How can we call sustainable-fashion supply chains “sustainable” when there is so much slave labor involving children at the heart of it all? From artisanal gold mining to unregulated fashion manufacturing, 57 million children and 69 million adolescents are kept from getting an education at this very moment.

More than half of them are girls.

This traceability has never been more necessary for brands to even initiate the claim that they have created a “consciously made” garment. After all, what’s the worth of an organic cotton dress when a child has been forced to make it?

With the launch of the International Labour Organization’s “50 for Freedom” campaign to end modern slavery, which coincided with World Day Against Child Labor, “sustainably made” just got a new platform.

Houtan Homayounpour, who works with the Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour and the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work branch of the ILO, says forced labor in the fashion industry affects all population groups, young and old, male and female, and these individuals are frequently drawn from minority or socially excluded groups.

“Making sure that there is a strong legal framework in countries and that laws are enforced is part of the solution. Making sure that decent employment opportunities exist is also part of the solution…. There is not a magic solution, nor a one-size-fits-all solution,” Homayounpour said. “Unfortunately slavery and forced labor is a reality today, and our campaign is asking countries to ratify the new protocol which can help combat it.”

One country that has had issues with child labor is India.…
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