Our Mission
The Uyghur Justice Project is on a mission to raise awareness about the current human rights violations taking place within the Uyghur community in China. Many people are peripherally aware of this seemingly far-away travesty, but fewer people realize how many of America’s largest and most popular brands are exploiting forced labor conditions in the Uyghur community for profit.
We hope to encourage consumers, especially young consumers–who are often the target audience of these brands–to make more conscious choices about where they spend their money, and ultimately take action to demand change.
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About the Founder
Hi, I’m Noa, and I’m a high school senior from New York. Up until 2022 I was like most people my age: a regular consumer of the latest fashions and electronic trends. I wanted to buy from the same stores my friends were buying from, have the same computer, and the latest iPhone.
I’d always heard phrases like “conscious consumer” thrown around, but I had never really looked into what it meant or why it was important. That all changed when one day, I read an article about the exploitation of the Uyghur community in internment camps in Xinjiang, China. The current conditions this persecuted community are living in are far beyond brutal. Forced laborers receive little to no pay and have scarce communication with family members. Additionally, this community faces identity-based persecution, as they are unable to practice their religion, speak their own language, and are deprived of any rights of physical freedom. This prejudice stems from religious discrimination, as Uyghurs are mainly Muslim.
As an American and as a Jew, who lives freely every day and often is not grateful enough, I feel we all have a moral obligation to prevent the enslavement of other people–no matter their religion or where they live in the world. In founding the Uyghur Justice Project, I hope to empower other young people to create change and demand action now.