Can Fair Trade End Human Trafficking?: Rugmark

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-03-20 07:00:00 UTC
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My colleague Zarah over at the Fair Trade blog and I are asking ourselves this question: Can fair trade end human trafficking?  In response, we're looking at what a few fair trade companies are keep slave labor out of their supply chains.

The handmade carpet and rug industry, especially in India and Pakistan, has long been one of the largest exploiters of child trafficking victims.  Many are held in carpet-making and weaving factories by debt bondage, forced to work 16 or 18 hour days to pay off a debt that never ends.   

But many people don't realize that this lack of freedom is often just the beginning for many of these children.  Being forced to work all day means they can't go to school, leaving them with no hope of ever breaking out of their situation.  The poor working conditions often leave children with a myriad of health problems.  Many have been separated from their families, and are alone and isolated in a strange place. 

Would you want something produced from all that pain in your home?

Today, consumers can make a slavery-free choice by buying a Rugmark certified carpet.  Rugmark certifies that all of their rugs and carpets are free of any form of child labor, and allows you to track the origin of all the products they make on their website.  Rugmark is banking on the idea that if they offer a guaranteed slave-free product, people will be willing to pay a little more (one half of one percent of the retail price).

So can Rugmark end child trafficking in the rug and carpet industry through fair trade rugs?  Only if we buy them.

 

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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