Bangladesh RMG workers victims of assaults: UK survey

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Aditi Khanna, London
Published : 04:00, Jun 15, 2019 | Updated : 08:50, Jun 15, 2019

Women work at a garment factory inside the Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) in Savar. REUTERS/File PhotoWorkers in Bangladesh’s garment industry are falling victim to sexual violence, harassment and assault on the factory premises, a UK-based charity has found in a latest survey.
ActionAid UK, an international charity working with the poorest women and girls in the world, conducted a survey of 200 garment factory workers in Dhaka as part of a wider investigation to find out how women are treated in the workplace in the country. The charity, which has projects in Bangladesh to help garment workers, released the latest findings to coincide with the International Labour Conference in Geneva this week.
Farah Nazeer, Deputy Director of Advocacy at ActionAid UK, said: “There is currently no international law to prevent sexual violence and harassment in the world of work.
“In a world where one in three women and girls will experience violence, the fact that governments are not legislating where they have power to do so is a damning reflection of how we serve women justice.”
Rubana Huq, who heads the Bangladeshi garment manufacturers association, however, says they are working to stop sexual harassment in factories in line with a previous High Court director.
“We are committed to put an end on any kind of workplace abuse, including sexual harassment,” Huq, the president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told Bangla Tribune.
As a result of its findings, ActionAid is calling on the UK government to use its influence to champion women and girls around the world.
Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh, added: “Many garment manufacturers are taking important steps to improve building safety. Now it is time to tackle the gender-based violence that is still a daily reality for many of the women who make the clothes we wear.
“Governments and employers in Geneva this week can change that by backing legislation to protect all women, regardless of where they work, and make sexual violence and harassment unacceptable in any workplace, anywhere.”
Witnessing a colleague sexually assaulted on the factory floor, women abused for not meeting targets and another fired for being pregnant are among the experiences unearthed by the survey.
“They grope and push us when we are unable to meet the production target,” one woman working at a Dhaka factory said anonymously.
“They also swear a lot. We complained to the [manager], who also didn’t pay any heed and in turn swore at us too and threatened to throw us out. We all wish to continue working only for the sake of our family. If they stop this, then we can work peacefully,” another added.
BGMEA chief Huq, however, feels swearing or verbal abuse should not be counted as sexual harassment.
“Sexual harassment has emerged as a global concern with movements across the world against it intensifying. The International Labor Organization (ILO) is going to adopt a convention over sexual harassment at workplace, which needs to clearly define harassment taking into account the cultural context,” she told Bangla Tribune.
In 2009, the Bangladesh High Court ordered forming committees in every educational institution and workplace to deal with complaints of sexual harassment.
“We are working to implement the High Court directive. The association has asked members to form five-strong committees, consisting three members from the factory and two females from outside,” said Huq, the first female president of BGMEA, a powerful lobbying group of 4,500 clothing factories that employs an estimated 4 million workers, mostly women.

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