Kardashians Accused of Using Slave Labor to Produce Fashion Lines; Family Denies Allegations

The Kardashians stand accused of using "slave labor" and turning a blind eye to human rights atrocities to produce their multimillion dollar fashion lines.

A human rights group is investigating claims that workers in China - as young as 16 - work in squalor to manufacture merchandise for the famous family.

The labels in question: K-Dash by Kardashian (which Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian are all involved with), the Kris Jenner Kollection and ShoeDazzle, according to Star.

The institute for Global Labour and Human Rights has in fact launched an investigation, amidst claims the Kardashians' products are inhumanely produced.

With factories reeking of stench from sewage and temperatures north of 100 degrees, an official from the group says conditions in the area are "horrific."

There are also claims the employees work up to 84 hours a week, earning $1 an hour ... while the Kardashians rake in approximately $65 million a year.

However, a leader of the human rights group quoted in the story implying the Kardashians use "slave labor" says the story is misleading in many ways.

Charles Kernaghan, Executive Director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, says he told Star, "It was a wise idea to wait on the article."

Reason being: No proof had been found that the specific factories the Kardashians use violate child labor standards or human rights. That's a good reason.

Kernaghan is quoted as saying, "The Kardashians are in bed with some pretty bad people" and "not only are they taking advantage of these workers, they are holding hands with a government that spits on democracy and women's rights."

Kernaghan tells says his quotes were taken out of context, though, that the violations he described to Star apply to the REGION in China where clothing and other items are manufactured, where child labor practices are often quite appalling.

Again, he was not calling out specific factories the Kardashians use.

At least not yet. Kernaghan does say that at least 75 percent of the factories in the region have violations similar to the ones described in Star.

Kris Jenner tells TMZ in response to the story that factories the Kardashians use are "strictly policed" to avoid child labor or human rights violations.

The company behind the Kardashian shoe line is also adamant that there are no violations and that the "agency" making the claim has not contacted them.

Robert Shapiro, the famous lawyer-turned-entrepreneur (he and the girls' father, Robert Kardashian Sr., co-defended O.J. Simpson), owns ShoeDazzle and says he invests time, energy and money to ensure the factories are in good standard.

One of the people who has personally visited the factories is ShoeDazzle COO Deborah Benton, who weighed in as such: "These issues of child labor are always of paramount importance to us. We've been very focused on this from the very beginning."

She adds, "Factories are routinely inspected and always pass inspection."