# data[].attributes.body
Women are struggling around the world. In this protest, women raised their voice for their rights in North America. They have the demand to raise their wages. Many women have financial problems as a single mother because they are not getting enough money for their job as compared to men.

I chose this picture to shoe, even in North America women are suffering for their rights.

# data[].attributes.body
This ted talk video is by speaker Leslie T. Chang, where she talks about Chinese women’s struggle for a better life. she spent two years in the south China factory city Dongguan to observe the workers’ life and the struggles they are going through. Women are working in the factories away from their families to earn money, so they can afford a good living, but the truth is they are earning very less. The products they make cost a lot in western countries. The only thing these workers want is education, but these multinational companies want this labor to be illiterate so they can treat them unfairly.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Leslie T. Chang: The voices of China's workers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the ongoing debate about globalization, what's been missing is the voices of workers -- the millions of people who migrate to factories in China and other emerging countries to make goods sold all over the world. Reporter Leslie T. Chang sought out women who work in one of China's booming megacities, and tells their stories.

# data[].attributes.headline
Occupational Hazard for women in Garment industry

# data[].attributes.subject
Occupational Hazard for women in Garment industry

# data[].attributes.body
This article gives us an overview of women’s rights and the exploitations in Bangladesh. These women have no choice but to work day and night. By working day and night 60% of the workers get separated from their families and aren’t given enough time to spend with them. Moms that have little children, especially ones that need breastfeeding can’t have their moms to feed them. All women deserve the right to be with their children. Not only that, but according to law workplaces with over 30 workers are to have a medical team on staff. However, in workplaces with over 720 workers, they weren’t given medical staff, especially during the night shifts. Due to this, there was no one who could help them when an accident happened. This is against the law and people do not care to recognize it. While another person's life is in danger they have no means to help them.

# data[].attributes.body
This video reveals the truth behind the fashion industry, to fulfill the desires of their customers at a cheaper price in western countries, they are creating a miserable environment for industrial workers in undeveloped countries. The example of this is Bangladesh garment factory collapsed where more than 1000 workers killed because of the poor condition of the building, a collapse in the Cambodian garment factory. People are unwillingly living in poor conditions and drinking dirty and contaminated water around those factories which are causing cancer, and other diseases. People are so obsessed with materialistic things that they do not care to see where our clothes are coming from, what people are risking their lives for our clothes.

# data[].attributes.headline
Cambodia: Garment Workers Fired for Being Pregnant

# data[].attributes.subject
Cambodia: Garment Workers Fired for Being Pregnant

# data[].attributes.body
This video depicts the inner picture of garment factories where if a women get pregnant, it means she will lose her job. These factories issue short term contracts for workers unlawfully, to avoid the maternity leave and other benefits. Apparel brands have no interest in these workers rights because their basic concern is profit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cambodia: Garment Workers Fired for Being Pregnant

# data[].attributes.body
Sexual Harassment in the Garment Industry

Women are forced to provide unwanted sex to factory supervisors and managers. In case of denying, to their sexual desires, they will face retaliation. Managers will cause trouble for them and make them work longer. Female workers are going through this exploitation around the world like in Cambodia, even though sexual harassment is forbidden under the law, but workers still experience sexual harassment on a daily bases. It is a common practice in the factory environment, to touch inappropriately.

# data[].attributes.body
This picture is from Dhaka Bangladesh, where women are protecting on International Workers’ Day or Labour Day for their rights. Their demand is eight-hour working day because women are forced to work more. The international labor organization points out that woman is continued to work longer hours than men. Exploitations are not only limited to garment factories, but it’s in every field like agriculture, mining, and tourism industry. Women work from early morning to late night with a little break or no break and in some cases they not even get pay for over time.

# data[].attributes.headline
Occupational Hazard in Garment factories

# data[].attributes.subject
Occupational Hazard in Garment factories

# data[].attributes.body
Did we ever care to think about who was paying the price for our clothing? A few dollars for our pocket or the real price is paid by those female workers who come across physically and sexually abuse at the workplace. In the United States, more than 15 million tons of used textiles go to waste every year which is increasing gradually. Why just to meet the fashion standers, this is the Millennial fashion dilemma, your closet is pouring out, but you have nothing to wear.

