Editing Child labour (section)

==Incidents==
{{Slavery|Contemporary}}

===Cocoa production===
{{main|Children in cocoa production|Harkin–Engel Protocol}}
In 1998, [[UNICEF]] reported that [[Ivory Coast]] farmers used enslaved children – many from surrounding countries.<ref name="Raghavan1">{{cite news |author1=Sudarsan Raghavan |author2=Sumana Chatterjee |title=Slaves feed world's taste for chocolate: Captives common in cocoa farms of Africa |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] |date=24 June 2001 |url=http://www2.jsonline.com/news/nat/jun01/slave24r062301.asp |access-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060917014323/http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/atasteofslavery.html| archive-date=17 September 2006}}</ref> In late 2000 a BBC documentary reported the use of enslaved children in the production of [[Theobroma cacao|cocoa]] – the main ingredient in [[chocolate]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2012/04/12/3475859.htm |title=Cocoa shortage to push up chocolate price |last=Bentley |first=Prue |publisher=ABC Ballarat |date=12 April 2012 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120822151126/https://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2012/04/12/3475859.htm |archive-date=22 August 2012}}</ref> – in [[West Africa]].<ref name="combating">{{cite web |title=Combating Child Labour in Cocoa Growing |publisher=[[International Labour Organization]] |year=2005 |url=http://www.ilo.org/public//english//standards/ipec/themes/cocoa/download/2005_02_cl_cocoa.pdf |access-date= 26 April 2012 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050525122715/http://www.ilo.org/public//english//standards/ipec/themes/cocoa/download/2005_02_cl_cocoa.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2WeACR-WIYC&q=bbc+documentary+children+chocolate+2000&pg=PA98 |page= 98 |title= Naked Chocolate: The Astonishing Truth about the World's Greatest Food |author1= David Wolfe |author2= Shazzie |publisher= North Atlantic Books |year= 2005 |isbn=978-1556437311 |access-date=15 December 2011}}</ref> Other media followed by reporting widespread [[child slavery]] and [[Trafficking of children|child trafficking]] in the production of cocoa.<ref name="Raghavan1" /><ref name="chocolate slavery">{{cite news |last=Hawksley |first=Humphrey |author-link=Humphrey Hawksley |title=Mali's children in chocolate slavery |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1272522.stm |date=12 April 2001}}</ref><ref name="accuses companies">{{cite news |last=Hawksley |first=Humphrey |title=Ivory Coast accuses chocolate companies |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1311982.stm |date=4 May 2001}}</ref> In 2001, the [[US State Department]] estimated there were 15,000 child slaves cocoa, cotton and coffee farms in the Ivory Coast,<ref name="commondreams.org">{{cite news|last=Chatterjee |first=Sumana |title=Chocolate Firms Launch Fight Against 'Slave Free' Labels |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=1 August 2001|url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0801-03.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308050847/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0801-03.htm |archive-date=8 March 2012 }}</ref> and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association acknowledged that child [[slave]]ry is used in the cocoa harvest.<ref name="commondreams.org"/>{{failed verification|date=July 2012}}{{better source needed|date=July 2012}}

[[Mali]]an migrants have long worked on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, but in 2000 cocoa prices had dropped to a 10-year low and some farmers stopped paying their employees.<ref name="Blunt"/> The Malian counsel had to rescue some boys who had not been paid for five years and who were beaten if they tried to run away.<ref name="Blunt">{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/946952.stm |title= The bitter taste of slavery |date= 28 September 2000 |last= Blunt |first= Liz |publisher = BBC |access-date = 15 December 2011}}</ref> Malian officials believed that 15,000 children, some as young as 11 years old, were working in the Ivory Coast in 2001. These children were often from poor families or the slums and were sold to work in other countries.<ref name="chocolate slavery"/> Parents were told the children would find work and send money home, but once the children left home, they often worked in conditions resembling slavery.<ref name="combating"/> In other cases, children begging for food were lured from bus stations and sold as slaves.<ref>{{cite web|last=Chanthavong |first=Samlanchith |title=Chocolate and Slavery: Child Labour in Cote d'Ivoire |work=TED Case Studies Number 664 |publisher=[[American University]] |year=2002|url=http://www.american.edu/TED/chocolate-slave.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210170034/http://www1.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm |archive-date=10 February 2012 }}</ref> In 2002, the Ivory Coast had 12,000 children with no relatives nearby, which suggested they were trafficked,<ref name="combating"/> likely from neighboring Mali, [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Togo]].<ref name="Blue Chevigny">{{cite web |url= http://www.unicef.org/protection/cotedivoire_39995.html |title= Child trafficking in Côte d'Ivoire: Efforts under way to reverse a tragic trend |last= Chevigny |first= Blue |date= 14 June 2007 |access-date= 1 May 2012 |archive-date= 9 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120509232506/http://www.unicef.org/protection/cotedivoire_39995.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>

