Ban on Underage Marriage in Sierra Leone and Slave Labor at Dior and Armani

The Milan prosecutor’s office uncovered that local factories were using foreign labor to produce leather goods, such as handbags, for Christian Dior SA and Giorgio Armani S.p.A. at a fraction of their retail price. Dior purchased a handbag from the supplier for €53 and sold it in stores for €2,600. Armani sold their bags to the supplier for €93, resold them for €250, and priced them in stores at around €1,800. The prices did not include the cost of raw materials, and the companies separately covered the expenses of design, distribution, and marketing.

Italian police inspections in March and April of this year revealed that the factory workers operated in unsafe conditions, worked long hours for €2-3 an hour, and did not meet minimum hygiene and health standards. In Sierra Leone, authorities have passed a law allowing child brides to annul their marriages and receive financial compensation. The law prohibits marriages for children aged 18 and under, and imposes fines on adult spouses. This decision is a victory for activists who have campaigned against underage marriages. The law also punishes those who facilitate such marriages, including parents, officials, and wedding guests. In 2020, around 800,000 girls under 18 in Sierra Leone, about one-third of all girls in the country, were married, with half of them being married before they turned 15.