"An investigative report from Bloomberg
reveals that the “fair-trade, organic” cotton used in many of
Victoria’s Secret’s products is actually produced by a company that
largely relies on forced child laborers.
The report follows the heartbreaking story of 13-year-old Clarisse,
who works at a Burkina Faso farm that supplies much of Victoria’s
Secret’s cotton. Clarisse recounts the back-breaking working conditions
she endured, which had her help dig over 500 rows to sow the cotton
“with only her muscles and a hoe, substituting for the ox and the plow
the farmer can’t afford.” If she slows down in the 100 degree heat, she
says the farmer, her cousin and foster parent, “whips her across the
back with the tree branch and shouts at her.” She is not paid and most
times she is fed but once a day. Other days she doesn’t eat at all. The
result of her toil, and the toil of many “foster children” in similar
situations in Burkina Faso, went into the colorful thongs and undies
that Victoria’s Secret is so well known for–the company purchased all of
Burkina Faso’s organic crop from last season, and was expected to get
most of this season’s crop as well.
What’s worse, Victoria’s Secret once marketed the garments made with
Burkina Faso cotton as “good for women, good for the children who depend
on them”–the result of a 2007 deal by the company to buy fair-trade and
organic cotton to support “sustainable raw materials and benefit female
African farmers.” Unfortunately, according to the report, the premium
prices associated with fair-trade and organic cotton have created fresh
incentives for farmers in Burkina Faso–a country whose population
largely lives off of just $2 a day–to exploit child laborers.
It’s unclear whether Victoria’s Secret knew the extent to which the
child labor laws were being violated. After all, Burkina Faso’s crop was
labelled as “fair-trade” and “organic,” and was found by Fairtrade
International, the world’s largest group of its kind, to be up to
standards. However a study done by Victoria’s Secret’s partner, the
National Federation of Burkina Cotton Producers (or as it’s known by its
French initials, the UNPCB), in 2008 found that “hundreds, if not
thousands, of children like Clarisse could be vulnerable to exploitation
on organic and fair-trade farms.” And growers across the country say
that while they regularly received technical training on how to maintain
organic purity in their crop, nobody from the program gave them rules
or training about child labor on their farm–even after the 2008 study
was conducted. On the other hand, both Victoria’s Secret and Fairtrade
International say they never saw the report.
While an executive for Victoria’s Secret’s parent company claimed
that the amount of cotton it buys from Burkin Faso is minimal, the
company said it is doing everything in its power to address the child
labor allegations. “Our standards specifically prohibit child labor,”
Tammy Roberts Myers, vice president of external communications for
Limited Brands Inc., which owns Victoria’s Secret, said in a statement.
“We are vigorously engaging with stakeholders to fully investigate this
matter.” Fairtrade International has said it is reviewing its
certification of the farms in the area.
Earlier this year, Zara was caught in a similar scandal, when reports surfaced that their Brazilian factories were using child laborers." (fashionista)
via_fashionista
Um comentário:
Following its own investigation of the claims made by Bloomberg, Fairtrade International released its response yesterday.
It can be found on the front page of www.fairtrade.net (or directly at www.bit.ly/FIBlmbgResp). In particular, it refutes the claims that the person featured in the articles was involved in cotton production at all (Fairtrade certified or otherwise) and that she was under the age of 18. It also raises serious concerns regarding the journalist’s methods.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that no system can guarantee that a product is 100% child labour free. However, the Fairtrade system has standards against it, an audit-based monitoring system to catch it if it occurs, and clear protocols on what to do if it does that focus first on the safety of any at-risk children and second on mitigating the risk of it happening again.
Michael Zelmer
Fairtrade Canada
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