The Fashion Industry Did Not Exploit Their Labour Base - Essay Example

and year here (i.d. number only in P2 and P3). Your Module and number. If The Fashion Industry Did Not Exploit Their Labour Base To Less Developed Countries, Would There Be Fewer Case's Of Child Labour The story of an eleven year old refugee from Sri Lanka is just one among a million other stories, about the bitter reality of our society that child labour is. Mantheesh the child of war torn Sri Lanka; a Tamil refugee found in the perilous waters of Palik Strait between India and Sri Lanka was rescued from drowning by some fishermen. Her journey in India which started on a sand bank eventually led her to Tamil Nadu an Indian state thriving on the upcoming textile business and willing to offer work to the desperate. She too found work sewing tiny beads onto garments meant for major European clothing brands. At eleven for a child to be doing this instead of schooling is a most despicable thought; however we also need to look at this situation through young Mantheesh's eyes, for her this work brings home Rs. 40 or 60p per day; much better than what she could've done in her native war torn Sri Lanka or in some refugee camp in India. These 60p are better than anything else that life has doled out to her so far, her only hope, and when the protest over the unfairness of child labour reaches this young child; neither does she understand the debate nor does she feel that its fair for people to take away from her the last modicum of hope that this job allows her (Worstall, T. 5.1.2009). So if she feels this way, then the question are- 1. A company like Primark , one of Mantheesh's indirect clients ( Worstall, T. 5.1.2009) ; are they a boon or a curse for young Mantheesh and millions of children like her around the world 2. Why haven't we abolished this form of slavery as yet 3. If they stop the buying will the unfair practice of child labour also stop 4. And finally, if not this then what else can our society offer young Mantheesh These are the questions that this essay will attempt to answer. Let's start by peeping into the conditions of child labour. According to UNICEF, there are an estimated 250 million children aged 5 to 17 in child labour worldwide, excluding child domestic labour ( Wikipedia, 5.1.2009). In terms of geographical distribution, the Asia-Pacific region harbours the largest absolute number of working children between the ages of 5 and 14, with some 127 million, or 60 per cent of the world total. Sub-Saharan Africa is second with 48 million, or 23 per cent of the total, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 17.4 million, or 8 per cent, and the Middle East and North Africa with 13.4 million, or 6 per cent ( ILO, 5.1.2008). Some of the countries which are battling this issue are India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Nepal, Malawi, Kenya, Zimbabwe,( Andvig, J.C. 5.1.2009) ( IPEC, 5.1.2009) Tanzania, Ethiopia Morocco, Egypt, Brazil, Argentina. The fact that most of these countries are developing nations is where the similarity ends, on one hand we have a country like Ethiopia teetering on the brinks of a civil war and on the other we have a India touted to be the economic super power of the next generation; yet both countries haven't been able to curb the rampant flouting of child labour laws. So can we safely conclude that child labour is only a problem of developing countries Not really, even the United States has its own issue of child farm workers (AFT, 5.1.2009). In order to take a closer look at this problem, we need to first understand it. "Child labor" is, generally speaking, work for children that harms them or exploits them in some way (physically, mentally, morally, or by blocking access to education). BUT: There is no universally accepted definition of "child labor". Varying definitions of the term are used by international organizations, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and other interest groups. Writers and speakers don't always specify what definition they are using, and that often leads to confusion. Not all work is bad for children. Some social scientists point out that some kinds of work may be completely unobjectionable - except for one thing about the work that makes it exploitative. For instance, a child who delivers newspapers before school might actually benefit from learning how to work, gaining responsibility, and earn a bit of money. But what if the child is not paid Then he or she is being exploited. As Unicef's 1997 State of the World's Children Report puts it, "Children's work needs to be seen as happening along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and beneficial work - promoting or enhancing children's development without interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest - at the other. And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child's development" (Child Labour Photo Project, 5.1.2008). However there are some truly horrific facets to the tragedy of child labour such as , child prostitution, sexual slavery , child labour in chemical and firework factories exposing children to hazardous conditions; which make the normal issues of child labour seem tolerable. The History of child labour started during the industrial revolution. The displaced working classes, from the seventeenth century on, took it for granted that a family would not be able to support itself if the children were not employed. In