The Associated Press revealed a harrowing in-depth investigation on Monday that exposed rape and abuse in palm oil fields in Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia, which together produce 85 percent of the world’s most versatile vegetable oil.
“Palm oil is found in everything from potato chips and pills to pet food, and also ends up in the supply chains of some of the biggest names in the $530 billion beauty business, including L’Oréal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Avon and Johnson & Johnson, helping women around the world feel pampered and beautiful,” the AP reported.
It was the “first comprehensive investigation focusing on the brutal treatment of women in the production of palm oil, including the hidden scourge of sexual abuse, ranging from verbal harassment and threats to rape. It’s part of a larger in-depth look at the industry that exposed widespread abuses in the two countries, including human trafficking, child labor and outright slavery.”
“Almost every plantation has problems related to labor,” said Hotler Parsaoran of the Indonesian nonprofit group Sawit Watch, which has conducted extensive investigations into abuses in the palm oil sector. “But the conditions of female workers are far worse than men.”
More than three dozen women and girls from at least 12 companies across Indonesia and Malaysia were interviewed for the AP investigation. They met with female AP reporters secretly within their barracks or at hotels, coffee shops or churches, sometimes late at night, usually with no men present so they could speak openly, the AP reported.
There are an estimated 7.6 million women working on plantations in Indonesia, about half the total workforce, according to the female empowerment ministry. In Malaysia, there are a large number of foreign migrants working off the books and, therefore, the total number of women working on plantations is unknown.
“From birth until now, I am still on a plantation,” said one worker, who went by the moniker Indra for fear of retaliation.
“The location of palm oil plantations makes them an ideal crime scene for rape,” said Aini Fitri, an Indonesian official from the government’s women and children’s office in West Kalimantan province. “It could be dangerous in the darkness for people, especially for women, but also because it is so quiet and remote. So even in the middle of the day, the crime can happen.”
The AP investigation goes further into detail about the beauty brands and other products containing palm oil, including Girl Scout cookies. Read more here.