Change.org recently reported on the child labor in the gold industry of Peru. Peru, since the beginning of colonialism in South America, has been exploited for their vast amounts of precious metals hidden in the mountains of the Andes. After the fall of the Incan empire, the Spanish conquistadors were hungry for more wealth and used native people as slaves to mine silver in order to further enrich their empire.
Today precious metals and slavery continue to have an enduring relationship. The Peruvian Sierra region, the main source of gold in the country, is the focus of Change.org's campaign to stop the exploitation of men, women and children who are forced to work in treacherous, inhumane conditions everyday so that we, Americans, can buy cheap bracelets and earrings from our favorite air-conditioned retail stores.
"Children as young as five have been found working in gold mines, and children under 14 are regularly forced to handle dangerous chemicals and perform backbreaking labor," explains the Change.org campaign. In addition to being exposed to toxic chemicals like cyanide, children often are expected to handle dynamite to extract the gold from the mountains.
Peru is not the only country known for slave labor in their gold industries. 17 other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America force young children and adults to spend hours upon hours mining for gold that is in turn sold to companies in the United States. According to Change.org, gold was "the most frequently named commodity appearing on the US Department of Labor's List of Good Produced by Child or Forced Labor."
As a result, Earthworks organized a campaign called "No Dirty Gold" which encouraged companies to buy gold from sources that do not use child labor or slavery, or cause significant environmental damage. Change.org says that "70 national and international jewelry retailers have signed onto (the campaign)." However, Target has refused to agree to these terms. Interestingly enough their chief rival (and usually a major laggard in human rights issues), Wal-Mart, has already pledged to source their gold from cruelty-free producers.
After "tens of thousands" of letters from Change.org members, Target has publicly agreed to "consider" joining Earthworks' campaign. As we all know, this is a weak statement and another way to avoid changing their routine to buy products that are slave labor free.
For more information about the "No Dirty Gold" campaign, visit Earthworks: No Dirty Gold.
If we don't act, Target won't either. Each dollar we spend at a corporation like Target is vote in agreement of their practices. The people of Peru deserve better, and we must demand more of our companies and their products.
Though it has been several months since the release of The Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, a careful examination of the report’s pros and cons is still in order. The intent of the report is to provide a reliable source for consumers and companies so they can make ethical choices about where they purchase and source products from, with the hope that if people do not purchase products tainted by child/forced labor, we can eliminate the problem.
The study was created by the Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) and details the products produced in various countries where child and forced labor are often used (both in the formal and informal economy). The study covers 122 products in 58 different countries, which are in various stages of development and are located in every region of the world. Some of the more commonly listed goods are sugarcane, gold, carpets, coffee, cotton, rice, coal and cocoa.
The findings of the report are certainly useful for those who are interested in pushing for a world free from child and forced labor, but there are also several limitations to the study. Though I cannot provide a comprehensive evaluation of the pros and cons of this study I do want to briefly examine some of them.
The first pro is that the study provides a general guide that consumers and companies can use when choosing where to purchase or source products from. Though some of this information is already public knowledge (in that you could do an online search and find that child labor occurs in Thailand’s shrimp industry), this report puts information about the nature of many different products in one place, while providing further informational sources should one wish to know more.
The second pro, is that the report provides a means of empowerment for consumers. If someone is interested in buying shrimp, they could use this resource to make a more informed decision about their purchase. If the bag or fishmonger says the shrimp comes from Thailand, they can buy from another brand or store that does not. Consumers can also use this knowledge to petition companies not to purchase potentially tainted products from these countries (note: see con below).
The third pro is that the report provides a mechanism for change. Though it is likely that not every country or every product produced using child or forced labor is included in this list, it can provide people and governments a means to put pressure on other governments to make changes. Governments are more likely to take action when they realize that information of this nature is widely distributed. In a similar way to how countries react to the Trafficking in Persons Report each year, no one wants to be portrayed as a safe haven for child or forced labor. This report hopefully will lead to stronger mechanisms for preventing and prosecuting such cases within the countries examined.
Despite the benefit of these reports, there are also a few cons, which should be taken seriously when examining the report. The first and perhaps most important con to this study is that it is not very useful for highly manufactured items. For example, my shirt might be made in Untied States (though unlikely) in a factory where there is no forced/child labor and the shirt says it is made in the US. What I do not know, as a consumer, is where the cotton came from, how the dyes where made, where the machines that made the shirt came from and where the materials used to make the machine that make the shirt originated. I may make this purchase believing I am not contributing to child/forced labor since my shirt was made in the US. In reality though, I may be contributing to the problem because the cotton came from India or the metals came from a forced labor mine in the Congo. This guide while useful cannot help me make an ethical decision about that purchase.
The second con is that while the report acts as a shaming mechanism for governments, it misses a primary contributor to the problem, corporations. While governments are responsible for regulating the production of items in their country, companies are contributing (knowingly or not) to the problem by purchasing from other companies that use child/forced labor. Corporations need to share in the responsibility and blame for this and this report avoids holding them accountable by seemingly placing all the blame on governments. Corporations can be a force for good in this fight, but are still not being held accountable by those who could, including the US Government.
The final con is that there is a danger in condemning a whole industry within a country due to child or forced labor. While it is a good general rule of thumb, it can also severely harm companies that are trying to do the right thing. If we condemn all cocoa producers in a country, but not all of the producers use child or forced labor, they too will suffer when consumers demand a company stop sourcing items from that country. The report in some sense encourages people to punish whole countries for the practices of some or perhaps even a majority of companies in that country with regard to the product of interest. We should encourage companies that do not use child or forced labor, and large corporations should reward them by sourcing from these companies. Additionally condemning every company in a country can be particularly harmful to the companies that are trying to do the right thing since their labor costs etc. tend to be higher. Companies that are trying to do the right thing are likely the first ones to feel the impact of a boycott, which really seems to defeat the purpose of such a ban.
