An undercover investigation has reportedly revealed sexual abuse on British-owned tea farms in Kenya.
According to the joint investigation by BBC Panorama and BBC Africa Eye, women producing tea for major brands have been pressured to have sex with their bosses in return for work.
The BBC stated that more than 70 women who work on the plantations have suffered some form of sexual harassment at work.
Secret footage captured as part of the investigation shows the moment a recruitment manager for Scottish firm James Finlay & Company corners an undercover investigator and demands sex, during what was supposed to be a job interview for work on a tea farm.
Following the investigation, James Finlay and Co told the BBC that it has suspended and barred the employee from its tea farms and reported him to the police.
The company also told the broadcaster that it is investigating whether its Kenyan operation has “an endemic issue with sexual violence”.
James Finlay is the second largest tea company operating in Kenya’s Rift Valley, and supplies tea to Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
Sainsbury’s told the BBC the “horrific allegations have no place in our supply chain”, while Tesco said that it is in “constant dialogue” with the company to ensure “robust measures” are taken.
Separate video reveals two managers sexually harassing an undercover investigator at a tea farm which was, at the time of filming, owned by British Dutch company Unilever.
Unilever told the BBC it is “deeply shocked and saddened” by the allegations, and employees who breached its Code of Conduct have been dismissed, and any criminality reported to the police.
Last August, James Finlay Kenya was ordered to stop taking legal action in Kenya to block a lawsuit in Scotland.
More than 1,000 former and current employees of the company are suing for damages at the Court of Session.
This followed the firm winning a temporary injunction from a court in Nairobi, stopping workers from pursing the case. However, a Scottish judge ruled that the company should halt action in Kenya to allow the lawsuit in Scotland to get back on track.
The workers claim they suffered musculoskeletal injuries while working for the Aberdeen-registered business at its farms in the Kericho region of Kenya.
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