Knowledge
Many children work at glass bangle factories
When a customer goes to the shop looking for jewellery, whether it is for someone else or for an occasion, they are only concerned about how it looks or whether it suits them. I don’t think people would look into the origin of the jewellery. However, I realise a lot of children are employed in mines or where jewellery is being made, whether they are in glass bangles or gold bangles but normal consumers do not think about what happens behind the scenes.
When it comes to animal fur, for example, the animal abuse is very obvious. But when I see the metal, I do not necessarily know what kind of labour was employed? Now, I will think twice before buying an item of jewellery because I personally did not know about it, and I do not think a lot of people know about it. These issues should be highlighted so that more people get to know about what goes on behind the scenes.
From Ms Latha Siby
Director of a company based in Dubai
Awareness
People would care if they knew of the abuse
I have studied gemology and work with gems, but I have not come across this issue. Gems are very useful and powerful but I never thought about the chance of child abuse or human rights violations. It is a vast industry, and I would never have thought that children would be used for it.
Even in my own studies of gems, I did not come across this issue. However, I think this can be an issue with any industry. Rules have to be enforced strictly within an industry and, yes, we should know what is behind the bling. How are the materials being sourced? I definitely think people would care.
For example, people care about animal abuse and because of this concern many make-up brands have taken the necessary action to not test their products on animals. In the case of jewellery, if this issue is highlighted, it will have a great impact.
As a jewellery shop owner, we meet people who sell us materials from Sri Lanka and Bangkok. We then make customised jewellery in the UAE, with a small group of skilled workers. So, there is no question of such issues in our experience.
In fact, just recently I came across a post on Instagram of a gem trader, Yianni Melas, who went on a hunger strike to protest the sale of a diamond necklace, demanding that the money from the valuable sale go to children in Angola who are suffering because of the industry.
So, people would care if the issue is highlighted. Everybody has the right to know what is happening and if there is child abuse taking place, it has to be controlled by the governments.
From Ms Punam Bhatia
Jewellery and gems business owner based in Dubai
Credibility
I plan to stop buying diamonds altogether
I buy quite a lot of jewellery even though I don’t wear it a lot but we need it for family ocassions and weddings. I was surprised to find out about the existence of human rights abuse and child abuse in the jewellery industry.
I would not have even thought about it. We have a long-term relationship with the jewellers from whom our family buys jewellery and we have never even spoken about it. I would actually ask them now about this issue.
How much of an impact will one person have by not buying jewellery? I will try to educate people around me but I hope governments get involved as well.
From Ms Teena Thawani
Artist and event planner working in Dubai
Technology
Working with blockchain technology can help trace products throughout the manufacturing process
Human rights violations are happening in many industries, whether in the shoe manufacturing industry or with smartphone manufacturing. I see news items in the media of famous sports shoes makers being acused of child labour as well. As for the jewellery industry, I am not knowledgeable in detail of where the material is extracted from and how it is produced but what I hope for is that buying from well-known brands and getting certified products would help and give you a little bit of relief that the material was mined properly and no blood diamonds were involved. That is because it is really distressing to know that the jewellery was produced through child labour or involved in other human rights violations. I would never go for such a product and nobody in their right mind would knowingly pay for such products.
There are some technological developments related to blockchain technology, which will make it impossible to get some uncertified products. This is true for the organic food industry, and I know that there are some transactions regarding diamond trade, which were executed using blockchain technology. That is why it is very important to have full traceability of any product.
I hope that there will be some technological innovations that will make it impossible to purchase such products. There are some certifications from independent authorities, which I presume can help certify the product’s sourcing. They conduct inspections and site visits and observe how the products are being manufactured. After that, I guess jewellery brands can choose to either work with the producer or not but what is important is that when you buy a product, you put its certification in to the system. Then, when somebody asks you whether these goods are ethically mined, you just fetch that certificate from the system and you can identify how it was sourced.
Of course, such a system is more difficult to implement with certain products. Cars, for example, have a serial number which can help trace them from the very beginning of the manufacturing process. Diamonds or products like chickpeas, without barcodes for example, would be a lot harder to trace. A producer might have a certificate but could still buy and sell blood diamonds, which is why third-party independent authorities must be really aware of the situation and what is going on in the real world. They must be knowledgeable about the trade of producers. I would not buy anything if somebody has shed tears making it, it is unethical and does not bring good karma either.
From Mr Murat Ozturk
Group IT Manager for a global food trade company
Gulf News asked: Would you stop buying jewellery if you discovered it was produced through child labour?
• Yes
• No
Have Your Say: Were you aware of the human and child rights abuse that the jewellery industry is acused of? Have you ever stopped buying certain products for ethical reasons? Which were they? Join our debate by sending an email to readers@gulfnews.com
— Compiled by Huda Tabrez, Community Web Editor
