A freelance journalist has caught the GAP using child labor to produce hand embroidered clothing for its GAP Kids line. The children, who are as young as 10, are quoted as saying they were sold to the factory by their families and cannot leave until their debt is paid. A video of the factory’s squalid conditions shows GAP Kids labels on the clothing.

“There was an overflowed latrine. Bowls of rice covered in mosquitoes. Quite a putrid smell inside the sweatshop,” says Dan McDougall, the freelance reporter.

What are the odds that the GAP is right now, at this moment, “taking this seriously?”

From CBS 5:

“At Gap, we firmly believe that under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments,” the spokesman was quoted as saying.

“These allegations are deeply upsetting and we take this situation very seriously. All of our suppliers and their sub-contractors are required to guarantee that they will not use child labour to produce garments.

“It is clear that one of our vendors violated this agreement, and a full investigation is under way.”

Child labor is a huge problem in India, where millions of children work in factories. The GAP says it requires its subcontractors to guarantee that they will not use child labor, and that it fired 23 factories last year for violations of its policies. Obviously, they needed to fire at least 24.

SF-Based Gap Severs Ties With Child Sweatshop [CBS 5] (Thanks, Andre, humphrmi, Douglas, and Maria!)
Busted: Gap Sweatshop Videos Cause Uproar [ABC 7]
(Photo:ABC7)