Cotton production in India –
H&M and Adidas accused of profiting from child labor
The NGO Transparentem points the finger at major clothing brands for their use of cotton from farms using child labor.
Published today at 12:17 p.m.
The survey was conducted by the organization Transparentem in 2022 and 2023 among 90 cotton producers in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
AFP
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Some of the most famous clothing manufacturers on the planet, such as H&M and Adidas, use cotton produced in India on farms that use child labor, the NGO Transparentem accused on Tuesday.
The survey conducted by the New York-based organization in 2022 and 2023 among 90 cotton producers in the state of Madhya Pradesh (central) revealed that they resorted “widespread to child labor and illegal labor adolescents”.
The “serious abuses” revealed by this report “seem to be endemic in the region,” adds the NGO, which also noted “signs of forced labor: forced debt, abusive working conditions or abuse of people in vulnerable situations.”
Many workers are thus forced to work to repay loans at interest rates which continue to increase, according to the Transparentem investigation.
10 million children
The law of the most populous country on the planet prohibits the work of children under the age of 14 in almost all sectors of activity. It also prohibits any work deemed dangerous for adolescents aged 14 to 18.
But because of poverty and the tolerance of the authorities, NGOs estimate that 10 million children aged 5 to 14 remain forced to work in India, especially in the agricultural sector.
In a 2024 report, the US State Department named India among countries using child labor to produce cotton.
According to Transparentem, the producers it investigated supply three Indian companies which then resell their cotton-based products to groups such as Adidas, H&M, Amazon and The Gap.
Asked by the NGO, the three Indian companies and around sixty groups that they supply all argued that they participated in initiatives to promote “ethical” cotton.
Most have “started to collaborate to put solutions in place,” rejoiced Transparentem. The NGO, however, considers it “very likely that many of the producers who were the subject of the investigation are linked to other companies in the region.”
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