Victoria’s Secret Cotton Being Supplied by Slave Labor?

Victoria’s Secret has a secret that they would rather you didn’t know about. The Federal Government has launched an investigation into the fashion powerhouse after a report released last month claimed the cotton harvested for use in its products is harvested with slave/child labor.

The Department of Homeland Security, the agency tasked with these investigations, is investigation whether children as young as 10 are forced to harvest the “Fair Trade Cotton” coming out of Burkina Faso in Africa.

Limited Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret, has said in a release that it takes the matter ‘very seriously’ and ‘does not tolerate child labor.”

The Bloomberg News Agency has been independently investigating the issue for years now and have found stories of children being forced into the fields to pick all the cotton used in the Victoria’s Secret products. The Investigations found widespread reports of children being dragged out of school rooms and forced to work in the cotton fields.

According to the United States Department of Labor, Child and slave labor is used in cotton more than any other textile in the world and only gold mining has more violations.

A spokesman for Victoria’s Secret had the following to say,

“We take these allegations regarding cotton farming in Burkina Faso very seriously,as they describe behavior contrary to our company’s values and the code of labor and sourcing standards we require all our suppliers to meet. Our standards specifically prohibit child labor. We are vigorously engaging with stakeholders to fully investigate this matter.”

The issue of slave labor has been pushed to the forefront of American life lately, with reports of several of the largest and most famous people accused of using slave labor to produce their goods. Celebrities such as Martha Stewart and the Kardashians have been accused of using goods produced by child/slave labor. Recently the X-Box and Apple products were highlighted for the lightly of the Chinese workers who make the high end products.

Do you think Victoria’s Secret should be held responsible if it is found the cotton they are using in their products has been picked with slave labor?