Unilever Group sign in Toronto, Canada on December 19, 2020. JHVEPhoto / stock.adobe.com
British tea makers, including the famous brand Lipton, were accused on Monday of sexually abusing more than 70 female employees by officials on plantations in Kenya, according to a BBC investigation.
“More than 70 women on Kenyan tea plantations owned for years by two British companies have told the BBC they were sexually abused by their superiors“, reported the British channel on its website. The plantations pointed to belong to Lipton Teas and Infusion, which was recently a subsidiary of the British food and hygiene products giant Unilever, as well as to its compatriot James Finlay, a subsidiary of the Swire conglomerate.
Forced to “give in to demands”
According to testimonies collected by the BBC, several victims said they had no choice but to give in to the sexual demands of their bosses to obtain or keep their jobs. One says she was infected with HIV, while others became pregnant, according to this BBC Africa Eye/Panorama investigation. An official is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl who lived on one of the plantations. A journalist for the channel, who posed as a potential employee on farms owned by the two companies, was herself pressured into consenting to sex in exchange for work.
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Unilever, whose sale of its operations in Kenya came during filming, said “deeply shocked by the allegations of the BBC program“, in a statement sent to AFP. “We have worked hard for many years to address the very serious issues of sexual and gender-based violence against women in the tea industry“, continued the group, saying to themselves “very disappointedthat this was not enough to prevent the reported abuses.
Managers suspended
Nathalie Roos, general manager of the new owner Lipton Teas and Infusions, assures us:have immediately suspended the managers“Improved and ordered a”full and independent investigation“, so that in the future “any cases of violence or abuse are detected, reported and resolved“.
“women’s safety“working in the sector”is particularly close to my heart“, she added, also saying to herself “shocked and appalled“. “There is no place for sexual abuse or harassment in our company“, for his part reacted James Woodrow, general manager of James Finlay, claiming to have suspended and reported to the police two people in question.
The group adds that it has commissioned independent investigations to examine “both the specific allegations of the documentary as well as our approach to preventing sexual violenceand put an end to such practices. Unilever finalized in July the sale for 4.5 billion euros of its tea division, which includes 34 brands including Lipton, Tazo and Pukka, to the CVC Capital Partners fund. This entity, now based in the Netherlands, has since taken the name of “Lipton Teas and Infusions“.
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