so, please describe. [NB: query potential previous instances of slavery]
30 Have you migrated to Thailand for work previously? If so, please describe. [NB: query potential previous instances of slavery]
31 Have you ever migrated to another country for work previously? If so, please describe. [NB: query potential previous instances of slavery]
32 Document the working conditions at the worksite in detail, especially elements that are hazardous and can cause ill health or injury.
Section A: Forced Labor under ILO Convention No. 29—Involuntariness
1 Are you able to leave the worksite freely, or must you ask permission? [NB: observe presence of locks/restraints or guards that prevent the worker from leaving]
2 Are you locked in the worksite and not allowed to leave?
3 In the place where you sleep, are you locked inside at night and not allowed to leave?
4 Are you free to pursue work with other employers if you want to? What would happen if you tried to leave this job?
5 Have you ever left this worksite since arriving? If so, how many times?
6 Are you able to communicate with friends or family freely? If so, how do you do so?
7 Are you free to go to the toilet when you wish, or must you ask permission?
8 Where do you go to the toilet? Do you feel it is private? Sanitary?
9 Where do you bathe? Do you feel it is private? Sanitary?
10 How many hours do you normally work each day?
11 How many days a week do you normally work?
12 Who decides how long you will work?
13 Are you paid extra if you work longer than eight hours in a day?
14 Do you feel pressure to work more than eight hours a day? If so, why? What happens if you do not?
15 Have you ever had an illness or an injury while working here? If so, please describe.
16 If you get sick or injured, do you feel pressure to keep working?
17 If you get sick or injured, are you given medical care?
18 Are you allowed days off for a holiday or rest?
19 Is there equipment here that keeps you safe while you are working?
20 Do you have any untreated health problems? If so, please describe.
21 How often do you eat a meal? Do you feel you have enough food to eat? Please describe the meals you eat.
22 How many hours do you sleep each night? Are you prevented from getting as much sleep as you would like?
23 Ask about any other conditions the worker would like to share that may indicate involuntariness.
Section B: Forced Labor under ILO Convention No. 29—Coercion
1 Have you ever been threatened or punished through physical, verbal, or sexual abuse if you (1) stop working, (2) do not work as much as you are told, (3) object to your working conditions, (4) object to your wage payments, or (5) for any other reason? If so, please describe.
2 Have you ever received threats against your family members for any of these same reasons? If so, please describe.
3 Have you ever seen others receiving threats or punishments that dissuaded you from taking issue with any of these same reasons? If so, please describe.
4 Have you ever been denied food or sleep for any reason? If so, please describe.
5 Does your employer keep your identity documents, or do you have them?
6 Can you get your identity documents if you ask for them?
7 Do you sleep in a different place from where you work?
8 How often does the supervisor check on you? [NB: observe and describe surveillance of the workers]
9 Would you rather leave this job but feel you must stay and keep working because you have no other alternative?
10 Ask about any other conditions the worker would like to share that may indicate coercion.
Section C: Debt Bondage
1 Have you ever borrowed money or taken a wage advance or any other kind of advance from your employer or the person who found you this job?
2 What was the reason?
3 How much money did you borrow?
4 How many times have you borrowed?
5 How much for each of these other instances?
6 What were the reasons for each of these other instances?
7 Is part of your wage deducted in any amount to repay your debt? [NB: probe various types of deductions such as for food, lodging, supplies, errors, injuries; do family members have to work for the debt as well; is interest charged on debt and if so how much; does the informant work more than ten hours each day but is only paid an eight-hour wage, etc.]
8 Do you still have a debt you are working off?
9 Do you know how much it is?
10 Is there a written agreement for the debt?
11 Is any accounting provided to you for your debits and credits?
12 Do you feel you cannot leave this job because of the debt?
13 What would happen if you tried to leave before repaying the debt?
Section D: Human Trafficking
1 Did you accept this job from someone who recruited you?
2 Who was this person? Where was he or she from?
3 Did you know this person?
4 When you agreed to take the job, did you have to travel to get here?
5 How far did you travel?
6 How did you travel? Please describe in detail.
7 Who paid for the travel arrangements?
8 Did the recruiter make any promises to you about (1) working conditions, (2) wages, (3) living arrangements, (4) type of work, or (5) amount of work, that were not true? If so, please describe.
9 If the recruiter made any false promises, did you have the option of declining the work and returning home? If not, why?
10 Did the recruiter charge any up-front fees for arranging this job? If so, how much?
11 Did the recruiter explain what the fees were for?
12 Did the recruiter give you a receipt or statement of the expenses?
13 Does the recruiter deduct money from your wages? If so, how much?
14 What were the circumstances that led you to accept the job offer from the recruiter? Please describe.
15 Are you still in touch with the recruiter?
16 Did you bring any other members of your family to work with you, or elsewhere in Thailand? Please describe.
17 Ask about any other conditions of coercion that were used by the recruiter to place the worker in the job.
Section E: Child Labor (For any Interviewee under eighteen years of age)
1 Do you attend school? If not, why not?
2 Have you ever attended school in the past?
3 Are you at the worksite with a parent or guardian?
4 If you are unaccompanied, would you like to return home?
5 If yes, are you prevented from doing so? Why?
6 If you do not wish to return home, why not?
Section F: Thank you
Thank you very much for talking with me today.
Do you know of anyone else who might like to speak with me?
CATEGORIZATION GUIDELINES
After securing answers to the questions, I apply the following categorization guidelines to establish one or more of the manifestations of slavery, human trafficking, forced labor, or child labor.
1. Forced Labor under ILO Convention No. 29
Any individual who meets the criteria of both involuntariness and coercion under ILO Convention No. 29 as follows:
• Involuntariness: restrictions on freedom of movement in at least two of the first three questions, and restrictions on freedom of employment in question four, plus clear indications of involuntariness in an additional eleven of the remaining questions.
• Coercion: threats or punishments in at least three of the five cases in questions one, two, or three, plus clear indications of coercive conditions in at least four of the remaining questions.
2. Debt Bondage
Any individual who has taken an economic advance of any kind, and is subject to severely exploitative deductions in wages to repay the advance (severity of deductions determined under question seven), and who is unable to leave the job prior to repayment of the debt without facing severe exit costs.
3. Human Trafficking
Any individual who is recruited by a third party into a job under false promises, and in which the individual works in conditions of Forced Labor under ILO Convention No. 29 or Debt Bondage, and who migrated more than one day’s journey to the worksite, and for which there was no option to exit the job opportunity upon learning of the exploitative conditions.
4. Child Labor
Any individual under eighteen years of age who works at least eight hours a day, five days a week, and does not attend school.