Why Politicians Ignore Abuses in India’s Sugar Industry: They Run It

Politicians run most of the mills in the state of Maharashtra. They deny or downplay evidence of coerced hysterectomies, debt bondage and child labor in the fields.

How We Investigated Political Ties to Abuse in India, and What We Found

Western companies such as Coca-Cola buy sugar from fields where workers suffer abuses. But the country has labor laws. Where was the government?

To Quit Their Jobs, Sugar Workers Risk Kidnapping, Assault and Murder

Why would anyone stay in a job where abuse is rampant and women are coerced into hysterectomies? Because the cost of escaping India’s cane fields is often even higher.

Can Wall Street Pressure Ease Brutality in India’s Sugar Fields?

Pension funds and big investors are pressuring Coca-Cola, Pepsico and others over brutal working conditions in India’s cane fields. Some of the sugar buyers are tiptoeing toward change.

In a first, In a first, US labour department links sugarcane harvesting in Beed to forced labour

Move raises hackles among industry stakeholders, who say it doesn’t capture the true picture and is based on incomplete information

US govt expresses concern about ‘poor working conditions’ in Maharashtra sugarcane industry

A spokesperson for the US Embassy said it will continue to engage with the state government and industry representatives for policy and practical changes to benefit workers..

The Brutality of Sugar: Debt, Child Marriage and Hysterectomies

Rising consumption, decaying profits: India’s sugar story

As the global demand for sugar rises, it comes with high costs to health, environment and livelihoods.

Report:

Coca-Cola profits from brutal sugarcane field working conditions
New York Times report uncovers abuses of women, children who work for India sugar producers

India’s female cane cutters face child marriage and hysterectomy

Women and girls in India’s sugar fields are exposed to sexual harassment, backbreaking work and inadequate healthcare

Tribal Migrant Workers From MP Harvest Tales of Exploitation, Sexual Abuse

300 sugar cane cutters rescued from mills of Maharashtra and Karnataka were exploited with several women workers sexually abused.