Price of Life NYC

Who’s complying with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act?

The Act: As of January 2012, requires companies with more than US$100m in sales worldwide that do business in California to clearly post on their websites the steps they are taking to address human trafficking and slavery.

The Rationale: If consumers know what companies are doing, they can support good practices with their dollars. [That’s the idea behind the New York City Urban Project / Price of Life upcoming LOGOFF creative work day! Are you going?]

Compliance: A University of Delaware study found that about a quarter of eligible companies have not posted the information as required.

Who’s doing it right? The study reports that:

The Jones Group, whose brands include Jones New York, Anne Klein, Rachel Roy and Nine West, [i]s an industry leader in this area, as its disclosures not only addressed all elements but also contained supporting evidence for each of its statements.

California campaign for new anti-trafficking law moving forward.

A proposed law in California, called the CASE Act (a partnership of California Against Slavery and the Safer California Foundation), has enough signatures to get on the ballot in November 2012. The bill

•     Increases prison terms for human traffickers.
•     Requires convicted sex traffickers to register as sex offenders.
•     Requires all registered sex offenders to disclose their internet accounts.
•     Requires criminal fines from convicted human traffickers to pay for services to help victims.

The CASE Act has also been endorsed by organizations representing over 90,000 rank and file California Peace Officers; advocates for the protection of children, including Marc Klaas and the KlaasKids Foundation; and victims who survived sexual exploitation when they were children.

(Caveat - InterVarsity / Price of Life is not endorsing this bill; we’re just passing on the word.)