An Institutional Approach to Labor-Related Human Rights Compliance: A Case of Forced Labor in Nicaragua and Honduras

Abstract

In many countries there is a startling contrast between the rules defining labour rights and the reality of labour practices: a rule-reality gap. This paper presents an institutional approach to understanding why labour rights protections succeed or fail. It argues that compliance theory from international law is the best tool to guide institutional reform of labour protections. The paper applies these theoretical frameworks to assessing and qualitatively comparing forced labour in Nicaragua and Honduras. The methodology is qualitative content analysis of publicly available documents triangulating from among distinctive and sometimes opposing perspectives such as the International Trade Union Confederation and Central American NGOs along with ILO and U.S. State Department Human Rights Reports. This qualitative approach can supplement efforts to measure labour rights protections by explaining the multiple pathways through which protections of labour rights deteriorate.

Keywords: institutions, human rights, compliance, forced labor, Honduras, Nicaragua, labor rights