Tenant families are given small plots of land by large tobacco estates in exchange for producing a certain amount of tobacco every year. In addition to forcing tenants to turn over a large portion of their harvest as rent, they also charge for seeds and fertilizer. Many tenant farmers do not make enough to buy food; tenant children, some as young as 7, are forced to work beside their parents or as day laborers on other plots. They are subjected to hazardous manual labor, physical strain, dangerous environments, and long hours. The children are charged with strenuous tasks such as clearing the land, building tobacco drying sheds, weeding and plucking tobacco.

The struggle is far from over! While many clothing retailers -- like Gap, Children’s Place, and Gymboree -- are working to address labor abuses in their cotton, some companies continue to remain silent about forced child labor in Uzbekistan's cotton fields. ILRF has started new petitions focused on a few holdouts who still have not taken action against Uzbek cotton. 

Here are links to our new petitions:

The International Labor Rights Forum continues to passionately address the forced labor that occurs on tobacco farms with extensive research and ILRF’s Tobacco Campaign. ILRF was excited to support WOJA and Otañez in their efforts to address the hazardous industry of tobacco that is riddled with child laborers and the labor of pregnant women. A shocking 78% of children between the ages of 10 to 14 and 55% of 7 to 9 year olds work full or part-time with their parents on tobacco farms internationally.  

“The cocoa industry’s connection to child labor is in direct contradiction… to the morals and messages within Harry Potter and the Harry Potter brand,” said. Andrew Slack, Executive director of the Harry Potter Alliance.