The 8 Emotions Of Clothes Shopping

Excitement - Many of the girls who work in the cotton production industry which goes into the clothes you wear are from the Tamil Nadu region of India.

Girls aged 14-23 are often recruited into the Sumangali scheme. This scheme promises to pay the girls a lump sum of money at the end of their apprenticeship. It is marketed as something that provides the girls with a steady income and somewhere to live.

What could be bad about that?

The reality is different.

They are essentially trapped at the factory for the next 5 years.

Forced to work over 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.

They receive no additional pay for overtime.

And pay is often just 98p per day.

Ms A.J (19), was beaten with leather belts by male workers and was unable to escape.

Many of the female workers are physically and sexually abused, subjected to hazardous working conditions and not provided with the appropriate equipment or training.

This leads to risk of injury when the young women are carrying out their work.

Often the young women and girls are recruited from regions very far from Tamil Nadu. They have few opportunities to speak to their families or make outside contact.

These girls are trapped in the factories with no way out.

Their stories must be heard

We Must Listen.

STOP THE TRAFFIK have launched the Make Fashion #TraffikFree campaign.

You can get involved by:

1) Delivering a post-card to your favourite fashion retailer.

2) Emailing the CEO of your favourite shop or email their customer services with our Fashion Protocol

3) Change your Facebook picture to our Make Fashion #TraffikFree image - encourage your friends and family to do the same!

4) Host a clothes swap to raise awareness

Check out STOP THE TRAFFIK's website> www.stopthetraffik.org

Or follow us on:

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Twitter> @stopthetraffik

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