I encourage everyone to take a glance at the report here. It is definitely a great contribution to society and a useful resource for reducing child/forced labor (which sometimes includes trafficking), but the report should be seen both for what it does and does not do.
Shop to Stop Slavery Releases 2010 Ethical Christmas & Holiday Gift GuideLearning how to be a socially conscious shopper this holiday season has just been made easier by Shop to Stop Slavery.
Jacksonville, FL, November 8, 2010 — ShoptoStopSlavery.com, a new concept website devoted to raising awareness about human trafficking, has released its very own, unique 2010 Ethical Christmas & Holiday Gift Guide. The premier edition of the guide aims to help shoppers make ethical choices in the gifts they offer this holiday season.
Many of the products purchased in the Western Hemisphere are produced by slaves or exploited groups of people. Robin Rossmanith, founder of Shop to Stop Slavery, states “It is a shame that the items that bring joy to our children, friends and family members are created in a manner that brings suffering to others.”
Consumers who are concerned about making socially conscious shopping choices can make a difference by purchasing items with the “fair trade certified” label or those shown to be made ethically. Through such purchases, they are supporting manufacturers and brands that are committed to not exploiting others. Luckily there are many options available for fairly made product purchases. However, sometimes consumers have to spend hours researching to find the right gift.
The 2010 Ethical Christmas & Holiday Gift Guide is a compilation of almost 100 US based stores that carry fair trade and/or ethically made products. The guide includes links to stores for easy access by the viewer. The Ethical Christmas & Holiday Gift Guide will make socially conscious shopping easier for the consumer. The gift guide can be viewed at www.ShopToStopSlavery.com/Gift-Guide and is also available for download.
The 2010 Ethical Christmas & Holiday Gift Guide was created by Robin Rossmanith, founder of http://www.shoptostopslavery.com. Robin has a background in retail sales, as well as extensive knowledge of human trafficking. After discovering that 27 million people worldwide are living in slavery and a shocking number of them were right here in the United States, Robin Rossmanith, a Jacksonville, Florida mother of 3 school age children, committed herself to becoming an activist for the cause. Robin became the co-chair of the Northeast Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, in 2010, leading individuals and agencies in a community wide effort to prevent human trafficking, rescue and restore victims and prosecute traffickers.
Also in 2010, Robin began ShoptoStopSlavery.com, a website dedicated to informing consumers about products made with forced labor and providing opportunities for consumers to purchase slave free goods. Shop to Stop Slavery seeks to engage everyone in the efforts to end human trafficking. “Even the seemingly little things, like the Christmas gifts you buy, can make a big impact towards ending the exploitation of those people worldwide who are most risk.”
ShoptoStopSlavery.com is a blog created by anti-human trafficking activist Robin Rossmanith, outlining ways to increase awareness and help eliminate modern day slavery. As the co-chairperson of an anti-human trafficking task force, she has become intimately aware of the risks posed by these types of crimes.
In the developing world, a lack of regular channels to information and resources prevents city-based anti-trafficking advocates from providing adequate resources to rural and at-risk communities. As advocates travel from cities to do outreach education to isolated/vulnerable regions, they are often remain disconnected from those who are in critical need of regular communication. The mission of Survivors Connect Helpline SMS Teams is to advance anti-trafficking networks in underserved communities using innovative mobile technology. Helpline SMS Networks consist of: NGOs, legal advocates, social service providers, law enforcement, and other key stake holders who act as first responders in a trafficking case.
The Helpline SMS Network is able to use this mobile network to regularly stay in touch with rural communities vulnerable to human trafficking, provide regular updates and information at a low cost, and respond to emergencies and prevent trafficking. We're using Frontline SMS, a free open-source platform that enables large-scale, two-way text messaging using only a laptop, GSM modem and inexpensive cell phones.
By using this technique, we are preventing slavery and human trafficking one text at a time! How will your Phone Make a difference? By Donating to Phones4Freedom, Survivors Connect will earn "points" or "credits" to purchase the appropriate mobile equipment for Helpline SMS anti-trafficking networks. The average donated phone in the US will allow us to purchase 2-3 phones.
If you're shipping in the US then absolutely not! The shipping labels are prepaid, thanks to our generous partner The WirelessSource. If you wish to donate from outside the US, email us at hello@phones4freedom.org to explore possibilities. Does my phone's condition matter?
Doesn't matter one bit. Send us any and all phones, beat up and old. Our recycling partner will take care of them. What happens to my phone?
We have partnered up with The WirelessSource to recycle and process your phone. They will either refurbish or fully recycle the phone. Phones4Freedom will receive "credits" or "points" for every phone you send it, which will then allow us to purchase appropriate phones for our anti-trafficking advocates and anti-trafficking networks around the world. 100% of the value of your cell phone is used to obtain the right phones for the networks.
How can I start a collection campaign at my place of business, school, place of worship etc?
Email us at hello@phones4freedom.org with details about your ideas. We will send you a kit with everything you need to start your own collection campaign. This will include a unique shipping label for you so we can track how many phones are donated through your campaign. In addition, we'll send a collection box and fundraising kit including handy flyers and images for your use. I have personal information on my phone, how do I get rid of it?
Removing your SIM chip is step 1. This will remove all contacts. However, you may still have contacts, notes, and pictures saved on your phone's memory. In order to remove it, can follow the instructions here OR The WirelessSource will do it for you! I have more electronics at home. Can I recycle and donate them?
You sure can! The The WirelessSource has expanded their recycling categories to include laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras, camcorders and gaming systems. You may use the same shipping label to send those as well.. Survivors Connect will receive credits for all electronics donated and recycled.
Phones4Freedom is an fascinating project which, is sponsored by Survivors Connect and partnered with The WirelessSource. Community members send their phones in, free of charge. The Wireless Sources recycles or refurbishes the phones and Phones4Freedom gets credits for them. The organization uses these credits to purchase phones for anti-trafficking advocates around the world. The condition of the phone does not mater and the WirelessSource can even take other electronics.
