International Rights Advocates Facebook page.
Many people give chocolates as a symbol of love on Valentine’s Day, but for some, the popular candy is more bitter than sweet.
A human rights group filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of eight Malian men who say they were trafficked across the border to the Cote D’Ivoire and forced to harvest cocoa for one or more of seven popular companies, including Mars, Nestlé, and Hershey.
“Enough is enough!” IRAdvocates Executive Director Terry Collingsworth said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Allowing the enslavement of African children in 2021 to harvest cocoa for major multinational companies is outrageous and must end.”