Pressure to meet the fashion deadlines, Asian women workers are suffering gender-based violence in Gap and H&M’s garment supply chains. Most of the cases go unreported because of the fear of retaliation at the workplace. In one dispute in a Bangalore factory, a female tailor told to the researchers that she was grabbed by the hair and punched, then told, “You whore, your caste people should be kept where the slippers are kept.”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Pressure to meet fast fashion deadlines is leading to women working in Asian factories supplying Gap and H&M being sexually and physically abused, according to unions and rights groups.

More than 540 workers at factories that supply the two retailers have described incidents of threats and abuse, according to two separate reports published last week by Global Labour Justice on gender-based violence in Gap and H&M's garment supply chains.

The reports claim that these allegations, recorded between January and May this year in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, are a direct result of pressure for quick turnarounds and low overheads.

Publication of the reports comes as negotiations are being held this week at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to tackle workplace harassment.

Tola Moeun, director of Central Cambodia, an NGO involved in the research, said abuse was a daily reality for female garment workers driven to meet unrealistic targets in H&M and Gap's supply chains. "Most of these cases are not reported due to fear of retaliation in the workplace."

Gap and H&M both told the Guardian they would investigate the allegations and that they welcomed initiatives to tackle violence, including an ILO convention.

Jennifer Rosenbaum, US director of Global Labour Justice, said: "We must understand gender-based violence as an outcome of the global supply chain structure. H&M and Gap's fast fashion supply chain model creates unreasonable production targets and underbid contracts, resulting in women working unpaid overtime and working very fast under extreme pressure.

"Unions and many governments agree an ILO convention on gender-based violence is essential, although there is still opposition from some employers."

Global Dispatch: stories and hard-hitting features from Africa, Asia, South and Central America and beyond

H&M lists 235 Indian garment factories among its suppliers, the report says. In one dispute last month in a Bangalore factory over wages and working conditions, a female tailor said to researchers that she was grabbed by the hair and punched, then told: "You whore, your caste people should be kept where the slippers are kept."

One worker in another H&M supplier factory told researchers she was beaten as punishment for not meeting production quotas.

"[My] batch supervisor came up behind me as I was working on the sewing machine, yelling, 'You are not meeting your target production.' He pulled me out of the chair and I fell on the floor. He hit me, including on my breasts. He pulled me up and then pushed me to the floor again [and] kicked me."

At an H&M supplier factory in Sri Lanka, one woman complained: "When girls scold machine operators for touching them or grabbing them, they take revenge. Sometimes they give them machines that don't function properly. Then they don't come and repair it for a long time. After that, supervisors scold us for not meeting the target."

In a factory supplying Gap in Indonesia, a woman talked about daily being called stupid, mocked for not working faster and threatened with contract termination.

"They also throw materials. They kick our chairs. They don't touch us, so they don't leave a mark that could be used as evidence with the police," she said.

Debbie Coulter, of the Ethical Trading Initiative, of which both Gap and H&M are members, said: "These allegations are deeply concerning. Gender-based violence is unacceptable under any circumstances, and brands need to make sure that women working in their supply chain are protected.

"We expect H&M and Gap to investigate these allegations, and to work with supplier factories so that any women affected have swift access to remedy.

"ETI will be in regular contact with these members and will offer support where appropriate to ensure a swift resolution for all workers affected."

In an email, H&M told the Guardian: "All forms of abuse or harassment are against everything that H&M group stands for. Violence against women is one of the most prevalent human rights violations. Gender-based violence makes women all around the world suffer daily and undermines their health, dignity and security. This is why we welcome any initiative strengthening the human rights of women at work, such as the international convention against gender-based violence in the workplace being discussed within the ILO.

"We will go through every section of the report and follow-up on factory level with our local teams based in each production country."

Gap said it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations and was now conducting due diligence to investigate and address these issues.

"We are committed to making sure that the people who make our clothes work in safe conditions and are treated with respect. We've consolidated our supplier base to focus on partners that share our values and goals, and an increasing number of factories we source from are audited by ILO's Better Work programme.

"Our Code of Vendor Conduct, which closely aligns with our environmental and human rights policies, prohibits any form of discrimination. We conduct assessments of our branded apparel suppliers on a regular basis to ensure compliance, and when we encounter any discriminatory or retaliatory practices in our supply chain, we require that our suppliers promptly remediate the situation.

"Gap Inc agrees that gender-based workplace violence is a significant issue and an appropriate subject for ILO action."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Abuse is daily reality for female garment workers for Gap and H&M, says report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Pressure to meet fast fashion deadlines is leading to women working in Asian factories supplying Gap and H&M being sexually and physically abused, according to unions and rights groups. More than 540 workers at factories that supply the two retailers have described incidents of threats and abuse, according to two separate reports published last week by Global Labour Justice on gender-based violence in Gap and H&M's garment supply chains.

