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  H&M Is the First Major Fashion Chain to List Suppliers for All Garments to Combat Slavery The fashion industry is rife with slavery and labour abuses. LONDON, April 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Fashion brand H&M has become the first major retailer to list individual supplier details for each garment on its website to increase transparency in an industry with high risks of slavery and labour abuses. The Sweden-based multinational's move was hailed by workers rights groups who said it was a step forward, but added that the data may not be particularly meaningful to shoppers without additional information to put it into context. "This is innovative and good," Anna Bryher advocacy director at Britain's Labour Behind the Label, which campaigns for garment workers' rights, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Maybe H&M need to think a bit more about how to make that information live and useful to consumers — adding information for ex...

  The Developed World Is Missing the Point About Modern Slavery Rakib works in a parts-making shop in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on June 17, 2015. Children in Bangladesh are often employed to do hard manual labor K M Asad—LightRocket/Getty Images E arlier this month, the Walk Free Foundation — an Australian NGO — released the first ever “ modern slavery index ,” which hoped to highlight the countries most affected by modern slavery, and the countries that still need to resolve the problem. The countries that scored worst are, perhaps unsurprisingly, all in the developing world: North Korea, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, India, China and Qatar. The countries that performed best were all in Europe and North America. Like many studies from Western NGOs, it would appear that Walk Free’s findings shed light on wrongs done elsewhere, but avoid looking closer to home (such as the conditions of aboriginal Australians and the labor exploitation on Australian-owned mines in Africa ). Their index...

  One in 200 people is a slave. Why? This article is more than 5 years old Slavery affects more than 40 million people worldwide – more than at any other time in history Last modified on Wed 19 Oct 2022 16.53 BST How many slaves are there today, and who are they? The word “slavery” conjures up images of shackles and transatlantic ships – depictions that seem relegated firmly to the past. But more people are enslaved today than at any other time in history. Experts have calculated that roughly 13 million people were captured and sold as slaves between the 15th and 19th centuries ; today, an estimated 40.3 million people – more than three times the figure during the transatlantic slave trade – are living in some form of modern slavery, according to the latest figures published by the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation. Women and girls comprise 71% of all modern slavery victims. Children make up 25% and account for 10 million of all the...

  Shein’s IPO raises fresh questions on alleged forced labour in its supply chain A Shein logo is pictured at the company's office in Singapore, Oct 18, 2022. (File photo: REUTERS/Chen Lin) 29 Nov 2023 05:37AM (Updated: 29 Nov 2023 02:02PM) NEW YORK: As China-founded e-commerce behemoth Shein moves to list in New York, US lawmakers are again calling on it to pro...

  Sparkly and shiny, but is your natural make-up free of forced labor? By Kieran Guilbert June 22, 2018   8:05 AM GMT+8   Updated 6 years ago   LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Soaring global demand for natural beauty products could be fuelling modern-day slavery as ingredients such as cocoa, vanilla and the mineral mica are linked to child labor while cosmetic supply chains lack oversight, analysts said on Friday.   Many key components - from shea nuts to wax used as a base for mascara - are produced by smallholder farmers where the risk of labor abuse is high as governments and businesses struggle to monitor conditions, said risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft. Cosmetics companies are benefiting from strong appetite for skincare products, after riding a make-up boom in recent years spurred by young consumers seeking to look good on social media. While buyers clamor for make-up made with various fruit, nuts, grains and minerals, companies that inc...

  Commentary: We know sweatshop clothing is bad – and buy it anyway. Here’s how your brain makes excuses Our brains are wired to arrive at conclusions we prefer, as long as we maintain an illusion of objectivity, say these experts. File photo. Women working in a garment factory. == 27 Nov 2022 06:00AM BRISBANE: You face a dilemma. You’ve found the perfect shirt, and it’s an absolute bargain, but you notice it’s “Made in Bangladesh”. You’re conscious it was probably made using cheap labour . Do you buy it, or walk away? On Nov 25...