First, in January, when the transportation of raw materials from China to other garment producing countries was suspended, many factories were forced to close temporarily. The next wave hit as the pandemic spread to Europe and the United States (US). In response to a sudden drop in consumer demand for apparel, brands cancelled and refused to pay for shipments of completed and in production orders. As a result, factories were forced to close and dismiss workers in mass. Each time factories were forced to close, workers were often sent home without notice or pay from their employers. For example, in Bangladesh, 72.4% of furloughed and 80.4% of dismissed workers were sent home unpaid in March 2020. The third wave of devastation continues, as the virus itself spreads in garment producing countries. At the time of writing this report, many factories remain closed and millions of workers remain unpaid.
Women, the elderly, adolescents, youth, and children, persons with disabilities, indigenous populations, refugees, migrants, and minorities experience the highest degree of socio-economic marginalization. Marginalized people become even more vulnera...Read More
This paper reflects on the implications of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on modern slavery risks in supply chains. We first reason that the global supply and demand shock resulting from COVID-19 exacerbates workers’ vulnerability to modern s...Read More
This briefing builds on the understanding that labour exploitation is part of a spectrum ranging from labour compliance through to labour law violations, culminating at extreme exploitation in the form of forced labour. Research by FLEX and others s...Read More
According to the 2017 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery published by Alliance 8.7, 40.3 million people were estimated to be victim of modern slavery in 2016. Modern slavery is not defined in law and it is used as an umbrella term to refer to ‘sit...Read More
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