As a commitment to the health and safety of workers across the apparel industry, Levi Strauss & Co. and Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) today announced plans to implement a global ban on sandblasting in all of their future product lines. The two companies are encouraging others to join this ban in a move toward eliminating sandblasting as an industry practice.
Sandblasting is one of a number of finishing techniques used to create a worn look for denim and other apparel. When sandblasting is performed, proper safeguards, such as those used by Levi Strauss & Co. and H&M suppliers, must be in place to protect workers from potentially serious harm resulting from exposure to crystalline silica (a compound found in sand). But there are some factories in the apparel industry – often linked to counterfeit operations – which do not apply the same safeguards, putting workers’ health at risk.
Many women and girls in Ethiopia work as domestic workers in urban cities as well as abroad, particularly in the Middle East. The conditions faced by women and girls in domestic work are well documented (see Freedom Fund 2019 and Tayah & Atnafu ...Read More
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent on-going conflict has created one of the largest human displacement crises in modern history, with nearly one-third of Ukrainians forced from their homes. In March 2022, the UK government announced ...Read More
This report seeks to inform the discussions at the Summit of the Americas in June 2022 by providing background on migration on the continent and in particular recent dynamics pending data availability. The Global Compact of Migration recognized in t...Read More
Evidence collected in the past decades clearly illustrates that there are a variety of factors that intersect to enhance the risks of being targeted and recruited by traffickers. These range from extreme poverty, marginalization due to social identi...Read More
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