If you are interested in sending a phone or another electronic device, please visit http://www.phones4freedom.org/donate.php where you can print your shipping label and learn how to properly ship it. In addition, there is information on how to get others involved by printing flyers and starting a campaign at your school/work or place of worship. This is an excellent way to get rid of an old phone, fight trafficking and save the environment at the same time.
With Halloween quickly approaching, October is a particularly opportune month to raise awareness about the use of forced labor, child labor, and other exploitative labor practices in the chocolate industry. A number of organizations are hosting campaigns to help community members raise awareness about these issues and to encourage the chocolate industry to continue to address these abuses in the industry.
The Dark Side of Chocolate The International Labor Rights Forum, along with Global Exchange, Green America and Oasis USA, are organizing screenings of The Dark Side of Chocolate all across the country. This new documentary exposes the ongoing use of child labor, forced labor and trafficking in the cocoa industry in West Africa. It is a great resources for increasing awareness of this critical labor rights issue.
As part of the Raise the Bar Hershey campaign, they are asking concerned individuals to host screenings in their communities throughout October 2010, especially during a national week of action from October 25 through October 31.
For more information, please contact Tim Newman at Tim.Newman@ILRF.org or 202-347-4100 To watch the trailer, click Here To download a community screening toolkit, click Here
Reverse Trick-or-Treating Ten to twenty thousand groups of children will hand chocolate back to adults during their regular neighborhood trick-or-treating rounds this Halloween. The children will distribute Fair Trade certified chocolate attached to a card explaining the labor and environmental problems in the cocoa industry globally and how Fair Trade provides a solution. The event, Reverse Trick-or-Treating, was launched to raise awareness of the pervasive problem of child labor, forced labor and trafficking in the cocoa fields, to empower consumers to press the chocolate industry for more fair cocoa sourcing policies, to shift the industry toward sourcing Fair Trade certified cocoa, and to inform consumers about Fair Trade companies that are leading the way to industry reform. Fair Trade standards prohibit the use of abusive child labor, contain extensive environmental sustainability protections, and enable farmers to escape poverty.
To learn more, click Here To order a kit, click Here
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced [on 9/30/2010 that] he has signed SB 657 by Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to help eliminate slavery and human trafficking from product supply chains.
“Human trafficking is a terrible crime that goes against basic human rights and everything our country stands for,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I am proud that in California, we have enacted some of the toughest laws to punish human traffickers and protect their victims. This legislation will increase transparency, allow consumers to make better, more informed choices and motivate businesses to ensure humane practices throughout the supply chain.”
SB 657 requires major retail sellers and manufacturers doing business in California to disclose their voluntary efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from its direct supply chain for tangible goods offered for sale.
With this bill, California has taken an important step forward in addressing human trafficking and the use of slave labor in the products that we buy. In addition to simply acknowledging the fact that slave labor exists in the supply chain for many of the goods that we consume, this bill encourages producers, retailers, and consumers to eliminate the use of slavery. By enacting this legislation, which is the first of its kind in the United States, California takes a leading role that hopefully other states will emulate.
Trader Joe's presents itself as a hip, progressive place to shop, full of vegetarian options and free from the plethora of hot orange processed snacks found elsewhere. But Trader Joe's refuses to take one very critical progressive step and join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) Campaign for Fair Food. And because of their refusal, you might just be buying slave-picked produce from those friendly, Hawaiian shirt-wearing joes.
Modern-day slavery is a reality for many farm workers right here in the U.S. In Florida, over 1,000 people have been identified as trafficked in fields and on farms, picking the food we eat every day. Farm workers have also been trapped in slavery or seriously abusive conditions in California, Washington, North Carolina, Maryland, and several other states with large agricultural industries. Because the laws governing agriculture are different than those regulating other industries in the U.S., many of these workers don't have the same legal protections the rest of us do.
Trader Joe's is no stranger to dealing with labor and transparency concerns. Two years ago, a 17-year-old girl suffered a fatal heat stroke while picking grapes for Charles Shaw wine, the "Two Buck Chuck" Trader Joe's is famous for. And folks over Change.org's Sustainable Food property are asking the company for better transparency in their organic food sourcing. TJ's has also gotten flack for selling un-sustainable seafood and fish from places like Thailand and Bangladesh, where slavery in the fishing industry is common. That's a pretty poor track record for a company with a progressive, conscious customer base.
This is where you, that conscious customer, come in. As a consumer, you have the power to ensure the workers who grow and harvest your food are getting fair pay for their work and are being treated with dignity. The CIW's Campaign for Fair Food harnesses the purchasing power of the food industry for the betterment of farm worker wages and working conditions. Over the past decade, CIW has used the campaign to get some of the largest food purchasers in the country to support fairer labor standards for farm workers in the U.S., including a zero tolerance policy for slavery and transparent supply chains. Current participants include Subway, McDonald's, and Whole Foods. Now, Trader Joe's has the opportunity to join them and take a stand against slavery and farm worker exploitation.
Trader Joe's has a wide reputation for being a company where people can purchase food and feel good about it. Unfortunately the secrecy of the organization, their unwillingness to join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) Campaign for Fair Food and some of their practices put this feeling into question. One of these practices includes sourcing unsustainable seafood from Thailand and Bangladesh where slave labor in the seafood industry is unfortunately not uncommon. Additionally, the death of a 17 year old who was picking grapes for Trader Joe's wine has also created concern among activist. Please visit this site and click the take action button to sign your name to the petition asking Trader Joe's to ensure fair and safe labor practices. Let them know their customers (and the community as a whole if you are not a customer) care.
Many people, when they first learn about human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, are compelled to act. Some people choose to educate themselves. In the process, they usually become aware that some of the products they buy could be tainted by slave labor. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the problem. There is very little a consumer can do to know whether the shirt they buy was produced ethically.