Defoe's day he thought it admirable that in the vicinity of Halifax scarcely anybody above the age of 4 was idle. The children of the poor were forced by economic conditions to work, as Dickens, with his family in debtor's prison, worked at age 12 in the Blacking Factory. After radical agitation, notably in 1831, when "Short Time Committees" organized largely by Evangelicals began to demand a ten hour day, a royal commission established by the Whig government recommended in 1833 that children aged 11-18 be permitted to work a maximum of twelve hours per day; children 9-11 were allowed to work 8 hour days; and children under 9 were no longer permitted to work at all (children as young as 3 had been put to work previously) ( Cody, D. 5.1.2009). Since then the developed nations of the world have managed to curb child labour- by introducing mandatory education to children below a certain age, economic reforms that raised family income and standard of living and strict enforcement of anti child labour laws (Child Labour Photo Project, 5.1.2008). The story is a little different in the developing countries though, where there are wide spread economic ramifications of child labour. The per capita income and standard of living are both low, this coupled with poverty and abject failure of birth control and population control programmes have created a pool of children seen as an exploitable avenue of cheap labour. Poor parents in a developing country face a difficult decision. Children can make a productive economic contribution to their family by helping in the family farm or business, working in the formal labor market, or providing domestic services to their household. In these ways, children help feed, shelter, clothe, and otherwise support themselves, their siblings, and other family members. The family's need for the child's economic contribution must be weighed against their desire to invest in the child's future, hopefully breaking the hold that poverty has on their family.(Journal USA. 5.1.209). Every year millions of children die or are seriously injured due to the perils of working in hazardous conditions at a young age. This has finally made the whole world sit up and take notice. Sixty Three countries in the world have ratified ILO convention 182 of 1999 which is a convention concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour adopted by the conference at its eighty-seventh session, Geneva, 17 june 1999 ( UN, 5.1.2009). Many countries have initiated action plans to deal with child labour in their territories.Notably among them are- Nepal, a 1997 study by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) found that 5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese children turned to prostitution after the US banned that country's carpet exports in 1992. However, between 1997 and 1999, the Nepalese government and UNICEF carried out an educational program that benefited 239,000 children. The key to such interventions is to combine efforts with other programs that help families reduce their dependence on child labor. Such programs provide incentives for keeping children in school, set up training programs to counter adult unemployment, and help family enterprises become more efficient ( Rodriguez, J.B. 5.1.2009) The ILO-IPEC program in Bangladesh has implemented 75 action programs targeting the worst forms of child labor through awareness raising, non-formal education, income generating alternatives for families, and capacity building of partner organizations. These programs include USDOL-funded projects to eliminate child labor in the garment sector and in five hazardous industries, including bidis, construction, leather tanneries, matches, and child domestic services. In 2000, USDOL also provided funding for a follow-up national child labor survey to be conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics with technical assistance from (ILO-IPEC's SIMPOC (US Department of Labour, 5.1.2009) Bangladesh is one of three countries that participate in the ILO-IPEC South Asia Sub-Regional Programme to Combat Trafficking in Children for Exploitative Employment (funded by USDOL). The Bangladesh Ministry of Labor, with the support of USAID, is implementing projects to combat child labor in selected hazardous industries. To combat trafficking, the Department of Social Services under the Ministry of Welfare is implementing a project for socially disadvantaged women and children, that specifically assists sex workers. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has a child trafficking project to rescue and rehabilitate trafficked children and to raise awareness about the issue (US Department of Labour, 5.1.2009). India has introduced new laws to check child labour issues. