According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), 80% worker in garments industry is women. That means more than 3.2 million workers are women in 4 million employers.
Managing the minimum living cost per day is very challenging for millions of Bangladesh people who live in poverty. Nowadays, women are seen earning and contributing to their families to fight poverty.
In this case, the multimillion-dollar garments industry in Bangladesh is the major attraction to women who migrate to urban areas to search for jobs.
Discrimination, security, and safety in the workplace for female workers were always questionable even somewhere the scenario is unchanged.
Combating against sexual harassment in garments factory of Bangladesh:
We are living in the 21st century. Women’s participation is seeing in every working sector. Here, the question arises: Are we successfully giving women their deserving respect, or are they still being treated as sexual objects like 200 or 300 years ago?
RMG sector is the largest export business in Bangladesh. About 3.2 million women are working there. The majority are women.
But the bitter truth is in the RMG sector of Bangladesh, and there will rarely be one woman who will say they didn’t get harassed sexually or witness sexual harassment.
- About 84% of Bangladesh women are constantly getting sexually harassed in their homes and working places. 70% of women have seen their fellow workers getting sexually assaulted on the factory floor. It’s a matter of being ashamed that we still cannot change our perception of women.
- Even according to the research of Randomized Controlled Trial, female participants are showing more prosperity in different sectors of a working village than male participants.
- New research (June 10, 2019) shows that 80% of female garment workers in Bangladesh have experienced sexual violence and harassment at their workplace.
Governments, employers, and trade unions are planning to introduce international law for ending violence and harassment against women in the world of work at the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva.
- Women are getting abused for not only lack of duties. Most of the time, garments factories fired pregnant women. It will be considered if the factory authority fires them regarding their health condition, as the women will serve less due to their pregnancy, so they sack them out.
With this, their lives fall into severe confusion and security.
The global justice organization survey with 181 female garments workers in Bangladesh. 10% of women surveyed said they were currently victimizing sexual harassment, molestation, and assault in their workplace. They shockingly found that 80% said their experience of sexual harassment and abuse at the workplace.
Wage discrimination:
In the past few years, wage discrimination has created a big issue in the garments industry. Though still, this problem didn’t vanish correctly, the rate of discrimination has reduced massively.
If we thought about 10 or 20 years ago, women were paid a minimal amount than men. Their functional skill, effort, performance didn’t get any value.
They paid less only for being a WOMAN. As a developing country where a significant part of the economy comes from women’s outstanding performance, it’s shameful for us.
Lots of gender discrimination are happening in the RMG industry. Some RMG took some necessary steps to reduce them.
Now, let’s look up at a different story of the female workers of RMG.
We all know the collapse of Rana Plaza (April 24, 2013).
Jhumki and her sister Rehnuma came to Dhaka after the devastating Sidr (2007) search for a job. They lost their parent and also home in Sidr. She got a job in a small ready-made garment factory, and the starting salary was enough to survive.
Five years later, her salary became double, and she started dreaming of getting prosperous.
But her dream was destroyed with the collapse of Rana Plaza.
A total of 1,129 people were killed and around 2,500 people injured in this disaster. Rana Plaza disaster is one of the worst industrial disasters in history.
Her sister Rehnuma somehow came out alive, but the trauma of gasping for breath beneath the debris for 10 hours still haunts her.
Like Jhumki, so many
garments workers never went back to their work.
Posh Garments:
Posh Garments is one of the leading garments in Bangladesh. Posh Garments has a complain factory, highly skilled workforce, a flexible production platform, experienced staff, good community engagement, and more than 30 years of experience.
Is Posh Garments Adds Any Extra Value to women’s safety?
Posh Garments prioritize every worker and gender equality. They never compromise with women’s rights. These are the things Posh Garments fill up to prioritize women empowerment or gender equality:
- Same salary to the same designated workers.
- Give the assurance of safety and security to the female workers.
- If any harassment comes into the authority’s eye, necessary steps must take to prevent further crimes.
- Make a women-friendly environment.
Posh garments also offer some privilege facilities for the women:
- Maternity leave for three months.
- Financial aid for underprivileged women or victims.
- Job facilities for pregnant women in the workplace.
Female workers are an indispensable part of the RMG sector of Bangladesh. Posh Garments is one of the top Garments in Bangladesh that always assures women’s rights. This practice will add some extra value to women’s safety in the RMG sector in Bangladesh.
