Slave labour - the exploitation of children

Ethical fashion is fast becoming one of the focal issues of the 21st century with fairtrade on everyones lips, but are established brands doing enough to support this or is their guilty conscience taking over?

Big brand retail names such as Gap, Tesco and Primark have been receiving much media attention lately, not due to sales under the credit crunch, but due to their use of child slave labour in the manufacturing of clothes.

The companies have been founded to have employed and sub contracted labour to developing parts of the world, mainly in India.

Law as ratified by almost all the countries in the world allows the employment of children under the conditions that children be no younger than 15, however 13-14 is acceptable in developing countries under the International Labour Organisation (ILO), decided as part of the UN.

Children must also have the right to minimum wage, clean and professional working conditions with appropriately contracted hours.

Moreover, the work must not interfere with or hinder a child's education or other development in any way.

However, recent investigations and evidence that has come to light has shown that many high street retailers and big brand companies have not been following by these rules.

Sweat shops have been found with children as young as 10 working for a mere 12p a day in the most horrendous conditions

Aqsa Nasim

Employment or subcontracting work abroad is not illegal, companies mainly tend to do so in the eye of cheap labour, but companies such as Gap and Primark have been founded to have been exploiting the rules and consequently, their workers too.

Sweat shops have been found with children as young as 10 working for a mere 12p a day in the most horrendous conditions, and often working more than 12 hours a day.

Gap are a very well known brand on the high street, who, as us students may well know, sell their clothes at relatively expensive prices.

Could it be that the big brands are becoming corporate in their greed for extortionate profits?

So how can you help combat the slave labour of children and prevent them from unfair exploitation from these high street shops?

You can help by donating money to charities such as Save the Children who use donations to investigate sweat shops and any other possible slave trade areas, and then use the evidence to campaign to the government for better child labour laws and working ethics.

You can also start buying clothes from retail shops which certify their ethical standards and promote fair trade.

This may encourage other leading retail brands to follow suit.