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his speech said, "Our nation has solemnly pledged that children in our country are not engaged in any form of work at the cost of their right to education. "As a major step in this direction, I call upon each one of you to stop employing children as workers and actively encourage children to join schools." The prime minister warned that "the government will take firm action against those violating the law". According to the new policy anyoe found violating the act will be punished with a jail term of three months to two years and/or a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 rupees ($225 to $450) (Pandey, G. 5.1.2009) Brazil has set an example for all other Latin American countries trying to battle child labour with its unique and innovative structure, the National Forum for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour, set up at the end of 1994 as a permanent environment around which social actors could build consensus and discuss policies and issues related to child labour and youth employment. The new Constitution made eight years of education compulsory, and in February 2006 it was extended to nine years. From the mid-1990s an important breakthrough began to occur in primary school enrolments in the poorest regions - the North, North-East and Central West (ILO, b. 5.1.2009) There are still some countries like Vietnam, Laos, Egypt, Morocco, which have a long battle ahead of them. Even though there are child labour laws in place in these countries, they are rarely enforced diligently, the gripping poverty in some sections of the society and public apathy towards child labour problems haven't helped the situation either. Another perspective that comes into the child labour debate is that of companies buying products which have used child labour in manufacturing. One industry which has taken a lot of beating over this issue has been the fashion industry. Though certainly not the only industry to use such services, it becomes very difficult for the end consumers of these luxury good to accept that a child probably in some developing country had to slog for 15 hours so that I can use this particular product. Nike the American sportswear giant was accused of abetting child labour by using the services of children as young as twelve years in their manufacturing centres in Pakistan, Bangladesh , Indonesia, India and China. The story created wide spread outrage when this story was featured in the 1996 issue of Life Magazine. U.S constitution states that child labor is an illegal and inhumane practice and any U.S. company found guilty of practicing and encouraging it will be prosecuted so Nike had a lot of explaining to do. In its defense Nike placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of their subcontractors SAGE in Pakistan. What Nike chose not to reveal though is that all their local subcontractors have to abide by Nike's international rules and regulations while producing its goods. Nike had obviously been very lax when it came to scrutinizing the workings of their local subcontractors ( American. Edu. 5.1.2009) Retail Super Store Wal-Mart joined the many other companies that have been accused of using child labourers in their overseas manufacturing units. The conditions at Wal-Mart's manufacturing centres in Africa and Asia were found to be particularly appalling with talks of child labour camps providing their services to Wal-Mart. After being fined by Connecticut in reference to flouting child labour laws; Wal-Mart agreed to pay $ 1,34,540 in fine (Virtual Library of News Paper Articles. 5.1.2009) Even though Gap has a policy in place for discouraging child labour, which states that if their sub contractors are found flouting these rules, they will have to discontinue the services of the child labourer and make provision for the child's schooling and wages and assure him of employment on reaching the legal age. Yet, an undercover inquiry from 'The Observer' exposed that their policy did not deter their subcontractors from employing children sold into slave labour by their own families, without paying them wages, and making them work for long hours in objectionable conditions ( McDougall, D. 5.1.2009) Many companies have been found blatantly violating child labour laws in the last few years to name a few others; K-Mart, McDonalds and Disney toys; the manufacturers of toys supplied to McDonalds for their happy meals had nothing to say about the 200 young women below the age of 20 who were seriously ill because of acetone poisoning as a result of working in the toy factories. And there are many other cases with similar story lines (Another Perspective, 8.1..1997) One way to stop this carnage of childhood and basic human rights laws is to impose very strict fines and rules on companies found in violation of these laws. Another way of making the companies sit up and take notice would be for us the end consumers to boycott their products unless they take concrete measures to eliminate child labour. This will not only serve as a lesson to these companies but also doing so will be able to sleep in peace knowing that we've made a difference. But who is going to give a thought to these children, sold into slave labour by their own families, with no education or skills to talk about, no money, nobody to take care of them and nowhere to go. So while we sleep peacefully after we've done our bit for the society, we essentially put these children in a situation far worse than what they were in to begin with. After all how difficult would it be to lure a hungry homeless child into the trap of child prostitution or sexual slavery. Would these children survive working for 15 hours a day in appalling conditions Probably would. According to (Montgomery, H.K. 2001) one million children are being sold into child prostitution every year. So where does our act of kindness lead this children Haven't we thrust them into a life worse than the one they already had Most working children express trauma after their 'release' and speak out strongly about the little or no support they receive after being removed from work. As the