Beyond greenwashing: The sinister ties of the fashion industry with modern slavery
Written by: Fernanda Bernado, Assistant Director of Programs at Threading Change
[9 minutes read]
With the many challenges 2020 has brought into our world, long gone are the days we spend complacent, unsure of how, or why we need to change the world. A global pandemic, climate catastrophe, economic recession, racial injustice and forced migration are all issues we must grapple with on the Road to 2030. In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda seeks to achieve a holistic future for 2030 through 17 goals and 169 targets.
But perhaps one of the most under talked about industries that need rapid transformation at the global scale--which requires governments, consumers, brands, industry, designers, and everyone else alike to work together, is the fashion industry.
Threading Change is a registered organization under YOUNGO, the Youth and Children Constituency of the United Nations. We are committed to using our voice and stance to work alongside the industry, governments, and the United Nations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals first released in 2015. As an organization, we strive to analyze fashion’s impacts through an intersectional lens, considering its ethical and environmental effects, alongside its connections to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2015, one hundred ninety-three (193) countries committed to working together to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including target 8.7, which calls for effective measures to end forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labour in all forms. Forced labour, as set out by the International Labour Organization (ILO), 1930 (No. 29), refers to: “All work or service which is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.” (ILO and Walk Free Foundation, 2017, p. 28).
According to the Walk Free Foundation and ILO, at any given time in 2016, 40.4 million people were living in modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labour. These individuals would otherwise be active in their local economy and ultimately benefit the global economy. Please note, this estimate is conservative, given the secrecy of the criminal networks that profit from slavery.
You may wonder how fashion connects to modern slavery. Well, according to a 2018 report by the Walk Free Foundation, the garment supply chain funnels more money toward modern slavery than any other industry besides technology. Although almost all countries have declared it illegal within their domestic legislation, slavery exists at a shocking and unacceptable rate globally and within the apparel industry.
Case Studies
This section will briefly explore some case studies of forced labour and modern slavery in the garment sector of countries in the Global South, where such practices are more prevalent.
Brazil: a 2012 study interviewed cross-border migrant Bolivian workers who worked in the garment sector in Brazil. The workers reported unfair labour conditions and exploitation, including extremely long hours, non-payment, and illegal pay deductions (McGrath, 2012). Migrant workers from poorer neighbouring countries such as Bolivia and Peru often endure abuse and exploitation in the profitable textile sector of Sao Paulo (Iberico-Lozada, 2013).
Uighur workers at a cotton factory in China’s Xinjiang region. The apparel and garment sector has been the focus of most forced labour investigations in the area. Source: The Guardian. Photograph: Xinhua/Alamy.
China: there is global outrage over the atrocities committed against the Uighur population in the Xinjiang region of Northwestern China. According to a coalition of over 290 civil society organizations and trade unions worldwide, many of the world’s biggest fashion brands and retailers are complicit in the forced labour and human rights violations perpetrated on millions of Uighur. The Uighur region grows more than 80% of China’s cotton production, involving almost every major apparel brand in Uighur workers’ forced labour. Meanwhile, no Uighur can speak about their working condition without placing themselves and their families at risk of retaliation (End Uyghur Forced Labour, 2020).
A garment factory in India. Source: Corporate Accountability Research. Photo by: Clean Clothes Campaign.
India: a 2016 qualitative research study estimated that around 200,000 women experience forced labour in the textile and garment sector in Tamil Nadu, South India. The majority of women workers are recruited from disadvantaged communities and work under the Sumangali, or “camp labour,” schemes in several regions. The term Sumangali refers to a form of bonded labour where young women have a fixed-term contract. A significant portion of their salary, to which they are entitled, is withheld until they have completed the contract. Workers are housed in company-owned hostels under appalling conditions throughout the deal. Although Indian courts recognize these schemes as slavery, they are widely practiced in states such as Tamil Nadu (Delaney and Connor, 2016).
Malaysia: its garment sector is negligent about providing adequate working space for migrant workers, especially women migrant workers. Although the law protects most Malaysian citizens from forced labour and modern slavery, it does not cover foreign workers on short-term contracts, such as workers in the garment sector. Migrants from Cambodia and Myanmar are among the most vulnerable. They often must contend with trafficking, exploitation, loss of contact with their family, overwork, and other forms of severe human rights violations (Crinis, 2010).
A sweatshop raided by the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, a Vietnam-based non-profit that rescues children forced into a variety of jobs. BBC News.
Vietnam: a media report in 2013 exposed the case of three boys who escaped a garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City, where they had spent two years making clothes for no pay. Human traffickers target child workers from poorer provinces and force them to work in garment factories in Ho Chi Minh City’s booming factories. According to one of the boys rescued, they “started at 6 am and finished work at midnight. If they made a mistake, supervisors would beat them with a stick” (Brown, 2013).