The cocoa industry was accused of profiting from child slavery and trafficking.<ref name="Payson2010 p26">{{cite web|url=https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/research_file_attachment/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |publisher=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, Tulane University |pages=26–27 |date=30 September 2010}}</ref> The European Cocoa Association dismissed these accusations as "false and excessive"<ref name="Payson2010 p26"/> and the industry said the reports were not representative of all areas.<ref name="BBC2000">{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/948876.stm |title= Cocoa farm slavery 'exaggerated' |work= BBC News |date= 29 September 2000}}</ref> Later the industry acknowledged the working conditions for children were unsatisfactory and children's rights were sometimes violated<ref name="Payson2010 p26"/> and acknowledged the claims could not be ignored. In a BBC interview, the ambassador for Ivory Coast to the United Kingdom called these reports of widespread use of slave child labour by 700,000 cocoa farmers as absurd and inaccurate.<ref name="BBC2000"/>

In 2001, a voluntary agreement called the [[Harkin–Engel Protocol]], was accepted by the international cocoa and chocolate industry to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, as defined by [[Convention 182|ILO's Convention 182]], in West Africa.<ref name="HE Protocol">{{cite web|url=http://www.cocoainitiative.org/images/stories/pdf/harkin%20engel%20protocol.pdf |title=Protocol for the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their derivative products in a manner that complies with ILO Convention 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour |publisher=International Cocoa Initiative |year=2001|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724105142/http://www.cocoainitiative.org/images/stories/pdf/harkin%20engel%20protocol.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2008 }}</ref> This agreement created a foundation named International Cocoa Initiative in 2002. The foundation claims it has, as of 2011, active programs in 290 cocoa growing communities in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, reaching a total population of 689,000 people to help eliminate the worst forms of child labour in cocoa industry.<ref>{{cite web|title=Annual Report 2011 |publisher=International Cocoa Initiative |year=2012 |url=http://www.cocoainitiative.org/en/reports/ici-reports-and-newsletters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625114606/http://www.cocoainitiative.org/en/reports/ici-reports-and-newsletters |archive-date=25 June 2012 }}</ref> Other organisations claim progress has been made, but the protocol's 2005 deadlines have not yet been met.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/19/the-human-cost-of-chocolate/ |title= The Human Cost of Chocolate |last= Escobedo |first= Tricia |publisher= CNN |date= 19 September 2011 |access-date= 1 May 2012 |archive-date= 22 March 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120322072304/http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/19/the-human-cost-of-chocolate/ |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="Monsy">{{cite news|url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle09.asp?section=diversions&xfile=data/diversions/2012/February/diversions_February12.xml |title=The bitter truth |author=Karen Ann Monsy |newspaper=Khaleej Times |date=24 February 2012|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415005849/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data%2Fdiversions%2F2012%2FFebruary%2Fdiversions_February12.xml&section=diversions |archive-date=15 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="Payson2011">{{cite web|url=https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/research_file_attachment/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |publisher=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, Tulane University |pages=7–12 |date=30 September 2010}}</ref>

===Mining in Africa===
[[File:Diamond miners-1-.jpg|thumb|left|[[Child labour in the diamond industry|Children engaged in diamond mining]] in [[Sierra Leone]]]]

