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44 Children - With parents working in the textile industry dream of a better life

The children of the people who sew our clothes are poor. These are children who miss their parents, who often feel ill, who wish that they maybe could get an apple to eat once in a while, who dream of a better life. This is a consequence of the textile workers’ low wages and weak negotiation position in Bangladesh which is illustrated in a new report from Swedwatch and LO-TCO Secretariat of International Trade Union Development Cooperation. Many of these children will drop out of school. The majority will start working long before they turn 16, and they will probably never leave the slums. In ten years’ time, these children will be working 10 to 12 hours a day to sew our clothes. If nothing is done.

In this report we met 44 children aged 2–13: half live in the slums of Dhaka with one or both parents and half live in villages with relatives. The children’s parents sew clothes for Swedish and international buyers.

Several of the children’s rights are being threatened by their parents’ low wages, working conditions and low social status. According to international standards companies should identify and manage risks for adverse impacts on human rights. Children are a particularly vulnerable group. In the report, 18 Swedish companies state that they see a connection between their businesses and the wellbeing of the textile workers’ children.

Herausgeber*in/Autor*in: Swedwatch , Stockholm, Sweden / Risberg, Viveka

Medienart: Hintergrundinformation

Erscheinungsjahr: 2014

Zielgruppe: Student*innen, Schüler*innen Sek I/II, Berufsschule, Erwachsene

Sprache: Englisch

Umfang: 36 Seiten
Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download bei swedwatch

Suchbegriffe: Arbeitsbedingungen, Asien, Bangladesch, CSR, Lieferkette, Lohn, Menschenrechtsverletzungen, Unternehmensverantwortung