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Blog Action Day: Human Rights

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As part of Blog Action Day Fashion Mob founder, Esther Freeman, explains why it’s dangerous to  point the finger of blame at consumers for human rights abuses by the fashion industry. 

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Since the collapse of the Rama Plaza building in Bangladesh, the media has been full of discussions and head scratching about fashion. One comment that keeps coming up is the responsibility of consumers around fast fashion.

Quite frankly this is nonsense. Furthermore it is dangerous to suggest so.

All too often fast fashion chains whine about how hard it is for them to improve human rights, and how they’d change but consumers don’t want it. It’s become their get out clause. And by saying consumers have some kind of responsibility, we reinforce that myth.

It also overlooks that slavery, poverty and disaster happen at the higher end of the fashion too. There have been several campaigns against Adidas and their refusal to compensate workers and pay a living wage. And designer brands like Dolce & Gabbana have been in the firing line too.

In an interview for the film Apparel Truth, a trade union leader in Bangladesh is very clear where the responsibility lies. He said:

“The main profit from this business is going to the multi-national company…The multinational company is putting pressure on the local business to pay a living wage. But also the multinational company is putting pressure on the local business to reduce their price.”

So let’s point the finger where it should be pointed – at the global brands who create human rights abuses as fast as they create fashion.

That’s not to say consumers have no role to play in creating change.

People power is incredibly important. That’s why we launched The 1% Campaign. The campaign calls on the fashion industry to invest 1% of their profits in solving issues in their supply chain, especially around human rights. We need more time and investment in activities like better auditing, health and safety training and improved working with NGOs and trade unions at local level.

Consumers are in a powerful position to demand this. And if we all work together we can help bring about a solution.

>> Sign the 1% Campaign petition and demand that multinationals take responsibility for what happens in their name.

Written by Angela Wallace of Sasstainable

Angela Wallace is the founder and editor of www.sasstainable.ca, an expert voice on ethical luxury and sustainable lifestyle. In 2009, she was granted Ryerson University’s Top 30 Under 30 Alumni award, because of her work as a motivational speaker, when she inspired over 30,000 students across North America. In 2013, she completed her MSc in Environmental Management at the University of London, at the Centre for Development, Environment and Policy. Her passion for the environment grew out of her family’s rural property in Raglan, Ontario, now a designated Natural Heritage System area in the Ontario Greenbelt. She is a published writer, contributing articles to Women's Post, Toronto’s leading business magazine for women. She enjoys urban gardening, writing, fashion and yoga and currently lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband, Owen.

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