Business Report :
“Learning Together: A Gender Justice Journey,” an event organised by the Shojag Coalition under the project “Promoting Gender Justice for Women Workers in the Ready-Made Garment Sector” in association with the European Union held at BRAC INN in the capital on Sunday.
The Ready-made Garments (RMG) sector has been a driving force behind Bangladesh’s economic growth, accounting for 83% of export revenue and employing 2.59 million workers, with 57% of them being women. Despite economic empowerment through formal employment, female workers face significant risks of violence, including sexual harassment, both in the workplace and during commutes.
A safe and discrimination-free workplace is essential for the protection of women workers in garment factories. It is also crucial to strengthen systems for receiving complaints on various issues, including sexual harassment. Additionally, transportation needs to be provided for the safe commuting of women workers, and wages should be ensured during maternity leave, in accordance with labor laws.
Laila Jasmin Banu, Programme Manager, Governance and Human Rights, European Union Delegation to Bangladesh; Sunzida Sultana, Executive Director and member of the Women Affairs Reform Commission; Rumana Khan, Coordinator of the GBV Cluster at UNFPA; and Nuzhat Jabin, Country Director, Christian Aid Bangladesh, were present at the event. Additionally, RMG employers and buyers, representatives from NGOs and INGOs, UN officials, workers’ rights-based Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), representatives from BGMEA and BKMEA, trade union members, and media attended the program and shared their experiences and concerns on the topic.
Taposh Barua, Program Manager, Ethical Trading Limited, shared that: “In the RMG sector, there is a tendency to address grievances verbally.
Factories often fail to document complaints, as they believe it could negatively affect their audit outcomes.”
Anindita Ghosh, Senior Program Officer, Solidarity Center, pointed out that: “The lack of training for women in automation and the absence of childcare support are major reasons of declining women workers in the RMG factories.”