The consumer is not powerless though, and can do something to push for slave/trafficking free products.Companies, by nature, are concerned with their public image and whether or not they will have customers. They must constantly be sure that customers are satisfied with the products the company is selling. The only way companies know their customers are unsatisfied is if customers stop coming to the store or if they tell the company that they are unsatisfied. Too often in the fight against human trafficking and slavery I hear people demonizing and boycotting companies, particularly large corporations for their labor practices, without recognizing that these companies also have the most power to change labor practices within the industry for the better.
We need to engage these companies, not shun them.Companies are incredibly strategic. If a change will positively affect public image and thus customer flow into their stores, they likely will do it. Walmart now sells organic food because they believed it would attract more customers and because people asked for it. We need to use a similar mindset. If a company knows its customers really care about the type of labor used in the production of its products and believe it is negatively affecting their public image, it will likely begin trying to find solutions, though sometimes these solutions do not occur quickly.
There are many different ways to let companies know that you as a customer find their practices troubling and to ask the to take action. One particular method that seems to be popular right now is targeted online petition/email campaigns. These are a few of the campaigns I found and believe could be effective in this process.
General Chain Store ReactionThis is sponsored by Call + Response and allows you to send emails to many major chain stores. While there is already text written for each of the stores, you can also add or delete parts of the email based on what message you want to convey. This might be advisable since some of the emails are quite generic. For example, you could indicate which of their stores you frequent or which source products you are concerned about. The website also posts information on how many emails were sent to that company and whether or not they have responded. There are 767 companies listed on the website.
Chocolate Companies Here you can learnabout the horrific working/living conditions on the cocoa farms of West Africa. Additionally, you can petition companies such as Hershey’s and Mars to take action against these abuses.
Electronic Companies This site targets the 21 largest electronics companies and urges them to take serious action against conflict materials, which are often used in electronics. The conflict materials are usually obtained at great cost. Rape, war, and forced labor have surrounded the procurement of these materials. Tell companies you will buy their products once the conflict material free versions are available.
Diamonds This particular petition is directed towards members of the Kimberley Process which recently decided not to ban diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond field despite finding severe human rights violations including forced labor of adults and children. This is due to the fact that human rights violations alone are not enough to ban diamonds from a particular country. This petitions asks that this criteria be changed.There are many hurdles companies face in ensuring trafficked or enslaved labor is not in their supply chains. While these challenges are real, we need to make clear to these companies that their customers care. Until they know we care and are serious about this issue, it is likely that little will be done to ensure these companies’ supply chains are free of tainted labor.
Firms oppose California bill to disclose policing of labor practices Bill would require large firms to post online what they're doing to ensure that no one in their supply chain violates human rights. Business groups fear it could make them the target of enforcement actions and bad press.
August 13, 2010|By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Sacramento —
California companies say they won't deal with suppliers who use forced labor to dig out gems for jewelry or sew buttons on clothes. But they won't support legislation that would force them to divulge what they're doing to monitor their suppliers' workforce practices.
A bill by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) would require retailers and manufacturers with annual revenue of at least $100 million to post on the Internet what they're doing — or not doing — to ensure that no one in their supply chain violates human rights.
The idea is to give shoppers and investors who want to support companies taking anti-slavery stands an opportunity to spend their money in a socially conscious way, proponents such as British actress Julia Ormond have argued.
Many companies, such as Gap Inc. and Nike Inc., voluntarily police suppliers' labor practices such as mining rare metals in Africa or sewing dresses in East Los Angeles, they said.
But major statewide business groups oppose any state mandate that could make them the target of government enforcement actions and resulting bad press.
"These are the kinds of issues that create great consternation for my companies, which spend a lot of time worrying about their image," said Dorothy Rothrock, a vice president of the California Manufacturers and Technology Assn.
The bill would require companies to reveal publicly whether they hire outside experts to check suppliers' labor practices, whether they conduct independent and unannounced audits of suppliers and whether suppliers certify that raw materials are processed in accordance with local and international labor and safety laws.
There's nothing onerous about the bill, said Steinberg, noting that it would affect only about 3.2% of California businesses. "These requirements seem relatively simple and very doable," he said.
What's more, he said, "it's good business to ensure that workers who make your products are treated with respect and dignity."
The bill, SB 657, passed the state Assembly and is awaiting a final vote in the Senate this month.
"Business has a vital role to play in using their supply chains as the road map to tackling strategically and impactfully the worst forms of poverty on the planet," Ormond testified at a recent legislative hearing. "Consumers need to know their level of engagement so they can make informed choices."
In case you are unaware, California is in process of considering The California Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2010 (SB 657) and The Slave and Sweat Free Code of Conduct for goods sold to the State of California (SB 1231). The former would require large companies to disclose all efforts to use 3rd parties to check and address the possibility of human trafficking and slavery in their supply chains, in part by independent random audits of the company’s suppliers. The latter bill would lead to prohibition on the Government of California from purchasing items from companies that are believed to used forced forms of labor.
While companies say they agree in principle to not using forced and exploitative forms of labor, they are not okay with the first bill which requires them to publicly state what they are doing to ensure their suppliers are not using such labor. Many companies are very worried about their public image and feel this bill could lead to bad press and increased enforcement on their companies as compared to small companies, which will not be required to report.
The goal is to give concerned consumers a mechanism to learn about what companies are doing and to enable them to make ethical decisions about their purchases.
Despite the companies' concerns, this is a very important step in the fight to get companies to take human rights violations in their supply chains seriously. If you live in California, please contact your Assembly Representative in support of SB657 and SB1231. You can find your representative at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html. If you do not, please sign this petition supported by the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, which is targeted to Governor Schwarzenegger.