basic reason which led them to work remain unresolved, they return to labour (Ratna, K. 5.1.2009) A columnist 'Stephen Chapman'from Libertarian newspaper goes far enough to argue that "But why is it unconscionable for a poor country to allow child labor Pakistan has a per-capita income of $1,900 per year - meaning that the typical person subsists on barely $5 per day. Is it a a revelation - or a crime - that some parents willingly send their children off to work in a factory to survive Is it cruel for Nike to give them the chance" (American. Edu. 5.1.2009) The best way to solve this problem is for non profit organizations, respective governments, world bodies such as UNESCO, concerned citizens and the societies in which these children live to join hands and create a realistic environment for these children. Two workable solutions are- 1. Care and Fair is an example of a certification programme. Established in 1995 by the Association of Oriental Carpet Importers in Germany, its members who are carpet importers agree to adhere to a code of conduct regarding the use of child labour. A levy of 1% of the invoiced price of carpets from India, Nepal and Pakistan is used to establish schools, training centres, hospitals, mobile medicine units and child care facilities in these three countries. Because of the difficulty of having fool-proof monitoring of the code's standards, the organization does not guarantee that each product is child labour free. 2. A program similar to Care and Fair was established in the Brazilian footwear industry. The Pro-Child Corporate Educational Institute provides preventive programmes to reduce child labour, rehabilitation programmes for former child labourers and assistance to families. Companies which participate in the programme must not hire children under 14. They provide the financial support for the various programmes ( Jarvis,H.K. 5.1.2009) Many organizations are also making amends. One of them is Credit Suisse which donated $ 1 million to United Nation's childrens fund after concerns were raised over the fact that child labour from Pakistan may have been used to make the footballs given away by the bank under a promotional scheme. the bank said its Swiss contractor and the Pakistani firm that produced the footballs had signed a code of conduct based on standards set by the International Labour Organization specifying fair working conditions. The bank stated that it was making the donation as it supported a ban on child labour and "even the mere hint of suspicion" that it may have been violated was unacceptable( Swiss Info. ch . 5.1.2009). Another solution that has proved quite successful has been involving trade unions in this issue along with local contractors and world bodies. One such successful case is of Bangladesh, a country that relies heavily on manufacturing contracts from overseas clients. With a huge mass of illiterate and poor citizens, it turned into a haven for contractors looking for cheap child labour. However in 1992 the ' Harkin Bill' was proposed which would without delay ban imports from all countries using child labour. Employers in Bangladesh as well as importers of these products into the US were extremely concerned about the bill. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association ( BGMEA) urged its members to divest themselves of under- aged workers in conformity with the Bangladesh Factories Act. Starting in January 1993, employers began abruptly dismissing children, almost a 150 children were dismissed in three days. Even though most trade unions of Bangladesh favored the move in principle, they believed that a sudden strict application of the law was likely to jeopardize rather than improve the situation of the children. However, international trade unions saw it differently as they were concerned about the impact that the movement of the manufacturing wings of large corporations to countries with cheaper labour would have on the US work force. Another player the Asian American Free Labour Institute which has a presence in Bangladesh convinced the Bangladeshi employers that divesting from child labour would be the only thing that would keep the sanctions at bay. A solution which did not include the abrupt dismissal of children had to be found. Finally in July 1995 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the BGMEA, UNICEF and ILO, whish prescribed a guideline regarding the placement of child workers in education programmes and the elimination of child labour in the garment industry. As a first step 25 survey teams were supposed to conduct an accurate assessment f the extent of under-aged workers in all the BGMEA factories. There would be a graduated removal of children, tied t the availability of education facilities, was to be accompanied by an immediate halt to the hiring of new children. The BGMEA agreed to work with its more than 2000 members factories to get their compliance to stop hiring children, to remove young children from the floor altogether; and to reduce the working hours of older children ( 13-15) so they could go to school as ell as to make sure that these children did not do any heavy work. The BGMEA agreed to offer stipends to provide for the education and maintenance of family income of dismissed child workers, while agreeing to offer employment to qualified adult members of the families of the under-aged workers who had been dismissed under the programme.