A/HRC/40/56 processing plants, employers often warn against the creation of unions and may threaten to fire union leaders and participating workers. In 2013, the Citra Mina Group of Companies, one of the largest tuna exporters in the Philippines, terminated the contracts of 234 workers for unionizing. That action launched a union-driven campaign for “worker safe” tuna and compelled government intervention. 42 Despite efforts to increase union membership, including campaigns by the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, it is estimated that only 1 per cent of workers employed in fisheries are unionized.43 4. Lack of social protection 30. States are responsible for establishing social protections against the risk of poverty caused by sickness, disability, maternity leave, employment injury, unemployment, age, the death of a family member and health-care and childcare costs. However, like agricultural workers (A/73/164, para. 18), many fishery workers depend on informal work that falls outside the scope of national labour protections. As a result, they do not benefit from social protection schemes, including social security, workers’ compensation and health insurance. In small-scale fisheries, most workers operate under oral agreements that lack fixed or enforceable terms and benefits. Despite the well-recognized dangers of the sector, most fishery workers and their dependants lack a social safety net in the event of work-related injury or death. D. Populations needing special protection 31. Over the past five years, many news agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have published scathing investigative reports about the horrific conditions of fisheries, tracing the exploitation of workers along the supply chain to the fish that is harvested, processed and sold by the world’s largest retailers and distributors.44 The highest incidences of exploitation are reported in South-East Asia, where the majority of fishery workers are employed; however, human trafficking and other abuses have been documented in Africa, particularly in Ghana, in Ireland, New Zealand and the Russian Federation, and in Hawaii. 32. Women, children and migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to the most severe forms of exploitation, including human trafficking, fraudulent and deceptive recruitment, forced labour, physical, mental and sexual abuse, homicide, child labour, abandonment and discrimination. Indigenous and coastal populations experience unique and significant challenges to realizing their right to food. 1. Women 33. Women are widely involved in the fisheries sector, but they often lack adequate protection from exploitation, even when States adopt measures consistent with international law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (A/73/164, paras. 37–42). The lack of protection is largely attributed to the prevalence of informal work arrangements. In small-scale fisheries, women’s responsibilities as fishers, processors and traders may be considered occasional activities, complementary to housework. Women who help family members are not acknowledged or paid as part of the workforce. In aquaculture, women are often “hidden” within the value 42 43 44 8 International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, “Organising globally to fight exploitation in fisheries and aquaculture: international meeting of fishing industry and aquaculture workers’ unions, Oslo, Norway, 23–24.11.2015”, p. 17. For more information, see the From catcher to counter joint programme by the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the International Union of Food Workers. See Hodal and Kelly, “Trafficked into slavery”; McDowell, Mason and Mendoza, “AP investigation: slaves may have caught the fish you bought”; Urbina, “‘Sea slaves’: the human misery”; Human Rights Watch, “Hidden chains”.