CHAPTER 6: EATING, WEARING, WALKING AND TALKING SLAVERY
Slavery probably crept into your life several times today, some before you even got to work. Rolling off your bed, standing on that pretty hand-woven rug, maybe you threw on a cotton t-shirt. In the kitchen did you make a cup of coffee, spoon in a little sugar, and then kick back with a chocolate croissant and your laptop to check the headlines? After a shower, maybe you drove to the station. Waiting for the train, perhaps you made a couple of calls on your cell phone.
All in all a normal day, but slavery was involved in almost every step. Hundreds of thousands of rugs are hand-woven by slaves in the “carpet belt” of India, Pakistan, and Nepal. Cotton is grown with slave labor in India, West Africa, and Uzbekistan, the world’s second largest producer. Coffee cultivation also encompasses slave labor, mainly in Africa. Enslaved Haitian workers harvest the sugar in the Dominican Republic, the largest exporter of sugar to the U.S. The chocolate in that croissant can also be the product of slavery, from the cocoa farms of the Ivory Coast. Even the steel and iron in your car can be polluted by slavery. From a quarter to a half of all U.S. imports of raw iron in different forms come from Brazil.[i] In that country slaves burn the forests to make charcoal, which in turn is used to smelt ore into pig iron and iron into steel. In America, the single largest consumer of Brazilian iron and steel is the automotive industry, though the construction industry also uses a large amount. Pressed against your ear, that cell phone keeps you connected to friends and family, but also to slavery. Cell phones (and laptops and other electronics) just don’t work very well without a mineral called tantalum. In the Democratic Republic of Congo poor farmers are rounded up by armed gangs and enslaved to dig tantalum out of the ground. Every one of us, every day, touches, wears, and eats products tainted with slavery. Slave-made goods and commodities are everywhere in our lives, but, paradoxically, in small proportions. The volume is unacceptable, but rarely critical to our national economy or quality of life. And slavery in our lives is not restricted to cotton, coffee, cocoa, steel, rugs, and cell phones. The list goes on and on, with new commodities and products turning up all the time. Some of them, such as shrimp, might surprise you.
Huckleberry Finn it ain’t
If there is an archetypical picture of rural youth, it is the barefoot lad with the fishing pole over his shoulder. The dusty riverbanks, the lazy heat, the straw dangling from his lip, it all says that halcyon days are possible in our youth. Today even this picture out of Mark Twain is shot through with bondage. Across Africa and Asia children are enslaved to catch, clean, package, and dry fish. They feed a global demand for everything from shrimp cocktail to cat food. One of the world’s largest consumers of seafood is Japan, but the U.S. isn’t too far behind. Americans imported 2.5 million tons of seafood in 2006, worth over $13 billion.[ii] And when it comes to shrimp, the US imports significantly more than the seafood-loving Japanese. Americans love shrimp, and the little crustacean that was once an expensive specialty food is now as ubiquitous as chicken. More than three million tons of frozen shrimp were imported to the U.S. in 2006.[iii] The huge demand for shrimp in the U.S. and other rich countries has generated a gold rush along the coastlines of the developing world. From India to Bangladesh, from Indonesia to Ecuador, Guatemala and Brazil, coastal forests, mangrove swamps, and natural beaches are ripped up to build hundreds of thousands of acres of shrimp farms. In all of these places adults and children are enslaved to cultivate and harvest the shrimp.[iv] In some cases whole families are caught in debt bondage slavery, in others children are kidnapped and hustled off to shrimp and fish farms on remote islands. Children are regularly enslaved in fishing and shrimping, since kids can do the work and they are easier to enslave and control.
In Bangladesh, boys as young as eight are kidnapped and taken out to remote islands like Dublar Char off the southwest coast. Sold to the fishing crews for about $15, they are set to work processing fish on shore for 18 hours a day, seven days a week. If the boats return with a large catch they might work several days with no sleep at all. Like robots they clean, bone, and skin fish; shell mussels, shrimp and crab, and wash squid to remove the ink. Other children sort, weigh, check, and load the haul, processing and preparing the fish for freezing and shipment. The slaveholders sexually abuse the boys and beat them regularly. They get little food, no medical care, and sleep on the ground. If they sicken or are injured and die, they are thrown into the ocean.[v] Dublar Char was raided and the children freed in 2004 when researchers linked to the US anti-slavery group Free the Slaves discovered the situation. They worked with the State Department’s anti-trafficking office to bring diplomatic pressure on the Bangladeshi government, which led to a raid by military police. (The local police were on the take from the gangs running the island).
No one knows how many other remote islands conceal such slave camps. Much of the fish and shrimp from these islands enters the global markets and then comes to the U.S. Dublar Char is just one example of the slave operations that supply our hunger for seafood. Around the island of Sumatra in Indonesia the sea is dotted with what appear to be ramshackle rafts. They are actually fishing platforms, crudely lashed together and moored up to twenty miles off the coast. There are some 1,500 fishing platforms in this region, each holding three to ten children whose only avenue of escape is a twenty-mile swim. Promised a good job, they are left on the platform to cast nets, catch fish, and clean and dry the catch. In heavy weather the platforms can break up, children can be swept overboard, or they might simply fall through the holes in the rough bamboo deck. On irregular visits, the boss collects the fish and administers beatings to increase productivity. As in Dublar Char and so many other places, the children are sexually abused, and if they become ill, there is no relief. If they die of illness or injury, they are simply rolled into the water. The revenues from Indonesian fish exports reached $5 billion in 2006; America is one of the top destinations for frozen shrimp, canned tuna, tilapia and sea crab from that country.[vi]
HMEDABAD: The worst fears of Indian apparel exporters have come true. Big Brother US, which accounts for 30% of India’s apparel exports worth $10 billion, has labelled India as a country that uses child labour in garment manufacturing.
