Clothing deprivation, as a result of poverty, is a large and growing problem in the UK and around the world. As politicians, media commentators and everyone else talks about the cost of living crisis in relation to food and heating, many often forget about another basic necessity: clothing.

Increasingly, individuals are deprived of adequate clothing. This is despite the fact that all human beings have a right to adequate clothing. A right that has long been recognised both in international treaties and by the States bound by those treaties. By reasserting the right to clothing, not only will we be able to make adequate clothing more accessible and affordable, but through reducing clothing waste there will be a positive environmental impact.

In the UK the Right to Clothing Campaign, founded by Sharewear UK and the Peace and Justice Project and working with Dr. Luke D. Graham at the University of Manchester, hopes to raise awareness of clothing deprivation, provide clothing directly to people on the ground through Community Sharewears, bring about a change in the law which better protects the right to clothing, and thus ensure that charity is not required for any individual to access adequate clothing.  

Beyond clothing deprivation in the UK, The Right to Clothing Campaign will work towards reasserting and delimiting the ‘forgotten’ right to clothing and thus empower those working in clothing deprivation throughout the world to use the right in their work.