Need women in mid-level management at RMG: Experts

Bangladesh should incorporate women at the mid-level management in the apparel industry and trade unions to curb violence and protect them at the factories, a group of experts and labour leaders have opinionated.

Speaking at a programme of Shojag, a group of five non-government organisations, the discussants observed that the working environment at Bangladesh’s factories improved markedly following the devastating Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, but more needs to be done.

The group also disclosed a report on the situation of gender-based violence at the factories – in participance of 382 female garment workers of Savar, Gazipur and Ashulia. The report said that only 11 per cent (tangible improvement as compared to previous figures) of the women feel insecure at the garment factories, what has been claimed as the significant transformation within the industry.

Also, the study found out that those who experienced violence did not seek assistance elsewhere than the factory. 67 per cent said they did not trust in prevention bodies and 43 per cent of the participants said that complaints are not heeded. 22 per cent said they feared of losing their job and kept mum.

The findings of the report were placed at a discussion organised at The Daily Star Centre, Dhaka, on August 27, 2018. Begum Morsheda Hai, assistant secretary of labour and employment ministry, and Matiur Rahman, joint inspector general of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), were present at the event.

The report said, garment workers are sexually harassed, stalked in public transports and other public places as well. There are laws and policies to protect female garment workers from physical and sexual harassment but their implementation is hard to find.

As recommendation, the speakers said, mid-level managers or supervisors should be trained on abstaining from verbal abuse and mounting psychological pressure on workers. And, it should be the employers who can play the key role in protecting the female garment workers.