
The former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan is best known as one of the world's largest producers of cotton. But while the industry brings the government a fortune, protesters accuse the ex-Soviet state of exploiting children and abusing human rights. Uzbekistan has long been accused of using forced child labor in its cotton-growing industry, which is one of the world's biggest. Instead of going to school, children are sent to the fields to pick cotton. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the produce harvested with illegal child labor is enjoying the glare of flashing cameras as Gul'nara Karimova -- daughter of the Uzbek President -- presents her new fashion collection. Forbes magazine ponders on how she has managed to be so commercially successful "Well, I graduated from Harvard, so you know -- it is a very good school in terms of giving you great tools!" explains Karimova. The "tools" are Uzbeki children as young as seven who work an average of 70 hours a week instead of going to school. And an education is not the only thing they are missing out on, with no heating, proper beds or drinking water. "Mothers are powerless. Some of them stood up for their kids and tried to protect them. They were arrested and taken to the cotton fields. They would be forced to work in the day and would be mass raped at night," says Nadezhda Ataeva, the president of Human Rights Association in Central Asia. With the help of forced child labor, Uzbekistan produces around one million tons <b>...</b>
Uzbekistan
cotton
Karimov
forced
child
labor
haimasoph