11.11.10

War on Want: LOVE FASHION, HATE SWEATSHOPS

LFHS_T-shirt_mosaic

Being ethical is something that is important to me.
Don't get me wrong, I am not a tree hugger or anything alike and I do admit to buying products which are not 100% ethical. However, I truly believe that people should at least be aware that the world isn't what it seems. My aim of this post is not to get you all to become ethical in what you buy and wear, but to make you aware of what is going around in our surroundings showing you the real world which is unseen in today's society. 

A friend of mine recently shared a link on the Dispatches documentary on "Fashion's Dirty Secret". It disgusted me that people, more specifically immigrants were being exploited and treated as slaves to produce thousands of garments within a matter of days for a number of high street stores (Topshop, New Look, Peacocks, BHS, Jane Norman). This may sound familiar in countries such as China, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam but what if I said that this is happening in the city of Leicester, UK?

These people are working under immense pressure in small back street factories completing orders up to 6,000 garments in a week and working between 10-13 hour shifts with hardly any breaks. And so you ask about the rate of pay? Well, they work for a mere £2.50 per hour which is less than half of minimum wage.

What ever happened to the Human Rights Act, 1998?

Wanting to enter the world of fashion myself, I feel that it is even more important that I am aware of these things. I believe that stepping into a world in which I have great interest in and being oblivious of the consequences of it is arrogant and unacceptable.
Too many people dismiss these issues and too many people frankly don't care.
Don't be one of them.


P.S. Exploitation of labour is unacceptable in more economically developed countries as well as less economically developed countries! 

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