Global brands fail to address child exploitation in supply chains

Transparentem’s From Field to Fabric: Enhancing Due Diligence in Cotton Supply Chains report has uncovered alarming labour abuses, including child labour, debt bondage and other indicators of forced labour.

The report highlights how due diligence efforts have failed to identify these labour abuses beyond the first tier of the supply chain.

151 workers and 66 farm owners were interviewed about labour conditions on 90 cotton farms.

In shocking revelations, the youngest workers interviewed were just 6 years old despite India’s legal minimum working age being14 years old in India

The investigation took place in the Khargone and Barwani districts of Madhya Pradesh, India, between June 2022 and March 2023.

60 brands in 14 countries listed in the report were connected to one or more suppliers sourcing from these farms.

The lifelong impact of human rights exploitation on young workers’ health and education is well-known.

The investigations uncovered widespread use of child labour, with instances of children being exposed to harmful pesticides.

It also uncovered other labour abuses, including, debt bondage, wage violations, poverty-level wages, and abusive working conditions. This failure to protect vulnerable workers cannot be ignored.

“This is a sobering reminder that child labour and other labour abuses remain at the very heart of some of the best-known global brands,” said Walk Free’s Senior Manager of Business and Human Rights Jane Leibowitz.

“The report has exposed what many of us fear – that one merely has to scratch the surface to reveal the emptiness of ESG promises.”

Many brands responded to the allegations, and those that have started remediation efforts are recognised in the report.

Those that haven’t are encouraged to improve their due diligence programs to identify and address the human rights abuses that are occurring in their supply chains.

The study took a significant step by looking beyond the first tier of the supply chain. This is the supplier’s supplier, where some of the worst abuses are hidden in plain sight.

Effective due diligence must go beyond first-tier suppliers to uncover these hidden atrocities.

The report’s alarming disclosures link some of the worst forms of child labour with some of the world’s most well-known brands.

It provides substantive evidence, showing all businesses the importance of extending their due diligence efforts.

The multi-tiered nature of supply chains allows uncomfortable truths to be easily buried, highlighting the urgent need for more rigorous monitoring.

The on-the-ground, investigative style puts workers’ voices first to unpack human rights abuses and is a leading example of the holistic approach required to achieve transformative change.

This is crucial for uncovering and addressing the root causes of exploitation. Brands are called to extend robust social compliance efforts to the raw materials level.

This ensures better safeguarding of at-risk workers and prevents exploitation from taking root at the earliest stages of the supply chain.

True reform via multi-tiered supply chain traceability requires collaboration among the key touchpoints in the ecosystem.

This includes workers, farm owners, suppliers, governments, and NGOs. Only through collective action can these abuses be eradicated.

The report underscores the need for urgent action to combat labour exploitation in supply chains.

Brands must take immediate steps to remediate any workers who have experienced exploitation and ensure their supply chains are free from these abuses.

Read more from Transparentem’s From Field to Fabric: Enhancing Due Diligence in Cotton Supply Chains report.