In still other instances, overseas suppliers of Western firms rely on child labour, some of it forced, to produce consumer goods for Western consumers. This strategy must be viewed as misguided. It is ethically indefensible for businesses to resort to human rights abuses or complicity with such violations to serve business ends. International human rights and core labour standards are universal principles applicable to all human beings, not mutable precepts whose content varies according to the context. Business activities have real ethical, economic and political implications that extend well beyond a consideration of quarterly or annual profits.
Business is conducted in a social context that has a human rights dimension.
Protection and promotion of human rights is an appropriate business concern. When you cross borders you cannot pretend the same universal rights don't apply. We can no longer pretend it is none of our business if there are people suffering, whether it's on the other side of the world or in our own backyard. We must realize that what happens to one affects us all. You cannot get anything done except through people.