( Fyfe, A. et all. 1997). Non Government Organizations can also be successful if they take a more complete look at this problem and try to eradicate it at the roots rather than trying to deal with in segments; ostracize some while condoning the others. Some of the approaches which haven't worked are (Wazir, R. 5.1.2009)- 1. Withdrawing children from labour without developing parallel activities for rehabilitating them. As seen in the example from Bangladesh that never seems to work. 2. Most NGQs target a particular segment of the child labour group rather than dealing with the entire issue of child labour in a particular area. " The target group could range from a narrow category such as bonded labour or carpet weavers to a somewhat broader group such as children working in hazardous industries. No matter how comprehensive the strategies might be for dealing with this particular group, experience has demonstrated that such an approach is doomed to fail in the long run. Developing programmes for an exclusive category of child labourers leaves open the possibility of replacing these children by others who are waiting in reserve to fill these positions. Equally seriously, such an approach has the unintended consequence of condoning child labour in what are considered less harmful or less hazardous sectors". 3. NGOs that focus on child participation. The efforts of these agencies are concentrated on making working children more visible, giving them a voice in determining their own lives, ameliorating their working conditions and, in some cases, organising and unionising them. While listening to children's views will undoubtedly lead to relevant and child friendly strategies, there are certain assumptions underlying this approach that make it problematic, and even counterproductive as a strategy for eradicating child labour. The first is that child labour can be eradicated by following a twin track system, i.e. eradicate it in the long run but regulate it in the short run as it is a necessary evil. No indication is provided of how long the short run is expected to be. In the absence of other poverty alleviating measures there is the danger of the short run becoming a relatively permanent state The second set of problems arises from the claim that work is not harmful but empowering for poor children. Organisations that take this approach are generally silent about the consequences of child labour - even when regulated - for the future economic prospects of the child and for society. There is no empirical evidence to support the position that child work is associated with the skills and experiences that contribute to higher earning capability (Wazir, R. 5.1.2009). After taking into consideration all the aspects of child labour; it can safely be concluded that Even though a lot is being done to eradicate child labour, we haven't really worked at eradicating core issues such as poverty, lack of education, government reforms and facilities, however we do know what will now, so it won't be too long before all countries in the world start applying the strategies that were successful in Bangladesh. The companies are certainly not a boon, they would be though if they would take a more responsible approach and keep a tab on their off shore sub contractors, making stringent laws that prohibit the employment of children below the age of 14-15 and allow only par time work for children over the ages of 15, so that their education is not hampered. The companies could also start initiatives such as schooling for these children, so that in future they will have access to this pool of educated youngsters. Even if the buying stops there will always be other exploiters in the society, who will be ready to lead these children deeper into the realms of slavery. Instead, we as consumers could pressurize the companies to donate a part of their profits from the sale of these products to the welfare of children who are old enough to undertake part time work. And finally, even though we cannot return all the lost pleasures of childhood to young Mantheesh, it's our collective responsibility to make sure that she gets the same rights and privileges as any other child. We have to make sure that her future is brighter than her past. Reference List Electronic Sources 1. AFT, American Federation of Teachers, In Our Own Backyard , the hidden problem of child farm workers, < http://www.ourownbackyard.org/index.shtml >, 5.1.2009. 2. 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UN: United Nations- Children and Armed Conflict, ILO Convention 182, , 5.1.2009 18. US Department of labour, www. dol.gov/ilab, Bangladesh: government policies to eliminate the worst form of child labour, , 5.1.2009 19. Virtual Library of News Paper Articles, 22.7.2005, Protest Wal-Mart Child Labour, < http://www.canadiancrc.com/Newspaper_Articles/AFL-CIO_Protest_Wal-Mart_Child_labor_22JUL05.aspx>, 5.1.2009. 20. Wazir, Rekha, 2002, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol 45, No-3, Eliminating Child Labour :Do NGO Interventions Add Up To A Strategy, , 5.1.2009 21. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation Inc, Child Labour, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor#cite_note-2>, 5.1.2009 22. Worstall, Tim, 22.6.2008, The Despicable Child Labour Racket, 5.1.2009 Books 23. Montgomery, Heather, K. Modern Babylon, New York: Berghahn Books, 2001. 24. Fyfe, Alec, et all, Trade Unions and Child Labour, Geneva: International Labour Office,1997. Read More