Around $468 billion of garment imports in the G20 are at risk of modern slavery in cotton supply chains. Investigations are going on different fronts including governments, non-government organizations, and international agencies.
The International Labour Organization for instance is examining Turkmenistan’s compliance on forced labour, while the United States has made regulations to ban apparel and other textiles made from China’s autonomous Uyghur region on allegations of forced labor. The European Union is also planning to put a ban on forced labor and enact regulation of corporate sustainability due diligence directive.
Consumer awareness is increasing on these unethical practices in the cotton supply chain but many unaware consumers would find their new T-shirt quite as desirable if they knew its production could be hiding dark secrets. The common unethical practice that is in vogue cotton industry in many parts of the world includes forced labor, child labor, poor working conditions, threats to collective bargaining, the ability to join a trade union, and freedom of expression.
Allegations about the state-imposed forced labor in the Xinjiang province of China, where there have been claims that Uyghur Muslims are subjected to forced labor in prison-like conditions, where they are tortured, separated from their families, and forced to renounce their faith – conditions described as “crimes against humanity” by a U.N. report last year – have focused lawmakers’ minds on the issue.
Slavery in cotton supply chains a wake-up call for fashion brands