Bangladesh: this South-Asian country has become infamously notorious for its employment conditions, which are “inhuman, deprived, insecure, and dangerous” (Kabir et al., 2018, p. 225). One example of horrifying practices occurred in the days leading to the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24th, 2013. Workers noticed cracks on the building days before the collapse and protested against entering the building. Supervisors then forced them to work despite the building’s conditions; some workers were even physically abused and beaten as a tactic to force them to work. After forcing workers to enter the building, the supervisors locked the main gate - the building had no proper escape plan. The infamous collapse killed 1,134 workers and injured 2,600 more (Kabir et al., 2018).
Policy and (lack of) accountability
Countries in the Global North often place the responsibility to eliminate modern slavery in the countries where these practices happen. However, a crime as complex as modern slavery requires a global and united response. That means recognizing that the Global North’s policies and regulations are underwhelming and allow appalling conditions to prosper in countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam. Among the G20, which accounts for around 80% of world trade, only seven countries have formally enacted laws, policies, or practices to stop business and government sourcing goods and services produced by forced labour (Walk Free Foundation, 2018). Rich countries must also recognize that their citizens’ appetite for clothing allows these practices to continue and further examine the policy decisions that enable these products to permeate their borders.
Canada, where the Coordination Team of Threading Change is located, is among the twelve G20 countries that have not enacted laws, policies, or even regulations on government and business sourcing on goods and services produced by forced labour. That is hugely detrimental to our morale as champions of international human rights. We must keep up with our allies, like the United Kingdom, Australia, and France and Norway, that have passed legislation on the matter. Besides, young consumers are increasingly becoming committed to purchasing and investing in ethical and sustainable businesses. Should we not also, then, feel that our policy-makers abide by the same values? A media publication from January 2020 reveals that Canada will “soon” join other Western nations in passing legislation on modern-day slavery in our supply chains.
Undoubtedly, modern slaves cannot wait “soon enough” to step towards accountability on our end. It is for these reasons that we must rise up, raise the bar higher, and start threading “spreading” change.
What can YOU do?
As a consumer and a citizen, YOU have more power than you realize. The number of individuals living in modern slavery is highly disconcerting. Fortunately, several organizations are doing phenomenal work and directly supporting worker’s rights whilst fighting for labour justice. Even better news, technology also allows supporters to donate and contribute to their campaigns directly!
Here are some examples:
1. End Uyghur Forced Labor Coalition’s Call to Action
The only way corporations can ensure they are not supporting Uyghurs' repression is by extricating their supply chains from the Uyghur region. Remake our world shows that Inditex (the parent company of Zara) has been incredibly unethical at eluding its involvement in the Uyghur concentration camps. Zara is thus complicit in forced Uyghur labour, and continues to unlawfully profit on modern slavery and ethnic cleansing.
The freedom and lives of the Uyghur people are infinitely more important than pieces of clothing. We encourage our audience to boycott Zara and endorse the Call to Action on Human Rights Abuses in the Uyghur Region.
Remake Our World is a community of designers, IG addicts, feminists, storytellers, and all around fashion aficionados, who believe that fashion can be a force for good.
This organization launched a petition asking brands to #PayUp to garment workers. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, many high-profile brands left thousands of workers unpaid for their work due to cancelled orders. In addition, many of the same brands also failed to respond to reports of human rights abuses in their garment factories. Once the movement collected over 270,000 signatures, the organization took #PayUp to a higher level: PayUp Fashion.
PayUp Fashion is a long-term vision with actionable labour rights goals, including:
#PayUp
Keep Workers Safe
Go Transparent
Give Workers Center Stage
Sign Enforceable Contracts
End Starvation Wages
Help Pass Laws
Through this incredible campaign, Remake Our World will be pressuring and tracking 40 major fashion brands and their path towards meeting the seven demands.
Threading Change encourages our audience to read their Brand Tracker and boycott the brands targeted under “PayUp-No” – those that have not made any public commitment to pay for their in-production and finished orders. Some of the brands under this category include Forever 21, FashionNova, and Arcadia. We strongly encourage you sign the #PayUpFashion here.
Walk Free Foundation is an international human rights group focussed on the eradication of modern slavery, in all its forms, in our lifetime.
This is an international human rights organization based in Perth, Australia. Authors of the global slavery index in 2018 that conservatively estimate that 40.3 million people were living in modern slavery in 2016. Their approach consists of directly engaging with some of the world’s most influential government, business, and religious leaders to have a legislative impact on slavery.
