Category Archives: Learn

Human trafficking is a crime shaming us all. It consists of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, deception or other means for the purpose of exploiting them. Human trafficking has many faces as each year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims.

The garment industry, at home and abroad, has been, sadly, an ideal setting for human trafficking. Shrouded in secrecy, the supply chain reaps rewards for brands and consumers at a devastating cost to workers. At several points in the supply chain from the cotton field to the retailer, human trafficking is prevalent. Forced labor is even found in varied elements like fabric dyeing and the mining of minerals for zippers and snaps.

The Human Thread works vigorously alongside partners like U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking and within the Coalition of Catholic Organizations Against Human Trafficking regarding this important issue.

Blue Heart Campaign

The Blue Heart

The Blue Heart represents the sadness of those who are trafficked while reminding us of the cold-heartedness of those who buy and sell fellow human beings. The use of the blue UN color also demonstrates the commitment of the United Nations to combating this crime against human dignity.

In the coming days, our Facebook page and our Twitter account will use this image to promote awareness of the campaign.

Prayer Resources

The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word have prepared a Prayer Service for July 30th World Day Against Human Trafficking in English and Spanish.

Social Action Summer Institute

The Human Thread’s campaign manager, Christopher Cox, appeared on the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Catholic Community of Faith program, a weekly program hosted by Fr. Greg Sakowicz, rector of Holy Name Cathedral. In the first segment, Fr. Greg and Chris talked about the 30th annual Social Action Summer Institute, “Who Is My Neighbor?” to be held at St. Xavier University July 17-21 and about the work of THT.

Listen here: http://files.archchicago.org/podcastfiles/podcastccof/20160708-CCOF.mp3

As well, Chris wrote for the Archdiocesan blog last week: http://www.archchicago.org/blog/comments.aspx?postID=661

Stop Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. We must unite our efforts to free the victims and stop this increasingly aggressive crime which threatens not only individuals but the basic values of society and of international security and justice, to say nothing of the economy, and the fabric of the family and our coexistence.
Pope Francis (12/12/13)

We know that the garment industry, from the cotton field to the factory, is one of the top industries plagued by human trafficking. The Atlantic even declared “All your clothes are made with exploited labor.”

Thus, yesterday, as the U.S. State Department issued its annual report on human trafficking, was an important day to evaluate progress made confronting human trafficking. The 422-page 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report lists Myanmar, Sudan, and Haiti as currently among the worst offenders for human trafficking. First published in 2011, the report offers one of the more systematic global views of trafficking in persons as well as the charting of progress from year to year.

The full, 422-page report is available in PDF as a complete one-piece file: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/258876.pdf  It is available in sections from: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2016/index.htm

This is important, albeit difficult, reading. The Catholic News Agency offered some critical analysis of the report under the headline: “‘Forced to endure hell’ – A severe new report on human trafficking.”

The Solidaridad Network released a new report yesterday (June 7th) ranking brands for their sustainability practices with cotton. The results are disappointing.

Cotton Ranking: Detailed Results (courtesy of Solidaridad Network)

On a scale of 19.5 possible points, IKEA scored the best at 12.00. C&A scored a 9.0, as did H&M. Adidas followed with a 7.75, while Nike (6.75), M&S (5.5), VF Corporation (3.25), and Kering (3) round out those that scored at all. Another 29 companies, including Macy’s, Walmart, the GAP, Dillard’s, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, and TJX, appear to employ no sustainable cotton practices.

The research and scoring was performed by Rank a Brand, which assessed three areas: policy, sourcing and use, and traceability. Most points were available for sourcing and use with companies assessed according to volumes used from Better Cotton, Cotton made in Africa, Organic, and Fairtrade – the four standards judged to be sustainable for the purposes of the report.

While the results are disappointing, we here at The Human Thread think that this report is important work that can change the way cotton is sourced. When we reached out to Isabelle Roger, senior manager of Solidaridad’s cotton program, she said:

“It’s clear that just a few leading companies are doing the heavy lifting on sourcing sustainable cotton. For the cotton sector as a whole to become sustainable, all other major companies will need to get on board and we hope that next year we will be able to report better scores.”

Letting brands know that the consumer is paying attention will help nudge them to making necessary changes in cotton sourcing. It also puts in practice the words of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’:

A change in lifestyle could bring healthy pressure to bear on those who wield political, economic and social power. This is what consumer movements accomplish by boycotting certain products. They prove successful in changing the way businesses operate, forcing them to consider their environmental footprint and their patterns of production. When social pressure affects their earnings, businesses clearly have to find ways to produce differently. This shows us the great need for a sense of social responsibility on the part of consumers. “Purchasing is always a moral – and not simply economic – act”. Today, in a word, “the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle”.[#206]

As consumers, like it or not, we vote with our dollars. Every purchase has moral consequences. Make sure that retailers know that you, as a consumer care, about the conditions in the fields where the cotton was grown and within the factory where the garment was made.

Solidaridad Network’s summary of the report is found here: http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org/news/top-brands-failing-on-cotton-sustainability. The full report can be found here: http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org/sites/solidaridadnetwork.org/files/publications/Cotton%20Ranking%20Report%20-%20June%202016_0.pdf

Commentary about the report also can be found in the Huffington Post and the Toronto Sun.