As someone who was abused as a child model, I am calling for the creation of an action committee to define and enforce labor protects in the fashion industry. 54% of models begin working on or before the age of sixteen. Agencies start recruiting at age thirteen. Many of the pictures in your favorite fashion magazines are little girls dressed up to look like women. This past fall, New York State passed the Child Model Law, granting protections for minors working as models in the fashion industry. Protections such as school-night curfews and on-set hour limits, chaperones, tutors and mandatory financial trusts are now law. Endentured to their agencies, models often return home traumatized and with little to no compensation. With the global clothing and textiles industry now generating upward of 2.5 trillion dollars a year, fashion can afford to offer positive work environments for their models. Please join me in helping to improve the labor conditions for these young workers.

 

You can sign Jennifer Sky’s petition on Change.org to Stop the Abuse of Children in the Fashion Industry or visit her website at www.jennifersky.com for more information.

You can also watch her PSA on Upworthy.