"Mattel turns a blind eye to sexual harassment in its factories in China", 3 December 2020

A new report from China Labor Watch, ActionAid France and Solidar Suisse [...] reveals that the female workers who make the Barbie doll in a Mattel Group factory in China work in a hostile climate conducive to sexual harassment, that the brand is informed but does not act accordingly. Ngos ask Mattel to take the measure of the gravity of the situation and to act to immediately stop gender and sexual violence in all of its factories. [...]

In the factories of the multinational Mattel, sexual harassment seems to have been known for a long time. A first audit in 2004 had already revealed the importance of the problem in two factories in Mexico. In December 2019, ActionAid France published a damning investigation report on the trivialization of sexual violence in the Foshan Nanhai Mattel Precision Diecast factory in China and questioned the company on its policy of prevention and punishment of sexist and sexual violence. Mattel refused to communicate on its policy against sexual harassment and did not announce any measures to put an end to this situation. [...]