The sweatshops next door

The whir of sewing machines sounds from street-level windows all over the downtown Athens districts of Patissia, Galatsi and Stathmos Larissis is a constant monotone. Every once in a while, a person emerges from these basement workshops for a cigarette break or to get something from a kiosk.
Within a few kilometers of what are basically sweatshops, clothing store owners arrange their window displays and stuff their racks and shelves with new collections at "special discounts." The two worlds, so close geographically, illustrate the deep chasm in a part of the clothing industry between facade and reality.

"From fifth place in Europe on the global slavery index, Greece shot up to second in 2018 as a result of the thousands of refugees who found themselves trapped in Greece and have become victims of exploitation because they have such limited options," says Dr Fiori...