Since discovering my slavery footprint left by the goods I regularly purchase for my household, it’s been weighing on me.
How can I as a consumer affect global business decisions? The thought is daunting.
It’s almost like I don’t want to believe it. And knowing that stats and surveys can be manipulated to make a point, it’s easy to let myself go there. But there’s an empowering truth behind the data that requires my attention. The 11-question survey at SlaveryFootprint.org estimates 71 slaves around the globe work for me and my family to produce our daily goods.
As I dig deeper into modern-day slavery issues, I’m finding it gets even more prickly.
The situation in front of us is so bad, even in America, that President Barack Obama declared January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Why?
“Around the world, millions of men, women and children are bought, sold, beaten and abused, locked in compelled service and hidden in darkness,” Obama wrote in his first monthly proclamation of the year. “They toil in factories and fields; in brothels and sweatshops; at sea, abroad and at home. They are the victims of human trafficking – a crime that amounts to modern-day slavery.”
While forced labor to produce common household goods is a travesty that largely exists beyond our borders, sex trafficking and child prostitution is horrifically prevalent in America, especially at major sporting events.
While it’s debatable and hard to pin down whether prostitution activity spikes in the Super Bowl host cities, we do know there were more than 100 prostitution arrests in connection with the big game in Dallas two years ago. The related political jockeying aside, that’s 100 too many.
The FBI said this month human trafficking cases have more than doubled since 2007. Agents report the tally is up, in part, simply because citizens and authorities are more aware of the potential for such crimes.
Here’s the question: What do we do now that we know? How can we combat this issue without completely turning off our purchasing power? Those seem to be difficult answers, at least tangibly. Yet Abraham Lincoln didn’t stop at the word difficult.
We shouldn’t either.
As the FBI points out, it starts with awareness. That’s the first thing we can do. Be informed, spread the word and be on the lookout for suspicious behaviors. The FBI has a hotline; use it.
We also can become smart consumers. Our money matters.
The website
Free2Work.org is a handy tool to research how our favorite brands obtain the raw materials for their products.
The site rates brands based on their answers to 61 questions about labor policies and practices as it relates to the supply chain. For instance, in the “dirt-to-shirt” apparel category, Hanes, Playtex and Champion scored A- grades, while Adidas and Patagonia were in the B+ range. Free2Work gave failing grades to Skechers, Lacoste and Ecko, and D- to OshKosh B’Gosh, Forever 21 and Aramark.
Makes us appreciate a manufacturer like Askinosie Chocolate, right? Just last week, Askinosie released its latest chocolate bar, a collaboration with Santa Fe, N.M., chef and restaurateur Katherine Kagel. Owner Shawn Askinosie has built his small-batch chocolate factory on the concept of knowing the people behind the raw materials used to make his specialty products.
I don’t know where Hershey’s and Nestle buy their cocoa beans, but Askinosie shakes hands and shares profits with his farm suppliers around the globe.
For the activists in us, we can get involved. Numerous organizations, such as Not For Sale, REST, Abolition International and International Justice Mission, are rising up to fight the fight.
In his proclamation this month, the president reminded us Feb. 1 is National Freedom Day.
“We recall the words of the Emancipation Proclamation – that every life saved is ‘an act of justice,’ worthy of ‘the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of an Almighty God,’” Obama wrote. “I call upon businesses, organizations, faith-based groups, families and all Americans to recognize the vital role we can play in ending all forms of slavery and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities.”
After the wake-up call, we can put our own plan in place.
Springfield Business Journal Editor Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.[[In-content Ad]]
