A sweatshop can be described as a manufacturing facility where workers are subject to extreme exploitation, including the absence of a living wage or benefits, poor working conditions, and arbitrary discipline, such as verbal and physical abuse. Since sweatshop workers are paid less than their daily expenses, they are never able to save any money to improve their lives and are trapped in a cycle of exploitation.

 

Places known as sweatshops are particularly common in developing countries where labour laws are often not enforced. Factories can be located in dangerous and deteriorating buildings that are not safe places to work. There have been several cases in Bangladesh of factory collapses and fires that have resulted in more than 1800 fatalities in 2005.

 

Many of the major factories might deny that they’re sweatshops and advise they adhere to strict codes of conduct but in developing countries this is difficult to monitor. The codes of conduct are often not enforced because factories are put under pressure by sourcing companies to produce clothing cheaply and quickly.