The stand poses huge reputational risk to India that supplies garments to the likes of Wal-Mart, GAP, H&M, Diesel, M&S and Levi’s, all of which swear against child labour. With this, India’s status as an exporter is reduced to the likes of Argentina and Thailand, countries far lower in ranking. However, India still has some hopes as yet another list on countries employing forced child labour is up for review in September, and Indian authorities expect to convince the US counterparts by then.
Indian garment exporting industry shot into the limelight for all wrong reasons in 2007 when child labour was found working on GAP’s contracts in New Delhi. A year later, shutterbugs captured child labour at Tirupur, the knitwear apparel cluster in South India, working on UK retailer Primark’s orders.
The US Department of Labor on Monday put garments from Indian origin in the Executive Order 13126 list, thereby labelling them as “products, by country of origin, which the Department of Labor, State and Homeland Security believe might have been mined, produced or manufactured by forced or indentured child labour”. Even as India pulled up its socks to prove innocence to the US through diplomatic & legal channels, it was perhaps too little, too late to prevent the damage.
The recent move by the US has left the exporters unsettled, just two months before they go under yet another scanner, namely The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation Act. Both the lists have something in common — the use of child labour by the garment industry.
That India finds mention along with Argentina and Thailand in the list and with Nepal (in case of embroidered garments) has shocked the apex body of apparel exporters, Apparel Export Promotion Council. AEPC knows it too well now that it will have some serious persuasion to do with the US authorities who are due to review the TVPRA list in September.
While AEPC has already come up with a draft common compliance code (code of ethics) for the industry, it has also entrusted the Northern India Textiles Research Association to submit a report on forced labor in the industry shortly. AEPC has maintained that the information relied upon by the US Department of Labour is outdated and inaccurate and that the Indian garment industry should not be included in the lists.
However, its attorney in the US Brenda Jacobs representing the Sidley Austin LLP would have some serious persuasion to do with the US authorities. AEPC chairperson Premal Udani is learnt to be flying to Washington DC on August 19 to hold meetings with US officials concerned.
Udani told ET that the Common Compliance Code would be in place by August, by which time AEPC would hold a series of seminars pan-India to educate not just the exporters, but also their sub-contractors about the code of ethics. “We also intend to reach out to all apparel clusters in the country so that they get their basics right,” he said. Majority of AEPC’s 8,000 members comprises SMEs.
Although the EO list is valid for one year, India is banking its hopes in the next meeting when it would try to impress upon the US about its seriousness to deal with child labour to get off the TVPRA list. “If we are able to get India out of the TVPRA list, we should hope to get off the EO list in future,” Udani added.
In September, the United States listed India’s garment industry on their Executive Order 13126 Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor List, meaning that the garment industry in India is not free of child and forced labor. India is currently under a new round of examinations in which they hope to have their name cleared. Companies such as Wal-Mart, GAP and Levi’s have all made commitments against child labor, but these same companies also source from India. Many within the Indian garment industry are worried that continuing to have their name on the list of products with child labor will hurt the industry in the country and since the US is responsible for a third of the garment exports from India, there is reason for concern.
In 2007, child labor was discovered in Indian factories contracted to make garments for GAP. A year later, child labor was discovered at another factory with contracts from a UK company.
The Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (APEC) has written a code of ethics known as the Common Compliance Code by which the industry is to abide and expected to train exporters and their subcontractors on the code of ethics by August. The Northern India Textiles Research Association is expected to produce a report for APEC on child labor soon. India is convinced that the US’s decision to place them on the list is due to outdated information.
While APEC seems to have made steps towards ending child labor within the industry, particularly through the creation of industry standards, it is likely to be a difficult battle to have their name removed from the list so soon. Even if India were removed from the list, would the rest of the world be convinced that child labor in their garment industry is no longer a problem? Likely not.
Photo by Kay Chernush for the US Department of State
Tobacco giant Philip Morris sold cigarettes made using child labour: Marlboro manufacturer admits 10-year-olds worked on Kazakh plantations
By Shaun Walker in MoscowThursday, 15 July 2010Tobacco giant Philip Morris has been forced to admit that child workers as young as 10 have been subjected to long hours working on tobacco farms with which it has contracts in the Central Asian state of Kazakhstan.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, migrant workers at the farms, mostly from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, were subjected to conditions that often amounted to forced labour, as employers contracted by tobacco farms that sold their produce to Philip Morris International had their passports confiscated and were often made to do additional work for no pay. The company, which sources tobacco from Kazakhstan for cigarette brands sold in Russia and other former Soviet states, said it was taking "immediate action" to stop the abuses.In many cases families were expected to pay back unrealistic debts to intermediaries who had arranged for their journeys to Kazakhstan, in schemes that bear all the hallmarks of people trafficking.
The report also documented 72 cases of children working on the farms.Philip Morris produces brands such as Marlboro and Chesterfield in over 150 countries around the world, and purchased 1,500 tonnes of tobacco from Kazakh farms in 2009.
The company issued a statement yesterday saying it is "grateful" to Human Rights Watch for raising the issues, and "is firmly opposed to child labour and all other labour abuses". The company says it is implementing a range of measures to ensure the abuses end, such as working with local government and NGOs to ensure school access for children of migrant workers, and implementing a system of third party monitoring to ensure tobacco farms comply with strict guidelines.
Jane Buchanan, the report's author, blamed the Kazakh government as well as Philip Morris for the abuses. She said yesterday that progress had been slow with the authorities in discussions over bureaucratic hurdles and the need to provide schooling for migrant workers' children."The commitments from [the government] have been very vague," she said. "It has been a lot of work to get them to accept the idea that migrant workers, even if they are working illegally, still have fundamental rights."According to Ms Buchanan, Human Rights Watch had first approached the tobacco conglomerate with the allegations in October last year, and there has been a "regular and constructive dialogue" since. "However, we have done some more research recently, and it's clear that not all the things they promised have been fully implemented yet," she said.
