An article by Garrett Brown MPH, CIH
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs began in the early 1990s with the promise of eliminating dangerous and illegal “sweatshops” in the global supply chains of world-renown corporations selling consumer products like garments, electronics, sports shoes and toys. Twenty-five years later, CSR is an international multi-billion-dollar industry, but unsafe, illegal conditions continue in supply chain factories throughout the world.
The lack of progress on the factory floor over two decades has been registered in the steady stream of investigative reports by news media outlets, non-governmental organizations, management consultants, and business school researchers. While international brands have benefited from positive CSR public relations with customers and shareholders, millions of supply chain workers still face lives of long hours of work; low wages, unpaid work and stolen wages; lack of legal labor rights; sexual harassment of women workers; and unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.
This Benchmark focuses on 98 companies of the three industries: Agricultural Products, Apparel, and Extractive. It is grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as additional standards and guidance focused on specific industries and...
The International Labour Organization estimates that illicit profits from modern slavery reach $150 billion a year. In 2016, 16 million people were victims of forced labour in the private economy. Companies are exposed to modern slavery risks through...Read More
Hivos commissioned an assessment in April 2020 to establish the impact of Covid-19 on women workers in the horticulture sector. This was assessed with special focus on their current employment status, living conditions, shifts in their household exp...Read More
The Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, mandated by the Trade and Development Act of 2000, is the most comprehensive research product on the state of child labour worldwide. This year, the report uses more stringent criteria to assess the eff...Read More
COVID-19 represents a large and sudden exogenous shock to the world. The pandemic itself and the measures being undertaken to slow its pace and effect have short, medium, and long-term impacts on the problem of modern slavery. We have formulated res...Read More
2025 © Copyright, RESPECT International. All Rights Reserved. Website Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
