As in any modern industry, technology has revolutionized the production and distribution of seafood. Today, highly perishable products, once caught solely in the wild, can be farmed, processed, packed, and shipped to destinations worldwide in a matter of days. One of the most lucrative of those products is shrimp. In little more than 30 years, the shrimp industry has been revolutionized through an unprecedented increase in efficient production, resulting in tremendous profitability for producers. However, the “shrimp boom” is sustained through a staggering, largely hidden, cost to workers, their families, and the environment. Not for the first time, the drive to make a product for the world market quickly and cheaply leaves a trail of abuse, misery, and damaged lives. The true cost of shrimp is not what is seen on a supermarket price tag or a restaurant menu.

Bangladesh and Thailand are both major locales for shrimp production and processing. The Solidarity Center focuses on these two countries in this report. In both, companies use the lack of labour rights and weak labour law enforcement to exploit shrimp processing workers. Yet, it is these workers who make the shrimp industry profitable.

Solidarity Center staff and local allied organizations laboured diligently to document concerns about the lack of corporate social responsibility within the shrimp industry. Research uncovered prevalent labor rights and human rights violations — unpaid wages, unsafe and unhealthy workplaces, and the harsh physical mistreatment of workers. Child labour, forced labour, physical intimidation, and sexual abuse of shrimp industry workers are also carefully documented.

The Degradation of Work: The True Cost of the Shrimp - Solidarity Center, 2008 DOWNLOAD

post

page

attachment

revision

nav_menu_item

custom_css

customize_changeset

oembed_cache

user_request

wp_block

wp_template

wp_template_part

wp_global_styles

wp_navigation

wp_font_family

wp_font_face

acf-taxonomy

acf-post-type

acf-field-group

acf-field

ai1ec_event

exactmetrics_note

Cambodia’s trafficked brides: The escalating phenomenon of forced marriage in China
COVID-19 resourcesNews & AnalysisVideosPublicationsEvents

When: May 11, 2022 @ 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Report launch: Wednesday, 11 May 2022 16:00-17:30 ICT (Cambodia/Vietnam) | 11:00-12:30 CEST (Austria) | 10:00-11:30 BST (UK) The number of women travelling from Cambodia to China for forced or arranged marriages has surged since 2016 and experienced a further spike...

Child labour manual: A resource for labour inspectors and officers in Pacific Island countries
Publications

The manual provides information on child labour including the worst forms of child labour, hazardous work and hazardous child labour lists, conducting child labour inspections, the labour inspector’s role when faced with the commercial sexual ex...Read More

TAGS: Oceania
Impact of the CARE Tipping Point Program in Nepal on adolescent girls’ agency and risk of child, early, or forced marriage: Results from a cluster-randomized controlled trial
Publications

ackground: Girl child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM) persists in South Asia, with long-term effects on well- being. CARE’s Tipping Point Initiative (TPI) sought to address the gender norms and inequalities underlying CEFM by engaging part...Read More

TAGS:
Georgia Human Trafficking Fact Sheet
Publications

Human trafficking is a growing problem in the US – and around the world. Georgia, with substantial immigrant and refugee populations as well as large agricultural industries is considered a major destination for US human trafficking. In fact, Atla...Read More