Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH) has joined the Slavery Free Chocolate for Easter campaign in an effort to save children, predominantly in West Africa, who are trafficked into picking cocoa to make chocolate.
The idea behind the campaign is to ensure that all chocolate is sourced from workers who have received decent and fair wages and that the children receive the necessary education that will assist in escaping debilitating poverty.
“Presently, children as young as 12-years-old are picking cocoa to make the chocolate we eat,” Presentation Sister Lucy van Kessel and ACRATH coordinator for WA told The Record.
“Some of these children are trafficked and most are forced to pick cocoa from an early age for minimal or no wages for long hours, in dangerous working conditions and without any possibility of attending school.”
Five years ago, Australian supermarkets didn’t have any Easter chocolate certified as slavery free but, in 2013, six slavery-free Easter eggs and rabbits became available.
Oxfam, Divine Eggs, Green and Black Eggs, Chocolatier Eggs, Chocolatier Rabbits and Cadbury Dairy Milk are all certified as slavery free.
“We invite schools to join the campaign by putting up posters, informing other students about fair trade chocolate and visiting their local supermarket and asking if they sell fair trade chocolate Easter eggs,” Sr van Kessel said.
“When schools purchase chocolate this Easter for fundraising, we ask them to make sure that it is slavery free.”
The Slavery Free Chocolate for Easter Campaign has been very successful and it is hoped that in 2014, Haighs, the chocolate company will have slavery-free products to add to the list of the six chocolatiers in the country who are certified as slavery free.
“Most of the children who pick the cocoa have never tasted chocolate,” Sr van Kessel said.
“We encourage parents to buy slavery-free chocolates and if your store doesn’t sell fair trade chocolates ask the owner or manager why not.”