In 2008, Bloomberg claimed child labour in [[copper]] and [[cobalt]] mines that supplied Chinese companies in Congo. The children are ''creuseurs'', that is they dig the ore by hand, carry sacks of ores on their backs, and these are then purchased by these companies. Over 60 of [[Katanga Province|Katanga's]] 75 processing plants are owned by Chinese companies and 90 per cent of the region's minerals go to China.<ref>{{cite news|title=China Lets Child Workers Die Digging in Congo Mines for Copper|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|date=22 July 2008|author1=Simon Clark |author2=Michael Smith |author3=Franz Wild |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aW8xVLQ4Xhr8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112063831/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aW8xVLQ4Xhr8|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 January 2015}}</ref> An African NGO report claimed 80,000 child labourers under the age of 15, or about 40% of all miners, were supplying ore to Chinese companies in this African region.<ref>{{cite web|title=Strengthening the Civil society Perspective: China's African impact |pages=9–15 |last=Marks |first=Stephen |year=2010 |publisher=Fahamu |url=http://www.fahamu.org/downloads/strengthening_the_civil_society_perspective.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104005117/http://www.fahamu.org/downloads/strengthening_the_civil_society_perspective.pdf |archive-date=4 January 2011}}</ref>
[[Amnesty International]] alleged in 2016 that some cobalt sold by [[Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt|Congo Dongfang Mining]] was produced by child labour, and that it was being used in [[lithium-ion batteries]] powering electric cars and mobile devices worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/child-labour-behind-smart-phone-and-electric-car-batteries/|title=Exposed: Child labour behind smart phone and electric car batteries|website=www.amnesty.org|date=19 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/congo-cobalt-mining-for-lithium-ion-battery/ |title=Cobalt mining for lithium ion batteries has a high human cost |first1=Todd C. |last1=Frankel |date=2016-09-30 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date= 2016-10-18}}</ref>

BBC, in 2012, accused [[Glencore]] of using child labour in its mining and smelting operations of Africa. Glencore denied it used child labour, and said it has strict policy of not using child labour. The company claimed it has a strict policy whereby all copper was mined correctly, placed in bags with numbered seals and then sent to the smelter. Glencore mentioned being aware of child miners who were part of a group of artisanal miners who had without authorisation raided the concession awarded to the company since 2010; Glencore has been pleading with the government to remove the artisanal miners from the concession.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mining giant Glencore accused in child labour and acid dumping row|last=Sweeney|first=John|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 April 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/apr/14/glencore-child-labour-acid-dumping-row}}</ref>

Small-scale [[artisanal mining]] of gold is another source of dangerous child labour in poor rural areas in certain parts of the world.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Poisonous Mix - Child Labour, Mercury, and Artisanal Gold Mining in Mali|publisher=Human Rights Watch|year=2011|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/mali1211_forinsertWebUpload_0.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120417120848/https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/mali1211_forinsertWebUpload_0.pdf |archive-date=17 April 2012 |isbn=978-1-56432-831-1}}</ref> This form of mining uses labour-intensive and low-tech methods. It is informal sector of the economy. [[Human Rights Watch]] group estimates that about 12 per cent of global gold production comes from artisanal mines. In west Africa, in countries such as [[Mali]] – the third largest exporter of gold in Africa – between 20,000 and 40,000 children work in artisanal mining. Locally known as ''orpaillage'', children as young as six years old work with their families. These children and families suffer chronic exposure to toxic chemicals including [[Mercury poisoning|mercury]], and do hazardous work such as digging shafts and working underground, pulling up, carrying and crushing the ore. The poor work practices harm the long-term health of children, as well as release hundreds of tons of mercury every year into local rivers, ground water and lakes. Gold is important to the economy of Mali and Ghana. For Mali, it is the second largest earner of its export revenue. For many poor families with children, it is the primary and sometimes the only source of income.<ref>{{cite web|title=Child labour in gold mining|publisher=ILO, United Nations|year=2012|url=http://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Miningandquarrying/MoreaboutCLinmining/lang--en/index.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Artisanal Gold Mining: Unglamorous Practices at High Prices |last=Garcia |first=Sandra |publisher=Mining Magazine |date=April 2010 |url=http://magazine.mining.com/issues/1003/Vol03-02-ArtisanalGoldMining-36-38.pdf }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

