ZCZC
BSS-17
RMG-SURVEY-ICDDR,B
60pc female garment workers face violence at workplace: Study
DHAKA, Jan 15, 2018 (BSS) – About 60 percent of the country’s female
garment workers have experienced some forms of physical or verbal violence at
their workplace, according to a new study.
The findings of the study titled, ‘Measuring the Effect of HERrespect: An
Intervention Addressing Violence against Female Garment Workers in Four
Factories of Bangladesh’ were disseminated at a function at ICDDR,B
auditorium here today.
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
(ICDDR,B) with support from non-profit organisation BSR, UKAID and Care
Bangladesh conducted the study during September-December, 2016. Data were
collected from 800 female garment workers of eight RMG factories located in
Dhaka.
ICDDR’B executive director John D Clemens, its senior scientist Ruchira
Tabassum naved, assistant scientist Kausar Parvin, BSR manager Marat Yu and
national coordinator of ‘We Can’ Jinat Ara Haque were, among others, present
on the occasion.
“The use of violence is normalised as a disciplinary measured for workers
because of the hierarchal structure of a garment factory, the high-pressure
environment based on meeting production targets and the social standing of
women, particularly of young,” said the study.
The study indicated that financial empowerment alone is not sufficient
to protect workers from intimate partner violence (IPV), suggesting that
interventions would be more effective to prevent violence.
It highlighted the magnitude of IPV against female garment workers and the
pathways through which it affects their mental health.
The goal of HERrespect is to cultivate more gender equitable attitudes and
relationships among women and men in the RMG sector in Bangladesh, which
ultimately would contribute to prevent violence against women at workplace
and family.
Speakers at the function stressed the need for creating social spaces by
encouraging young women and adolescent girls to speak about their experiences
with spousal violence.
BSS/ASG/DH/MRI/1845 hrs