One woman told the report's authors that young children had developed red rashes on their necks and stomachs after working with the tobacco, and there were also cases of dangerous pesticides being stored in living areas. During a single work day, tobacco harvesters can be exposed to a similar amount of nicotine as would be found in 36 average-strength cigarettes, and workers are at risk of contracting Green Tobacco Sickness, where nicotine is absorbed through the skin from contact with tobacco leaves. The illness causes nausea, vomiting, headache, muscle weakness and dizziness, and children are particularly susceptible due to their small body size.Migrant workers come to Kazakhstan from impoverished neighbouring countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan where there are few job possibilities. They are allowed to enter for up to 90 days without a visa, and the complications in securing official work permits mean that many end up working illegally, and are thus at their employers' mercy.
In one of many such stories, Almira, 45, travelled to Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan with her husband and two children last year. They were promised by the intermediary who drove them to a tobacco farm in rural Malybai that they would be paid a minimum of $2,300 (£1,500) for their work over the season. However, when they arrived they were told they would have to work off debts from the journey, and had their passports confiscated by the landowner."He treated us really badly," recalls Almira. "We couldn't defend ourselves, since we were on his land after all. We worked for 11 to 13 hours a day. The work was really hard." The family contemplated running away, but this was impossible. "Our passports were with the landowner, and we had no money. If we left, then all of our work would be for nothing. And without money, how would we even get back home from there?"
According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, Hellish Work, Philip Morris has benefited from child and forced labor through contracts it holds with tobacco farms in Kazakhstan. Migrant workers from neighboring countries, come to work in Kazakhstan’s tobacco fields and occasionally bring their families. In total, Human Rights Watch found 72 children working in the fields, some of whom were as young as 10.
Additionally, there were incidences of passport confiscation and workers not being paid. Workers face unsafe conditions such as exposure to pesticides, and levels of nicotine equaling around 36 regular cigarettes in one day. Workers are also at risk for contracting Green Tobacco Sickness, which causes symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting and headaches; children are particularly vulnerable.
Some workers owed large debts to recruiters who arranged their travel and therefore felt unable to leave. Philip Morris promised immediate action, and committed to working with NGOs and local governments to ensure the children of migrant workers are in school. They also pledged to develop third party monitoring systems to ensure that strict policies are followed in the fields. Human Rights Watch is skeptical since they provided information from their research to the company last fall and recent research shows that conditions still have not improved.Since the story broke, the United States Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce has asked Philip Morris to hand over any information it has about allegations of child or forced labor in the production of the tobacco it uses, as well as any allegations of document confiscation or unsafe living conditions. The committee also requested information on what the company has done to address these issues. It is unclear whether Philip Morris will respond to these requests, but the committee has asked them to provide the information towards the beginning of next month.
The report notes that, despite a commitment in 1997 to end the use of child labor in the industry, children are still sewing soccer balls. Moreover, even as the apparent crackdown on child labor failed to eradicate this practice, it also did nothing to address the poor working conditions in the industry, according to the report (In one Chinese factory, workers were found to work up to 21 hours a day during high seasons and without one day off in an entire month).
The report concludes, "Over a decade after the signing of the Atlanta Agreement child labor still exists in the soccer ball industry. As the preceding data clearly demonstrates, although action was taken to eradicate child labor in the late 1990s, very little was done to end its root causes. The parents working in the soccer ball industry are still receiving next to nothing for their work. They are working as temporary or casual employees and therefore receiving none of the benefits that can keep their families healthy. Despite each countries’ cultural and governmental differences, the soccer ball industries in these countries share the same problems: casual or temporary work, poverty level wages, discrimination, restriction of the right to organize or collective bargain, and health and safety violations."
The ILRF is using this report to put pressure on FIFA to take a lead in eradicating the use of child labor and abusive labor practices in the production of soccer balls. While the World Cup has concluded, it will take consistent efforts to end this abuse. The ILRF is conducting an email campaign to Joseph Blatter, president of FIFA.
In addition to putting pressure on FIFA and the professional wing of the sport, we can also take action to end abuse and ensure fair labor practices through the products that we buy. Soccer enthusiasts and other sports players can check out Fair Trade Sports, which sells soccer balls and other sporting equipment that is certified Fair Trade and certified green. Please see an example, pictured above.
Hello, I'm a Mac, and I'm helping fuel the war in the Congo - currently the deadliest conflict in the world. So are PCs, cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronics. That's what Apple's famous "I'm a Mac ... And I'm a PC" ads don't tell you. So I (Brooke) and cinematographer Steven Lubensky, with the help of actors Joshua Malina and John Lehr, decided to create a version that does.
It is not surprising if you didn't know that your favorite Apple gadgets -- your iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac -- are linked to the conflict engulfing the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo today and for the past dozen years. Most people don't know - which is in part why the war in Congo has gone on for so long. With more than 5 million people killed, it is the deadliest conflict since World War II.
Tech titans -- including Nintendo, HP, Dell, Intel, and RIM, the makers of BlackBerry -- have made millions from products that use conflict minerals and have gotten off the hook for fueling violence in the Congo, thanks to a tendency in today's culture not to question where our everyday items come from.
That's not necessarily a criticism; it's just the way the world works now, where we interact with materials from every corner of the globe on a daily basis. So we tend to think that our new iPhone came from the Mac store down the street or our new digital camera originated from an online camera store. But as you see in our video, the problem arises with all the components inside.
Essential parts of our electronic devices are made from minerals found in eastern Congo. Tin, tantalum, tungsten -- the 3Ts -- and gold serve such necessary functions as making our cell phones vibrate or helping our iPods store electricity.
The same armed groups who control most of the mines that supply these essential minerals to the world market are responsible for the epidemic of sexual violence in eastern Congo. Women and girls pay a gruesome price, and the persistent health conditions and severe trauma that linger for years after an attack are leaving communities and families in utter ruin. In addition, the labor conditions in the mines are abysmal. Indentured servitude is common practice, and children as young as 11 are used to squeeze into the tight spaces underground.
