 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
M. E. Khan, PhD1, Richard Anker, Phd2, and Ubaidur Rob, Ph D1. (1) Bangladesh Country Office, Population Council Asia & Near East Region, House CES (B) 21, Road 118, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 8802-8821227, mekhan@pcindia.org, (2) Head of Statistical Development and Analysis, and Senior Researcher, International Labour Office, 4, route des Morillons, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland
Socially and economically, Bangladesh is passing through a transitional phase. Increasing number of women is working outside their home. In Dhaka alone about a million girls/young women are working in garment industries which often demands working till late hours in night. The present paper examines how far these garment workers (GW) are safe and free from emotional and sexual harassments while working or commuting to their workplace. The paper is based both on quantitative (survey of 726 GW) and qualitative data (30 in depth interviews) collected from Dhaka. The findings indicate that most of the women face harassments, both while commuting to work place and at their job. The common harassments during commuting to work were touching or pinching of body, passing indecent remarks, proposing for sex and threatening if not oblige them or keep silent. Such harassments were almost universal while commuting in bus. At place of work also, similar harassments by the male supervisors and employers were reported, though less frequent. The cooping mechanism includes commuting in group, neglecting or being non-responsive and in some cases even obliging to their demand. Many workers reported in being constant fear.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Sexual Assault, Workplace Safety
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.