NARI UDDUNG KENDRA
FUTURE IMPERFECT: Eighteen-year-old Shapla, a garment worker who survived the 24 April factory collapse, recovers in a hospital in Dhaka
Last month, 18-year-old Shapla was just another among thousands of garment workers employed in a factory in Savar, a suburb of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka.
Today she is a handicapped survivor of one of the worst industrial accidents in history: the collapse on 24 April of the massive Rana Plaza, a building housing five factories, that buried scores of workers under a mountain of concrete and glass. The final death toll crossed 1,000 this week.
“I am desperate about the future,” Shapla said, echoing the sentiments of hundreds of female apparel workers like her who lost their limbs on that fateful day.
The young mother is now recovering in a hospital in Dhaka after her hand was amputated. Shapla is considered one of ‘the lucky ones’, but she is loath to see the bright side, as her handicap will almost certainly prevent her from finding work.
Women, who make up 80 per cent of the workforce in this country’s booming garment industry, have borne the brunt of this tragedy.
“They are now socially and economically heavily disadvantaged,” said Mashud Khatun Shefali, founder of Nari Uddung Kendra (Centre for Women’s Initiatives) which has lobbied for better conditions such as safe housing for workers, but is now focused on helping female survivors overcome the trauma of the accident.
Some of the workers are so traumatised they say they never want to work in factories again. They need long-term physical and mental rehabilitation and acceptance as disabled persons by their families and society.
Nazma Begum’s legs were amputated as a result of her injuries, she told a local television station this week that she worried about how she would handle her disability, until her husband assured her of his continued support and love.
Bangladesh, a country of 150 million of which 49 per cent live below the poverty line, has become a crucial player in the international apparel trade by providing a vast supply of cheap labour. Bangladesh is now the third largest exporter of readymade garments after China and Vietnam, bringing in $20 billion, 80 per cent of the country’s annual foreign exchange.
Mass-produced and bargain clothes that include labels such as Gap, Primark, HMV, Walmart, Sears, and American Apparel are all manufactured here for export. More than 5,000 factories employing over 3.5 million workers are packed into high-rise buildings in Dhaka, operating round the clock.
The workers are almost all women from rural areas, who migrate to the cities to earn enough to upkeep their families. They often live together in close quarters, sharing bathrooms and food.
Uneducated and illiterate, the women have few means by which to earn a steady income, their vulnerability makes them easy prey for manufacturers who claim that in order to remain competitive on the world market, they must hire the cheapest possible workforce.
Young women often start off as interns, not receiving a wage but work for a ‘stipend’ that can be as low as a dollar per month. Within a year, they move on to operating more sophisticated machinery and earn up to $40 a month, working a daily average of 10 hours, seven days a week. In contrast, men tend to be hired for high-level positions, such as quality control and management.
Last November, over 100 garment workers perished in a fire in the Tazreen Fashion Factory on the outskirts of Dhaka. Survivors of that tragedy claim they tried to escape, but were locked in by the factory managers.
Similarly, on 24 April employees were threatened with dismissal if they failed to come to work, despite warnings that the eight-storey building was unsafe. A week before the incident large cracks had begun to appear on the ceilings, prompting engineers to issue warnings that a collapse might be inevitable.
Sharmin Huq, a retired professor at the Dhaka University who specialises on the handicapped sector, fears that social discrimination will make life harder for women than ever before. Those who survived the tragedy will likely lose their jobs, as their injuries will prevent them from performing at the level demanded by factory owners.
Donations are pouring in and these could help female workers restart their lives with artificial limbs and counseling to deal with the tragedy.
IPS