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Global Repercussions of Exploitation in Sugar Farms

Our investigation with The New York Times into thousands of coerced hysterectomies in the sugar farms of Maharashtra, India, has had an immediate and resounding impact that continues to reverberate. Since the publication of the series, it has spurred action from major multinationals in the food and beverage industry, the sugar industry’s main watchdog group, and U.S. and European governments.

We revealed a brutal system of exploitation where women are married into a life of harvesting sugar from a young age, trapped in debt, and pushed to get medically unnecessary hysterectomies so they can keep working in the fields. It also exposed the harsh methods used to prevent people from leaving this life behind — a regime of kidnappings, beatings, and intimidation that sullies the supply chains of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mondelez, some of the world’s largest companies.

In response:

— The New York City comptroller, who oversees hundreds of billions of dollars in pension investments, including nearly $1 billion in stock in Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mondelez and others who buy sugar from Maharashtra, is pressuring the companies to work with labor groups in the Indian state and is rallying other institutional investors to do the same.

— The U.S. government’s Department of Labor included sugar produced in Beed, Maharashtra, in its list of goods produced by forced labor. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi expressed concern about “the poor working conditions in the Maharashtra sugarcane industry” and says it is working with labor groups, the Indian government, and the private sector on the issue. Sources tell us the State Department has encouraged American companies to use their buying power as leverage to push sugar mills to make changes.

— The Norwegian ethics council, which advises the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (the world’s largest, at about $1.8 trillion) is investigating at least one company in its portfolio.

— The U.A.W Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, a $60.5 billion pension fund, signed a letter pushing companies to improve labor practices.

— Coca-Cola said in December that it had established a group that would provide at least some cane cutters with first aid, health, and safety training from January 2025. Four mills will participate, including three that Coke buys from. The group will also train factory middlemen on wage transparency and seek to formalize contracts with farm workers.

— Prior to that, Coca-Cola had released a statement condemning the exploitation and took further action by quietly meeting with Indian government officials and sugar suppliers to discuss responsible harvesting practices.

— PepsiCo and Mondelez International, the owner of Cadbury, pledged to investigate the reported abuses. Mondelez severed ties with Dalmia, one of the mills profiled in our series.

— Dalmia, which also supplies Coca-Cola, said it would institute health screenings for workers, and recently arranged to provide sanitary pads, shoes, socks, and gloves to some workers.

— Bonsucro, a sugar industry body that sets standards for the sector but has been accused of relaxed oversight, created a human rights task force which will initially focus on the reports of coerced hysterectomies.