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Flawed fabrics

The abuse of girls and women workers in the South Indian textile industry

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Written by: Pauline Overeem
Written by: Martje Theuws
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This report highlights serious labour rights and human rights violations faced by girls and young women employed in the Tamil Nadu spinning industry in South India, which is a major hub in the global knitwear sector, supplying some of the big name clothing brands including C&A, HanesBrands, Mothercare and Primark. Through a mixture of desk research and interviews on the ground with workers employed at five Tamil Nadu spinning mills, this joint report by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) concludes that several core labour rights are being violated. Girls and young women are being lured from their home villages by false promises and are working under appalling conditions amounting to forced labour. With this report, SOMO and ICN aim to push producers and buying companies towards actively assuming their corporate responsibility to respect human rights in their own operations as well as in their supply chains. SOMO, ICN and local labour rights groups are also calling on the Indian government and governments on the buying end of the supply chain to protect labour rights in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and Indian law.

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Posted in category:
Publication
Written by:
Written by: Pauline Overeem
Written by: Martje Theuws
Published on:

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