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Perfume’s dark secret

A ѿý investigation has found some top perfumes have what a UN official said may be the “worst form of child labour” in their supply chain

The global perfume industry is worth billions. Some luxury brands sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle. But ѿý Eye Investigations has discovered that, when the sun goes down in Egypt, there is a hidden human cost to this industry. In the summer of 2023, the ѿý visited four different locations in Egypt’s main jasmine-growing area, Al Gharbia, and found children - some as young as five - working at night to pick the jasmine that was supplied to some of the world’s leading perfume brands through factories in Egypt. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery tells the ѿý what it’s uncovered ‘may constitute the worst form of child labour’. We hear the story of one family who say they have no choice but to take their children into the jasmine fields to work, in order to earn enough money to live.

Reporter: Natasha Cox
Producers: Ahmed El Shamy and Louise Hidalgo
Editors: Rebecca Henschke and Rosie Garthwaite
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill + James Beard

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26 minutes

Podcast