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Articles on Child labor

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Forced and child labor has been reported in mines in the Congo, which produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt. Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images

Many global corporations will soon have to police up and down their supply chains as EU human rights ‘due diligence’ law nears enactment

A new EU law would require thousands of multinational companies, including many based in the US, to look for signs of human rights abuses in their supply chains.
Mexican migrant workers harvest parsley on a farm in Wellington, Colo. John Moore/Getty Images

Sexual violence is a pervasive threat for female farm workers – here’s how the US could reduce their risk

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in the US, with workers exposed to vehicles, chemicals and heavy equipment. Women working on farms face another risk: sexual assault.
Lewis Wickes Hine, ‘A little spinner in a Georgia Cotton Mill, 1909.’ Gelatin silver print, 5 x 7 in. The Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (P545)

The US has a child labor problem – recalling an embarrassing past that Americans may think they’ve left behind

While Lewis Hine’s early-20th century photographs of working children compelled Congress to limit or ban child labor, the US Department of Labor is now under fire for failing to enforce these laws.
Canada has joined a growing list of nations that have introduced legislation to combat modern slavery in supply chains. (Paul Teysen/Unsplash)

Canada’s Modern Slavery Act is the start — not the end — of efforts to address the issue in supply chains

If we have learned anything from the fight against modern slavery, it is that addressing the issue takes extensive time, resources and long-term commitments.
Most of us love chocolates, but child labor has been found involved in some of the production. Jupiterimages/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Some chocolate has a dark side to it – child labor

An anthropologist writes that despite best efforts, there is no guarantee that children may not have been exploited in the production process of chocolate.
These boys working in a Georgia cotton mill were photographed in 1909. Lewis Hine/The National Child Labor Committee Collection via Library of Congress

Abolishing child labor took the specter of ‘white slavery’ and the job market’s near collapse during the Great Depression

More than a fifth of US children were working in 1900, and many Americans saw nothing wrong with that. It took decades of activism and court battles plus economic upheaval to change course.
Bangladeshi child labourers work at a balloon factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Consumers must demand products made under favourable working conditions. (AP Photo/A.M Ahad)

The end of dangerous working conditions starts with informed consumers

The food we eat and the products we use should not contribute to human misery. While companies hold some blame, so do consumers who avoid dealing with the consequences of their purchasing decisions.
Ngwe Thein says he was forced to work on a fishing trawler with inadequate food and little or no pay. APTN, Esther Htusan/AP Photo

Data science can help us fight human trafficking

July 30 marks the United Nations’ World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. How can computer scientists help combat this problem?

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