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

Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labour in United States Tobacco Farming
Publications

Methodology This report is based on interviews with 141 children ages 7 to 17 who said they had worked in tobacco farming in the United States in 2012 or 2013. During multiple field research trips between May and October 2013, Human Rights Watch ...Read More

Freedom First Celebrating 20 Years of Progress to Combat Human Trafficking
Publications

This retrospective report provides a historical perspective on the context in which the TVPA (the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000) was crafted, celebrates the major accomplishments of the United States government, and provides a view of t...Read More

Counter-Trafficking Directory for Embassies and Consulates Staff
Publications

The CT directory gathers key facts and figures about human trafficking in more than 50 countries. It also contains useful contacts to refer the victim or potential victim according to his/her profile: s/he can be in need of immediate protection, nee...Read More

TAGS: Global
Third-party monitoring of measures against child labour and forced labour during the 2017 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan
Publications

There is no systematic use of child labour in the cotton harvest in Uzbekistan and significant measures to end forced labour are being implemented. The annual cotton harvest in Uzbekistan is a unique large-scale effort. In 2017, an estimated 2.6 mil...Read More