H&M And Other Fast Fashion Giant Labor Disputes Continue To Face The Modern Slave Industry.

In the era of "slavery" long ago, "modern slaves" still exist in poor countries and regions.

Australian Labor Party Senator Lisa Singh once said, "it is very likely that the fresh products you purchased at the supermarket were planted by farm workers who were exploited by your farm. Your daughter bought them.

It's entirely possible that she was made by a girl who was younger than her. "

Although modern slavery is not clearly defined in law, its essence is that individuals can not refuse or escape the exploitation situation because they are subjected to coercion, violence, deception or abuse of power.

At present, modern slavery is mainly reflected in two aspects: forced labor and forced marriage.

According to the recent 2018 global slavery index released by international human rights organization Walk Free Foundation, nearly 40 million people in the world are in the custody of "modern slaves". 71% of them are women, while the number of modern slaves in fashion industry is second only to that of science and technology.

In addition, the number of modern slaves in the fishing, cocoa and sugar cane industries is also high.

After investigating 71 thousand people in 167 countries and using 52 languages, the organization found that the most frequent locations of modern slavery were areas with autocratic regimes or political clashes.

It is estimated that the situation is most serious in North Korea, followed by Eritrea, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Mauritania, South Sultan, Pakistan, Kampuchea and Iran.

The supply chain is fast and fast.

For example, factories such as Zara, Mango and H&M are in low labor countries such as Turkey and India.

The Asia minimum wage alliance has exposed the harsh living conditions of workers.

In Bangladesh, thousands of workers sew clothes in buildings without fire safety passages.

In Indonesia, India and other countries, pregnant women are prone to pay cuts and discrimination.

In Kampuchea, workers who ask for an extra $20 a month will even die at gunpoint.

However, influenced by globalization, the beneficiaries of modern slavery are usually developed countries.

Take Kampuchea as an example, Statista, a market research firm, shows that it is the fourth largest supplier of clothing to EU countries from 2015 to 2017.

G20 countries import a total of $127 billion 700 million a year.

Huge numbers of workers are hidden under the huge numbers, and the problems erupted among them are becoming more and more obvious.

The free walk Foundation believes that in this human rights crisis, high GDP countries often neglect their responsibilities.

Of the 20 richest countries, only 7 have introduced goods and services that prevent companies from purchasing forced labor.

If we want to solve this problem fundamentally, we must start from the angle of government and enterprise.

The free walk foundation advises the high GDP countries to study whether their policies are contributing to the waging of modern slavery.

Enterprises should take the initiative to eliminate forced labour from the supply chain and provide pparent channels of supervision to consumers and investors.

Recently, the United Kingdom promulgated a new law, the modern slavery bill, which is the third law in the history that clearly opposed modern slavery.

The bill requires that any local or international business in the UK, with an annual turnover of over 36 million pounds, must provide annual identification and resolution of the report on forced labour and clear the illegal labor force between the supply chain and partners.

In addition, the bill also stipulates that enterprises should announce as soon as possible after the end of a fiscal year, not exceeding 6 months.

If the report fails to be issued according to the requirements, the civil court will enforce the law and impose unlimited fines.

Trade associations and trade unions expressed satisfaction with the new law as a "clear signal" against modern slavery.

This bill is modeled on the 2012 California supply chain Transparency Act. At present, the EU is formulating similar legislative initiatives.