Tearfund’s Education and Advocacy Manager, Dr Murray Sheard, who has recently returned from visiting garment factories in Southern India, congratulated Kowtow and encouraged other companies to follow suit.
“Visiting Southern India, I was hit hard by the conditions in which girls as young as 13 were forced to work. This included 14-hour days, short lunch breaks and excessive heat from the cotton mills. Many of them were also sick with breathing difficulties and abdominal pains, and some of these girls had been trafficked from surrounding villages or lured with false promises.”
Dr Sheard, a former business ethics lecturer at Auckland University, added:
“Ethics and economics are sometimes seen as mutually exclusive. However, every human endeavour – including business – rests on a set of values. Ethical consumption is a step towards making sure the values of freedom and equality of opportunity are respected.”
He said we need to see more companies get on board with paying a living wage, especially as the additional cost to ensure workers can meet basic needs can be as little as 25 to 40 cents US per t-shirt.
“The Ethical Fashion Guide puts power in the hands of New Zealand shoppers to make a tangible difference in the lives of the people who make the clothes we wear. That power is not something to be underestimated.”
The Ethical Fashion Guide is based on the Ethical Fashion Report produced by Baptist World Aid Australia, which partners with Tearfund New Zealand to release the guide and work with companies to improve ethical practices in their supply chains.
To download a copy of the guide, or find out more about Tearfund’s work combatting human trafficking and exploitation, visit Tearfund.org.nz.
