Speak free

What we're talking about right now.

Monday March 20, 2023

Why chocolate companies must go beyond certified cocoa

Our community often asks us how to shop ethically. Seeing a recognizable certification logo on a chocolate treat could put your mind at ease when shopping: cocoa certified by the most popular schemes—Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, or organic—is usually the preferred option for those of us mindful of the social and environmental impacts of the products we buy. But do we know what these certification labels actually mean? Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different schemes is key to being able to make conscious shopping decisions and encourage brands to go beyond the

Close up of women marching with raised fists

Activists

Monday March 6, 2023

International Women’s Day: a story of collective power

Are you planning on marking International Women’s Day? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments! When 15,000 women, the majority being immigrant Jewish garment workers, marched through New York City in 1908, they sparked the call for an annual observance of International Women’s Day. These women in New York were demanding the right to vote, better working conditions, shorter working hours, and better protections from exploitation through the initiation of the first labor unions. More than 100 years later we remember that International Women’s Day is

Cooked prawn on a fork resting on a white plate next to an open tin of tuna surrounded by barbed wire and drops of blood

Slavery-Free Goods

Friday February 10, 2023

Does it do what it says on the tin?

Joanna Ewart-James

This is the republication of the foreword to the report published by Human Rights at Sea entitled "Does it Do what it says on the Tin? Fisheries and Aquaculture Certification, Standards and Ratings Ecosystem: An Independent Review 1.0" available here. As consumers we are led to believe we hold the power to ensure the goods we buy are not harmful to humans and the planet. In classic economics, companies simply supply what the market demands. We are ‘the market’ and it is the market that sets the price. And we are increasingly aware, in this information age, that price goes far beyond

Forced Labor

Thursday December 22, 2022

The unusual break the World Cup 2022 brought

Joanna Ewart-James

With Lionel Messi captaining, Argentina’s third win at the World Cup 36 years after their second, may not be considered especially unusual. What about the host country Qatar? The first tournament to be held in a Muslim nation is a break from a history of past locations – predominantly Europe and the Americas. The break I am referring to is the unusual focus on the experience of exploited laborers. Major sporting events and trafficking tropes Before Qatar 2022, extreme exploitation in the context of major sporting events that caught public attention was limited to the topic of

Other slavery

Friday December 16, 2022

Open letter to FIFA and Qatar ahead of the World Cup final and International Migrants Day

To Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA; Dr Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, Minister for Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs in Qatar: We are writing on International Migrants Day as a group of human rights advocates and over 100,000 supporters around the world urging Qatari authorities and FIFA to commit to protecting migrant workers from exploitation and remedy human rights abuses endured as a result of the 2022 World Cup. We call on FIFA to: Set up a dedicated compensation fund for migrant workers and the families of those who have died. This amount should at least be