U.S. Department of Labor Needs Your Help Finding Child Labor

by Amanda Kloer · 2010-02-26 07:00:00 UTC
Topics:

Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor released their much-anticipated list of consumer goods mad by child labor and forced labor overseas. Now, they are looking to revise that list to get an even better idea of what products are being made by trafficked and exploited people, and where they are being produced. But to make this the most comprehensive list possible, the Department of Labor needs your help.

This week, the Department of Labor released two requests for information (RFIs) from the public, which is basically the federal government's way of formally asking civil society to help them gather data. One RFI seeks information on goods produced in foreign countries by child labor, forced labor, and/or forced or indentured child labor. The other RFI seeks information on certain countries’ efforts to implement their international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. All the information gathered will be complied into the lists maintained by the federal government for the purposes of identifying and addressing child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.

I know many of you who regularly read this blog have connections with grassroots organizations who work on human trafficking or labor exploitation issues, especially overseas. I strongly encourage you to pass this notice along to folks you may know who are working on the ground to address these problems. Knowing where and in what industries human trafficking and child labor are happening is the first step to ending these practices. The Department of Labor needs input from as many groups as possible in order to make this list valuable in the fight against human trafficking.

You can read the original notices and get more information about how to submit information here or by going to the Federal Register website. If you have information which might be valuable to this report, written documentation responding to the RFIs should be submitted by April 9 to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S-5317, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210, Attention Tina McCarter or Leyla Strotkamp. The public also may submit information by e-mail to Tina McCarter at mccarter.tina@dol.gov or Leyla Strotkamp at strotkamp.leyla@dol.gov or by fax to 202-693-4830.

Photo credit: Beverly and Pack

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
PREVIOUS STORY:
Tiger Woods Screws Several Women and Thousands of Migrant Workers
NEXT STORY:
Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, how are you going to take action?

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.