Four large Indian textile firms which make clothing for Dutch department store C&A and the Primark chain among others are still using child labour, according to Dutch multinational research institute Somo in Wednesday’s Volkskrant.

The report says young teenage girls have been found working at the four firms which produce solely for the export market. Some girls are forced to work overtime or banned from leaving the factory compound. Others have part of their earning withheld for their dowry, the paper says.
Both C&A and Primark are among eight clothing companies which signed a joint reaction to the report, pledging to work with local organisations to end child exploitation.
‘This is not window dressing,’ a C&A spokesman is quoted as saying by the Volkskrant. ‘We are actively looking for ways to tackle the problems, such as by warning the parents of 14-year-old girls about the recruitment tactics used by companies with a bad reputation.’
The report is due to be published on Thursday.