===Meatpacking===
{{see also|Packers Sanitation Services illegal employment of children}}
In early August 2008, [[Iowa]] Labour Commissioner David Neil announced that his department had found that [[Agriprocessors]], a [[kosher]] [[meatpacking]] company in [[Postville, Iowa|Postville]] which had recently been raided by [[Immigration and Customs Enforcement]], had employed 57 minors, some as young as 14, in violation of state law prohibiting anyone under 18 from working in a meatpacking plant. Neil announced that he was turning the case over to the state Attorney General for prosecution, claiming that his department's inquiry had discovered "egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa's child labour laws."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/us/06meat.html?hp |title=Inquiry Finds Under-Age Workers at Meat Plant |work=The New York Times |first=Julia |last=Preston |date=5 August 2008}}</ref> Agriprocessors claimed that it was at a loss to understand the allegations. Agriprocessors' CEO went to trial on these charges in state court on 4 May 2010. After a five-week trial he was found not guilty of all 57 charges of child labour violations by the Black Hawk County District Court jury in Waterloo, Iowa, on 7 June 2010.<ref>{{cite news |first=Julia |last=Preston |date=7 June 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/us/08immig.html?ref=agriprocessors_inc |title=Former Manager of Iowa Slaughterhouse Is Acquitted of Labour Charges |work=The New York Times |access-date=3 April 2024}}</ref>

===GAP===
[[File:Ooty 15.jpg|thumb|Working child in [[Ooty]], India]]
A 2007 report claimed some GAP products had been produced by child labourers. GAP acknowledged the problem and announced it is pulling the products from its shelves.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/28/ethicalbusiness.india|title=Child sweatshop shame threatens GAP's ethical image|first=Dan|last=McDougall|newspaper=The Observer |date=28 October 2007|via=The Guardian}}</ref> The report found that GAP had rigorous social audit systems since 2004 to eliminate child labour in its supply chain. However, the report concluded that the system was being abused by unscrupulous subcontractors.

GAP's policy, the report claimed, is that if it discovers child labour was used by its supplier in its branded clothes, the contractor must remove the child from the workplace, provide them with access to schooling and a wage, and guarantee the opportunity of work on reaching a legal working age.

In 2007, The New York Times reported that GAP, after the child labour discovery, created a $200,000 grant to improve working conditions in the supplier community.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/business/worldbusiness/15iht-gap.1.8349422.html|title=GAP moves to recover from child labor scandal|first=Amelia|last=Gentleman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 November 2007}}</ref> GAP created strong relationships with developing countries to help prevent child labour and find solutions; GAP would conduct interviews and reach out to their 100,000 employees worldwide to get insight into how they feel about GAP's work environments. This survey concluded with a 68 per cent response rate, and 77 per cent of respondents considered GAP a great environment to work in.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arrigo |first=Elisa |date=2013-01-01 |editor-last=Barnes |editor-first=Liz |editor2-last=Lea-Greenwood |editor2-first=Gaynor |title=Corporate responsibility management in fast fashion companies: the Gap Inc. case |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-10-2011-0074 |journal=Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=175–189 |doi=10.1108/JFMM-10-2011-0074 |issn=1361-2026}}</ref>

===H&M and Zara===
In December 2009, campaigners in the UK called on two leading high street retailers to stop selling clothes made with cotton which may have been picked by children. [[Anti-Slavery International]] and the [[Environmental Justice Foundation]] (EJF) accused [[H&M]] and [[Zara (clothing)|Zara]] of using cotton suppliers in Bangladesh. It is also suspected that many of their raw materials originates from Uzbekistan, where children aged 10 are forced to work in the fields. The activists were calling to ban the use of Uzbek cotton and implement a "track and trace" systems to guarantee an ethical responsible source of the material.

