Pakistans has acceded to International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions against forced labour. National legislation has been particularly concerned with the vulnerability of certain workers to bonded labour - or interlocking credit and labour relations between employers and workers. Policy action has been hampered by the non-availability of reliable data on the subject. The federal Ministry of Labour and Overseas Pakistanis with assistance from the ILO convened a national Bonded Labour Research Forum to commission and evaluate exploratory research studies on bonded labour in various sectors of the economy. The Collective was commissioned to carry out studies in five sectors: construction, tanneries, glass-bangle making, domestic service and begging. The studies adopted the "rapid assessment" methodology - based on informal qualitative data - to document and analyze labour arrangements in these sectors. Findings were presented at a national workshop in Islamabad in January 2004.