AGAPE, A.C. Creamos Conciencia Sobre Trata de Personas y Violencia de Género.
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University of Nottingham.
Our world is broken. Oxfam reported that the top 26 people in the world own the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of humanity. In this bottom half of humanity, the ILO cited poor working conditions as a leading issue. And for this bottom half of humanity, these poor working conditions amount to modern slavery for 40.3 million people according to the Global Slavery Index.
But this broken world is so far away from my life as a 3rd year UoN student. The truth is that I am nowhere near this bottom half of humanity, and in my uni bubble there isn’t much space to think about it. I’m not a slaveholder and I’m not responsible for this injustice. And even if I was, these stats are contested, the term modern slavery is criticised anyway…
But what if modern slavery is funding fast fashion? Today I’m wearing a Zara jumper, Topshop jeans and converse. Predictable stuff. But where does all this stuff get made? Or more specifically, who is making my cheap clothes?
The truth is that exploited people living in poverty are making my clothes. From cotton growing to garment manufacturing, Know The Origin found that human trafficking is prevalent in the world of fast fashion. And it is closer to home than I realised. The Financial Times found factory workers in Leicester being paid £3 an hour making clothes for New Look and Missguided.