H&M said it "does not accept" child labour and "seeks to avoid" using Uzbek cotton, but admitted it did "not have any reliable methods" to ensure Uzbek cotton did not end up in any of its products. [[Inditex]], the owner of Zara, said its code of conduct banned child labour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://itn.co.uk/d42d75c1cd515910d3b780d161e03b0d.html|title=Stores urged to stop using child labour cotton}}{{dead link |date=April 2024 |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

===Silk weaving===
A 2003 Human Rights Watch report claimed children as young as five years old were employed and worked for up to 12 hours a day and six to seven days a week in the silk industry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://inhome.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/23silk.htm|title=Indian silk industry employs child labour: Human Rights Watch|date=23 January 2003|publisher=[[Rediff]]|access-date = 13 March 2019}}</ref> These children, HRW claimed, were bonded [[child labour in India]], easy to find in [[Karnataka]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], and [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/static/html/fl1801/18010660.htm|title=Child Labour: Blood on silk |work=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]|access-date = 13 March 2019}}</ref>

In 2010, a German news investigative report claimed that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had found up to 10,000 children working in the 1,000 silk factories in 1998. In other locations, thousands of bonded child labourers were present in 1994. After UNICEF and NGOs got involved, the child labour figure dropped drastically after 2005, with the total estimated to be fewer than a thousand child labourers. The report claims the released children were back in school.<ref>{{cite news|title=India: Freeing the Small Hands of the Silk Industry|publisher=Deutsche Welle (Germany)|year=2010|url=https://www.dw.com/en/india-freeing-the-small-hands-of-the-silk-industry/a-1114659|access-date = 13 March 2019}}</ref>

===Primark===
In 2008, the BBC reported<ref>{{cite news |title=Embroidered T-shirt. Price: £4. Cost: Misery |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7468927.stm |work=BBC News |date=23 June 2008 }}</ref> that the company [[Primark]] was using child labour in the manufacture of clothing. In particular, a £4 hand-embroidered shirt was the starting point of a documentary produced by [[BBC]]'s ''[[Panorama (TV series)|Panorama]]'' programme. The programme asks consumers to ask themselves, "Why am I only paying £4 for a hand embroidered top? This item looks handmade. Who made it for such little cost?", in addition to exposing the violent side of the child labour industry in countries where child exploitation is prevalent.

As a result of the BBC report, Royal Television Society awarded it a prize, and Primark took immediate action and fired three Indian suppliers in 2008.<ref>{{cite news |title=Primark fires child worker firms |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7456897.stm |work=BBC News |date=16 June 2008 }}</ref>

Primark continued to investigate the allegations for three years,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.primarkresponse.com/panorama/timeline-of-events/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911094612/http://www.primarkresponse.com/panorama/timeline-of-events/|url-status=dead|title=Primark's Investigation findings of BBC's fake reporting on child labour, 2011|archivedate=11 September 2012}}</ref> concluding that BBC report was a fake. In 2011, following an investigation by the [[BBC Trust]]'s Editorial Standards Committee, the BBC announced, "Having carefully scrutinised all of the relevant evidence, the committee concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, it was more likely than not that the [[Bangalore]] footage was not authentic." BBC subsequently apologised for faking footage, and returned the television award for investigative reporting.<ref>{{cite news |title=BBC's Primark apology over 'fake' child labour footage |url=https://www.channel4.com/news/bbcs-primark-apology-over-fake-child-labour-footage |work=Channel 4 News |date=16 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=BBC to apologise over 'faked footage' in Panorama report about Primark |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8579966/BBC-to-apologise-over-faked-footage-in-Panorama-report-about-Primark.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8579966/BBC-to-apologise-over-faked-footage-in-Panorama-report-about-Primark.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Telegraph |date=16 June 2011 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Halliday |first1=Josh |title=BBC hands back RTS award for Panorama programme on Primark |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jun/28/bbc-hands-back-panorama-rts-award |work=The Guardian |date=28 June 2011 }}</ref>