# data[].attributes.body
This article demonstrates the women condition in a textile industry in Afghanistan, the Safi fur and wool industry, In Heart city, 300 female workers are working and they are earning 300 Afghanis (US6$) for 48 hours, the six-day week. Workers inhale dust from dirty fur which can cause lungs and chest diseases. The factory did not provide health insurance and workers could not afford to go see a physician or buy medication. This is also dangerous for babies because of a mother while breastfeeding can transfer harmful microbes to their children if they don’t wash hands. According to this article, seven women worker have died because of chest infection and respiratory disease in the past 12 months.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is trying to provide appropriate measures for women workers but there are many hurdles which include lack of awareness of women rights, poor law enforcement, traditional values (typical notion), as women are considered less powerful are the hurdles in the way of women’s basic rights. Women are thriving for rights like low wages as compared to men, medical benefits, and maternity leave. Even some employees know that they are exposed to hazardous material but lack of employment opportunities they have no other choice.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Safi fur and wool factory, in Herat city, western Afghanistan, has more than 350 female and 300 male workers who earn only 300 Afghanis (US$6) for their 48-hour, six-day week. The factory produces coats, jackets, hats and other garments for the European and North American markets. There are more than 1,500 women working in four such factories in Herat city.

The air in the Safi processing plant is full of dust from dirty furs, which workers tear to pieces with their bare hands.

Jamila (not hear real name) has worked in the factory for more than a year and recently experienced an unrelenting pain in her chest. "First, I was coughing and now I feel a terrible pain in my chest," the 32-year-old said.

"Doctors and medicine are expensive," she said. The modes amount she earns helps to supplement the family income to help feed her four children.

Less than 2m away from where Jamila is working, her baby has fallen asleep on a thin piece of straw. Jamila brings her youngest son to the factory every day, because there is nobody to look after him at home.

Health risks

Workers have to separate fur from goats' hair and weave sheep's wool without protective gloves or masks.

Ahmad Zia Rahmani, a lung and chest diseases specialist at the Herat city hospital, says workers in fur and wool factories are vulnerable to virulent microbes, which harm the respiratory system and cause chest infections.

"Sheep's wool and goats' hair usually contain harmful bacteria which can easily be transferred to a human via close contact and inhalation," Rahmani said.

Mothers who regularly breastfeed their babies and consume food at the factory can also transfer dangerous microbes to their children if they do not wash their hands with antibacterial soap, Rahmani added.

Formal investigation

Afghanistan's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) said it would send a delegation to Herat to assess and report on the situation of female workers in factories there, after IRIN approached the ministry for a comment.

"We will make sure appropriate measures are adopted to improve the situation of workers," said Ghulam Gaus Bashiri, a deputy minister in the department.

According to Bashiri, a revised draft labour law has been submitted to the National Assembly for approval, which has "many benefits for female workers", including maternity leave, equal wages for men and women and a light working regime for women during pregnancy.

No medical insurance

According to Afghanistan's labour law, public and private employers should provide medical insurance to employees who work in hazardous environments.

However, there are too many hurdles - including poor law enforcement institutions, lack of awareness about women's rights and conservative traditions - which constrict the law on paper with weak or no practical power.

Almost all workers in factories in Herat province have no written contract with their employers, particularly in the private sector. Workers and employers have only verbal agreements, which do not cover medical and hazard insurance.

In the past 12 months, seven women workers of the wool and fur factories in Herat have died due to respiratory diseases and chest infections, workers and Mohammad Ibrahim Ghafori, an official at the Safi factory, said.

Workers' health problems have been compounded by their inability to afford medical checks and treatment.

There is no legal imperative for employers to offer assistance to their workers in need of medical treatment.

"We are not in a position to offer medical insurance or any financial assistance for health problems. We tell this to our workers before they start a job with us," said Mohammad Ibrahim Ghafori, an official for the Safi wool and fur factory.

Some workers, meanwhile, acknowledged that they are exposed to health hazards in the factory but said lack of employment opportunities and economic needs force them to accept the risk.

kn/ad/at/mw

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Women workers exposed to health risks in Herat factories

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Safi fur and wool factory, in Herat city, western Afghanistan, has more than 350 female and 300 male workers who earn only 300 Afghanis (US$6) for their 48-hour, six-day week. The factory produces coats, jackets, hats and other garments for the European and North American markets.