Vulnerability in Female Garment Workers’ Lives: A Qualitative Study from Readymade Garment Industry in Bangladesh

Sadika Sharmin¹ and Wan Abdul Manan^2,

¹Department of Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University

²School of Health Science, University Sains Malaysia

Cite this paper

Sadika Sharmin and Wan Abdul Manan. Vulnerability in Female Garment Workers’ Lives: A Qualitative Study from Readymade Garment Industry in Bangladesh. Journal of Food Security. 2022; 10(2):61-69. doi: 10.12691/JFS-10-2-3

Abstract

Background: The ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh has made employment opportunities of so many vulnerable women to have their own income and take responsibility of their families. But to manage the workloads, they have to pay a lot. This study tries to find out the female workers’ living circumstances, food intake security, healthiness well-being and workplace security. Method: A qualitative study employed six focus group discussions (FGD) (n=60) with female garment factory workers from six factories in Gazipur city. Data collection was performed from September, 2014 to December, 2014. Purposive sampling was carried out to select the individuals. Interview transcripts were coded in MAXQDA, 2020. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis approach. Result: This study has found that for long working hours and too work pressure, the female workers are suffering from health problems like back pain, headache, finger injury, eye problem, chest pain and dehydration. The female workers are harassed by production managers and other male officials inside the factory. Sometimes they have not received exact salary comparing with their working hours. Their insufficient income force them to live from hand to mouth without intake of nutrient-enrich foods. They have not received enough mental support to carry on this work. They are also victim of home violence. Most participants want to have increased salary with better work facilities. Conclusion: Garment workers’ salary should be increased to attain the basic needs in their lives. The factory authority should take initiatives to maintain workers’ health which ultimately results in more production. Working environment should be suitable for female workers without any harassment. To maintain the working hours and working conditions, labor rules should be followed in strict.

Keywords

vulnerability, female, garment, worker, ready-made, garment, Bangladesh

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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