Debt Bondage in the Palm Oil Industry

Serious Human Rights Abuse

Among the estimated 3.7 million workers in the palm oil industry are thousands of child laborers and workers who face dangerous and abusive conditions. Debt bondage is common, and traffickers who prey on victims face few, if any, sanctions from business or government officials.  Palm oil and its derivatives are found in thousands of products worldwide, from doughnuts to soap, lipstick to biodiesel.  Globally, palm oil consumption has quintupled since 1990.  Read more…

(Photo from Bloomberg Business Week, July 18 2013)