A gender expert on Tuesday said that sexual violence free work environment is often overlooked in the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh although factory compliances focused more on occupational health and hazards. ‘Bangladesh is still ranked 129 out of 169 countries in the gender inequity index… Women labour force participation rate is among the lowest in the world’, Julia Ahmed, a freelance consultant said in her keynote paper at an orientation programme held at the BGMEA conference room.
The orientation on ‘Changing Gender Norms of Garment Employees’, was jointly organised by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Ministry of Labour and Employment and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Mentioning the baseline survey-2011 of International Labour Organisation, Julia said that 84.7 per cent of female garment workers and 100 per cent of day labourers faced harassment in their workplaces.
State minister for labour Mujibul Haque refused the survey report and said it was a weird survey and the statistics were completely baseless.
He said that in last 20 years Bangladesh has progressed much in terms of gender violence and equity.
‘There is no scope to harass 84.7 per cent of female workers in the garment sector as the participation rate of female workers in the garment factories are 85 per cent while male only 15 per cent,’ Mujibul said.
The junior minister asked garment factory owners to remain vigilant and said there is an international conspiracy to destroy the sector as Bangladesh is the second largest garment exporter in the world.
Argentina Matavel Piccin, representative of the UNFPA, said that a violence and harassment free work place
can enhance productivity of the female workers in the garment factories in Bangladesh.
To ensure gender-friendly and non-discriminatory work environment in the RMG sector the BGMEA launched the programme in 40 garment factories in Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayangonj and Chittagong.
The BGMEA hoped that the project will be helpful to improve knowledge and awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equity and positive attitude of managers and factory owners towards reducing vulnerability of women workers.
She stressed on ensuring gender equity in the readymade garment sector.
Labour secretary Mikail Shipar, the BGMEA president Atiqul Islam, vice president SM Mannan Kochi and the BGMEA additional secretary Md Zaglul Hayder, among others, spoke at the programme.
-With New Age input