There are few conflicts in the world where the link between our consumer appetites and mass human suffering is so direct.
The lucrative mineral trade -- estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually -- perpetuates the violence because it enables militias and government soldiers to buy weapons to continue the fight for these valuable resources. All along the supply chain that winds its way through central Africa, armed groups and governments benefit immensely from the trade in conflict minerals, making it a very stubborn problem to eradicate.
This reality isn't the result of an elaborate cover-up. Until consumers started asking, electronics companies were satisfied to say that they didn't know whether their products were made with conflict minerals from Congo. The trade in minerals from eastern Congo is shockingly opaque, hence the easy exploitation. Even now, as the issue of conflict minerals gains traction, companies like Apple continue to tell us that their products do not contain conflict minerals because their suppliers said so.
From towns and campuses across the United States to the U.S. Congress, advocates are protesting this inadequate response and pushing to put a system in place to trace, audit, and certify the minerals in our electronic devices, so that ultimately, we as consumers can choose to buy conflict-free.
Visit RAISE Hope for Congo, www.raisehopeforcongo.org, and send the message to tech companies that you want them to make their products conflict-free. And please share this video with your friends.
Brooke Smith is an actress, writer and director. Brooke has acted in many feature films including "The Silence of the Lambs", "Vanya on 42nd Street" and "Series 7: The Contenders." On television, Brooke played Dr. Erica Hahn on "Grey's Anatomy." The MAC/PC Conflict minerals ad is the third PSA Brooke has directed for The Enough Project's RAISE Hope for Congo campaign.
John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., and co-author with Don Cheadle of the forthcoming book The Enough Moment.
With the release of the new iPhone 4, various groups are attempting to raise consumer awareness about where the materials used in cell phones originate.The reality is sickening.Two opinion pieces posted within the last week, one by Brooke Smith and John Prendergast for the Huffington Post (shown above) and one by Nicholas Kristof (link below) for the New York Times, detail how our demand for cell phones, and lack of real corporate accountability are fueling the war in Congo, at least in part.
Essential minerals used in the production of cell phones, such as (Tin, tantalum, tungsten among others), are sourced from the Congo. The mineral trade is very lucrative there and those who are in control of the mines are the same people responsible for mass rape in the country along with indentured servitude and the use of child labor in these mines.Electronics companies claim that their products are free from conflict materials but this is because the suppliers tell them they are conflict free not because they are.This is why many people are calling for companies to take more interest and be more responsible for their supply chain.
If you are interested in learning more, please watch the video Brooke and her team put together which is posted here.To take action please visit http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/take-action and click on the Commit to Purchase Conflict Free Electronics, where you can email the 21 largest electronic companies and let them know you are committed to conflict free electronics.Tell your friends too.Until corporations know their customers are serious about conflict free materials, they won’t take the problem seriously.Make sure to check out Kristof’s article as well http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/opinion/27kristof.html?scp=1&sq=death%20by%20gadget&st=cse
One woman is taking action to stomp out child sex trafficking - with a shoe revolt.
She's doing it one pair of shoes at a time.
"Every woman loves shoes."
Ateba Crocker will be selling designer shoes to help raise money for a charity she just founded called Shoe Revolt.
Her group will raise money to help shelters and organizations that fight against human sex trafficking in the US.
"Here in the land of the free in the United States of America we have slaves. Sex slaves. And these sex slaves are girls," Crocker said.
The Department of Justice estimates that more than 50,000 women and children become victims of trafficking each year.
They are sold to and raped by men they don't even know.
Ateba says the power to take action to help these victims is right under your feet.
"I'm just asking you to go to your closet and pick out the shoes that are dearest to your heart because those shoes can make an impact in the life of a girl."
So far, Ateba has received donations from super star celebrities, including one very famous fashionista.
"I opened the shoes up and I looked inside the box and it was SJP and I thought who is SJP? Then I saw a little card that said Sarah Jessica Parker and I was like no, uh-uh...I know this isn't...haha!"
That's right - three pairs of autographed shoes from Miss Carrie Bradshaw herself, complete with handwritten cards on Sex and the City stationery.
Starting August 1 anyone will be able to visit the Shoe Revolt website and purchase the shoes and others to help young girls in need - a purchase that Ateba says is priceless.
"I think it gives you greater joy than a pair of shoes."
Bidding on shoes will start August 1, but you may start donating new or gently worn shoes now.
Yet another inspiring example of what one creative person can do to make a difference! To view the video interview, click here. It will be fun to see the shop when it opens on August 1--in the meantime, you can view their website here.
"In the Dominican Republic, a tropical island-nation, tourists flock to pristine beaches unaware that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians have toiled under armed-guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, much of which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling hours and frequently lack decent housing, clean water, electricity, education or healthcare. Narrated by Paul Newman, "The Price of Sugar" follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to fight for their basic human rights. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate and at what human cost they are produced."
Prevent Human Trafficking (PHT) is a Washington, D.C., based non-profit organization working to build a bridge between South East Asia and the United States to prevent human trafficking. PHT empowers individuals, organizations and governments to tackle the root causes of human trafficking through direct support and technical assistance. PHT uses its expertise and networks to promote best practice and inspire sustainable solutions in the movement to prevent human trafficking.
NOTE: This event sponsored by the American University chapter of PHT.
On a quick personal note, I saw this film in Toronto last October and the material is quite provoking and thoughtful. When considering prevention efforts for human trafficking, we often get caught up in focusing on how to stop traffickers and how to keep victims from making risky decisions that end up becoming trafficking situations, but we forget that we have the power to prevent trafficking as well as consumers: by becoming more knowledgeable about the consumer choices we make, we can help curb demand for exploited labor. I definitely recommend that people go out and see this film.
