A fashion data organisation, OAR aims to crack down on slavery and worker abuse by mapping every clothing and footwear factory in the world, with a free, open-source tool launched recently. OAR seeks to untangle opaque supply chains by identifying every factory by name and address, increasing transparency for workers and businesses.
A growing number of big brands, from sportswear giant Adidas to fashion retailers H&M and ASOS, are sharing information about their supply chains amid mounting regulatory and consumer pressure on companies to ensure their products are slavery-free. The OAR gathers data released by brands, factory groups, governments and other sources, and allows users to search for factories by brand names and locations.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) and rights group Walk Free Foundation, about 25 million people worldwide were estimated to be trapped in forced labor in 2016.
