FAST FASHION: INDIA
India, being notorious for child labor, employed 400,000 children under the age of 18 to the textile and garment industry by 2007. More than half are under 14. Many children are willing to work for low wages in order to (barely) put food on the table. 60% of cotton mill workers were under 18; some started working at just 15 years old. In Southern India, cotton mill factory managers often force hormones into girls’ feet to prevent the them from menstruating due to the popular assumption that women are less productive during their period. In Gujarat, India, children on cottonseed farms earn less than 75 cents a day for 12 hours of work in extreme temperatures. Nepali children are also extremely vulnerable to trafficking to work for garment industries. “Sumangali schemes” are popular Dalit girls come from impoverished areas and as migrant workers from distant states to work under a 3-5 year contract, “promising” decent wages and a bonus.
