Behind the Barbie Doll

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People in the devolped world all reconize Barbie, the outfits, cars the whole brand has become a part of modern culture and americana. But few know the cost of producing these toys for young girls. For years workers in Bangkok Thailand have been working under terrible conditions making Barbie dolls.

At the main factory there are 4,500 workers working 12 hours a day for only 5 dollars a day. Most are women who have no benefits, sick days or any kind services from work. But the pay and lack of benefits is the least of their worries. Almost 75% of the workers have respitory infections from the toxic dust containing such poisens as lead in the air. They need to work to support their families but on the other hand they are literally killing themselves to do so. Women as young as 20 are dying from working in these factories.

The government of Thailand however sees no problem with the conditions in the factories. The GDP has gone up and the country has benefited from these jobs. To them the health of the workers is just a price to pay and can be overlooked. They do not want to change any regulations because of the job loss and the loss to the economy. There have also been fires where children workers have been hurt, and still nothing is done. In order for this to stop consumers are going to need to boycott these companies and their practices, forcing them to change or go out of business.

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