Nike Boasts of Empowering Women Around the World.

NIkeFor years Nike has boosted its corporate image by promoting The Girl Effect, the idea that investing in girls’ education, self-esteem, and job prospects will enable them to reinvest in their families and alleviate poverty around the world. 
 
In a year-long project published by Slate, Maria Hengeveld spoke to women workers at Nike factories who told her about conditions that violate many precepts of The Girl Effect: terrible child care options, ongoing humiliation by managers, and wages so low they can not meet their basic needs, let alone help break the cycle of poverty. 
 
The voices of the women she spoke to — all of whom work or work for Nike-supplying factories — raise important questions about Nike’s investment in PR rather than in its workers.

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