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 in the city on Monday.
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.