The Walk Free Foundation is an incredibly informative organization that is credible, and highly skilled at promoting education and awareness. We strongly encourage our audience to read their annual Global Slavery Index. We further encourage you to champion accountability and transparency within your communities, such as in school, work, your place of worship, and with your government. You can raise awareness in your community by, for example, sharing with your colleagues what you have learned, voting for leaders with similar values, and writing letters for your local policy-makers. Want to know how your government is doing compared to the rest of the world? Check their database that tracks government response to modern slavery.
Labour Behind the Label works tirelessly to improve the garment industry and the lives of those who make our clothes.
Research explains that in the context of the existing power imbalances between clothing brands and factories in the Global South, brands can cancel orders to pay for finished products at any time. As a result of COVID-19 and the global economic recession, several garment factories are closing, and the garment workers pay the highest price. This organization has been doing fantastic work at protecting garment workers since the beginning of the pandemic. They have been taking steps to limit workers’ exposure to the virus and ensuring that they are above the poverty line.
Labour Behind the Label needs funds to continue to support garment workers throughout the pandemic. If you have the financial means to donate, we highly encourage you to help them here. If you cannot donate, we then strongly encourage you to follow them in their socials and support this wonderful organization’s growth and popularity.
Threading Change envisions a future where fashion is circular, rooted in justice with climate, gender, and racial equity at the forefront.
At the core of our values, Threading Change is are a justice-oriented organization. We are working to elevate garment workers' voices in seven apparel manufacturing countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Honduras, India, Turkey, and Vietnam; and give them a platform to speak on the injustices of the garment industry. We are proud to collaborate with Balipara Foundation, an environmental non-profit in India, and our first partner in our Garment Worker Visibility Justice Project. By partnering with impactful organizations in regions where garment worker injustices occur the most, Threading Change is working in collaboration with our Global South Program Director to hire a diverse team of GWJVP Coordinators in 5 countries. By working on the ground (albeit virtual for now), we hope to scale up our impact and strengthen partnerships with countries where efforts are strongly needed to bring into light why we must transform the fashion industry.
We are a growing and ambitious organization made possible by the exceptional work of our volunteers. If you have the financial means and believe in our work, please consider donating to our Garment Worker Visibility Project Fundraiser. Furthermore, if you know of any organizations or individuals we could partner with within one of the countries mentioned, please do not hesitate to contact us at threadingchange@gmail.com or hello@threadingchange.org.
Did we miss any information or campaign that you think our audience could benefit from? Do you have an idea of how we can collaborate together to fight and raise awareness about modern slavery in the garment industry? Maybe you wish to recommend a speaker or potential collaborator that you think we should be in touch with? If so, please reach out to us through our socials or emails. We would love to hear from you!
Email of Founder/Director: hello@threadinghchange.org
Email of Assistant Director: threadingchange@gmail.com
Instagram: @threadingchange
Facebook: @threadingchange
Twitter: @threadingchange
Linkedin: @threadingchange
About the author:
Fernanda has been passionate about human rights, gender equality, and globalization since a young age, which led her to pursue a Political Science degree with a focus on International Relations at the University of Victoria. As a global citizen, Fernanda is originally from Brazil, worked as a Policy Analyst in the public sector in Canada, and as a Data Intern for the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project in Kampala, Uganda. Currently, Fernanda is an associate at the Canadian Centre for Responsibility to Protect (CCR2P) where she monitors humanitarian crises, and is also change-making through co-hosting the "Peace in a Pod" podcast, exploring peace building worldwide.
References
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Journal of Contemporary Asia, 40(4), 589-611.
3. Delaney, A., & Connor, T. (2016). Forced labour in the textile and garment sector in Tamil Nadu,
South India: Strategies for redress. Non-judicial Redress Mechanisms Report Series, (13).
4. End Uyghur Forced Labour, 2020. Call To Action On Human Rights Abuses In The Uyghur Region In The Apparel And Textiles Sector. [online] Available at: <https://enduyghurforcedlabour.org/call-to-action/> [Accessed 1 December 2020].
5. Iberico-Lozada, L., 2013. In sweatshops, the 'Brazilian dream' goes awry. Reuters, [online] Available at: < https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-immigrants-idUSBRE98004L20130901 > [Accessed 30 November 2020].
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Brazil. Antipode, 45(4), 1005-1028.
9. Raymer, E., 2020. Canada Expected To Pass Legislation On Modern-Day Slavery In
Supply Chains. [online] Canadianlawyermag.com. Available at:
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-on-modern-day-slavery-in-supply-chains/325664> [Accessed 2 December 2020].
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