Victoria’s Secret Involved In Slave Trade
The ever famous Victoria’s Secret, a subsidiary of Limited Brands, came under fire at the beginning of this year after allegations that the cotton it uses to make lingerie is produced using slave labour. Victoria’s Secret purchased its cotton, which was certified by Fairtrade International to be fair-trade cotton, from the Central African country of Burkina Faso. After the story of a child who had died while picking cotton for Burkina Faso’s cotton industry broke, the media corporation, Bloomberg L.P., reported that it had confirmed through “several sources… that the surviving child [from that family] picks cotton for Burkina Faso’s fair-trade organic program.” Victoria’s Secret claimed to not know that their cotton was picked by child labourers who were “kept out of school and forced to work.” To be fair though, the cotton was confirmed to be fair trade by Fairtrade International and Victoria’s Secret did not operate the cotton farms. The question comes down to whether or not it is a companies responsibility to ensure their suppliers operate in an ethical manner.