Levi’s, Wrangler vow to end rape culture in factories
A labor rights group has uncovered widespread sexual abuse against female garment workers by managerial staff in Levi’s, Wrangler, and The Children’s Place factories in Lesotho.
The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) reported on the violations after discovering that factory managers coerced women to have sex with them, threatening that the workers would lose their jobs if they objected.
The women also experienced other forms of sexual harassment and gender-based violence on a regular basis.
The abuse took place across three factories making jeans for the US brands, owned by Taiwan-based international jeans manufacturer, Nien Hsing Textile.
“All of the women in my department have slept with the supervisor. For the women, this is about survival and nothing else,” WRC quoted one female worker as saying. “If you say no, you won’t get the job, or your contract will not be renewed.”
Lesotho is a mountainous landlocked country encircled entirely by South Africa whose formal economy is significantly based on the garment industry
Local economy based on exporting jeans
The report detailed abuses at factories in Lesotho, a mountainous landlocked country entirely enclosed by South Africa. While most of the female garment workers there are Lesothan, some managers at the factories also come from abroad. The witnesses said both local and foreign managers committed sexual abuse.
The Global Fund for Women reports that 80% of garment makers around the globe are women.
In Lesotho, garment manufacturing, with a focus on denim for export, has been the largest formal sector employer in the last thirty years.
WRC began to investigate the factories after several sources informed the body that the workers who sew, wash, sand, and add rivets to the blue jeans and other clothing were being abused by factory staff.
Read more: The hidden cost of fast fashion
Bosses, co-workers both among abusers
In dozens of interviews, the women described to the rights group the epidemic of abuse and harassment, from inappropriate touching, sexual demands, offensive sexual comments, to taking them home for sex.
The workers said that if they objected to the harassment, they faced discrimination and further abuse. According to the rights group, the factory managers also fought against union organizing.
Female workers also told investigators that in addition to the abuse from supervisors, their male colleagues were molesting them as well.
“Male workers like touching females in a way that is not appropriate,” one woman said.
Read more: Tchibo calls on government to regulate garment industry
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The cost of cheap clothes
From rags to riches
The idea of farming seems today more abstract than ever before. Jost Franko’s latest photo essay brings this distant world back to our reality, in which the ridiculous price of garments is paid by workers living in dire conditions. Pictured here is a relative of Issa Gira (67) from Burkina Faso, who’s been growing cotton for 30 years, but still earns less than a dollar a day.
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The cost of cheap clothes
Weight control
After the crop is harvested, farmers just like these two in Burkina Faso have to bring the cotton to the collection centers in nearby villages. Just before the market day, farmers help each other press the cotton into a huge, hard mass so they’re able to weigh their loads. “No one really cares about farming, the first part of the supply chain,” says Franko.
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The cost of cheap clothes
The golden lining
Cotton farming gives work to more than four million people in Burkina Faso, and it is its second-most-valuable resource after gold. Sofitex is one of the three companies in the country that buys cotton from farmers and provides loans to cultivators, and it exports around 540,000 tons of cotton annually. Local farmers are seen here loading cotton into one of the many Sofitex containers.
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The cost of cheap clothes
Work-life imbalance
“Due to western cotton subsidies, which are creating a dumping effect, poor countries are in a huge loss,” says Franko. In his opinion, the production of cotton and garments in third-world countries is just another form of colonialism. “Small workshops sometimes take subcontracted work for larger companies. The rent is expensive for most workers, so they sleep in the factories,” he adds.
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The cost of cheap clothes
A princess’ dress or a cushion?
In this photo, garment workers cut the textile in a factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the heart of the global cheap clothing industry. They earn 2.20 euros ($2.36) a day on average. Companies like HM, Walt Disney or Lidl have their garments and home textile lines produced in the Dhaka region, which made the headlines in 2013 when the Rana Plaza sweatshop building collapsed, killing 1,129 workers.
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The cost of cheap clothes
The other side of the EU
“It’s hard to talk about fair conditions even when it comes to expensive, high-fashion labels,” Franko claims, describing this photo of Romanian garment workers. “The state of the garment factories in Romania is much better compared to most Asian and African countries, but wages are still extremely low, not exceeding 200 euros a month, which is worse than in China. And this is the EU!”
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The cost of cheap clothes
Last season’s styles
Although the fashion industry has been stagnating trend-wise recently, which has made more styles trans-seasonal, more than 80 billion pieces of clothing are purchased every year worldwide. But the low quality and purchase cost make the clothes disposable. In the US alone, more than 15 million tons of used textile waste is generated annually.
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The cost of cheap clothes
Get the London look
“The history of cotton is indeed a dark one, and in my eyes, the issues surrounding the cotton trade have never ended,” states Franko. Although much has been written and spoken about the invisible and destructive line of the clothing industry, customers seem to be immune: “I guess it’s easier to turn a blind eye to it. Those issues are structural, and don’t have to do only with garments.”
Manufacturers: We want women to feel ’empowered’
The world-famous clothing brands have responded to the revelations.
Levi Strauss Co, Kondoor Brands, which owns Wrangler and Lee jeans, and The Children’s Place, signed agreements to end sexual harassment in five factories in Lesotho.
The brands agreed to introduce supervision and enforcement for more than 10,000 workers in those factories.
Michael Kobori, vice president of sustainability at Levi Strauss Co, said that after being notified of the WRC report, his company immediately informed Nien Hsing Textile “that this would not be tolerated” and that the company will “develop a corrective action plan.”
The manufacturers released a joint statement saying they want all workers, particularly women, to feel “safe, valued and empowered.”
Under a binding agreement signed by Nien Hsing Textile, five trade unions and two women’s groups as well as an independent committee to deal with complaints will identify future violations and enforce remedies in accordance with Lesothan law.
Nien Hsing Textile will also provide independently-appointed civil society members access to its factories in order to interview workers and ensure managers don’t retaliate against workers bringing complaints.
The companies are also funding a two-year program in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development to establish an independent investigative group where garment workers can express concerns.
Read more: Stern Center report urges minimum wages for Ethiopia’s garment workers
Deal should act as a model for apparel industry
WRC’s Senior Program Director, Rola Abimourched, said that the Lesotho agreements should serve as a model for the garment industry.
“Hopefully this is something others will see and build on, so we can collectively make an impact far beyond any single country,” she said.
The companies also have manufacturing facilities in Mexico, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
mvb/kl (AP, Reuters)
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Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/levi-s-wrangler-vow-to-end-rape-culture-in-factories/a-50045651?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf