Hollywood actress Julia Ormond pleaded with US lawmakers to pass a law halting the sale of men, women and children into forced labour.

Ms Ormond told a panel of lawmakers how children are “chained, whipped and scarred for life while working on our carpets” and “Mayan agricultural slaves in Florida pick my tomatoes” just to keep prices down and profit margins high.

“Just as those forced into sex slavery, they deserve our compassion” and a federal law to protect them, said Ms Ormond, who in 2007 founded the Alliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking.

The British actress was testifying at a hearing of the House of Representatives’ Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a leader in the US fight against human trafficking.

Ms Ormond played a key role in getting a law passed in California last year that requires retailers and manufacturers earning more than $100 million a year worldwide to disclose their supply chain sources, in particular the labour that produces the goods they sell.

The California law will allow consumers to decide whether to buy a product from a manufacturer whose supply chain includes forced labour, said the actress.