The Garment Industry in Bangladesh: A Human Rights Challenge

This article discusses the human rights challenges faced by the garment industry in Bangladesh. It covers issues such as forced labor, child labor, discrimination, insufficient payment, and weak working environments. The article also explores the impact of unethical practices on the sustainability of the industry and suggests solutions to address these challenges.

Running Head: THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 0
The Garment Industry in Bangladesh: A Human Rights Challenge
(Student Name)
3/7/2019

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 1
It is the deceptive that the international fashion industry is beneath straining. The world is
incapable to withstand the cumulative the petition for the inexpensive, fashionable style that is
generally inconsiderately cast-off afterward less than three attires (Cho, 2017). According to the
analysis, the consumer’s purchases 400 per cent more clothing in the recent scenario as
comparing they did a simple twenty eons ago. Wide-reaching customers purchase around 73
million tons of textiles a year (Pedersen, Gwozdz and Hvass, 2018). In the whole industry, the
human right plays a prominent role that is ignored by the companies at greater level. The human
rights are pertinent for each individual beneath any situations. The application of human right
does not go unexcused at some domicile or in any situation (Bunch, 2018). One of the countries
Bangladesh is known for the poverty as well as the highest population density in the world. The
density of the population of country is approximately 1101 individuals per square kilometer.
According to the report of World Bank, more than 30 % of overall population in Bangladesh is
living below poverty line till the year 2010 that can be roughly 47,7597285 people that are living
in the poverty (Ansary and Barua, 2015). Based on the previous pattern, such number has likely
to increase considering the most recent poverty headcount ratio at the national poverty line is
about seven years old. The garment industry of Bangladesh was worth about 20 billion U.S.
dollar in the year 2013 as they are considered as the second largest clothing suppliers of the
world market, following China. The economy of the Bangladesh is majorly based on the success
of the garment industry. The business garment factory have with the U.S corporations such as
Gap, Disney, Zara, Wal-Mart as well as Old Navy as they are crucial to the economic growth of
the country as well as free trade. Such large wealth corporations do not wanted to pay huge
amount that affected the overall industry at greater level (Sharif et al., 2018).
With the growth of businesses in the state Bangladesh, the privileges of the human are been
ignored at greater level. It has been deeply examined that utmost of the widespread misuses of
the human right has been done the industry of readymade garments of Bangladesh which include
forced labor, child labor, discrimination, insufficient payment, child labor, lack of appropriate
justice, weak working environment that forces the individual to live with the poverty as well as
hazards at the workplace (Jacobs et al., 2016). The serious focuses on the young women between
the age of 16-25 who make up to 80 % of the 108 million garment factory workers in
Bangladesh. The young women work from eight in the morning until ten or eleven at the night

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 2
and work seven days in a week. Overtime is compulsory for the workers as well as they are
forces to exertion up-to 20 hours when there is a situation of haste to produce an order. The
workers are not allowable to express while they are employed as also allowed for two trips to the
bathroom. They are also fired in the age of 30. The workers faced inhuman treatment, unsafe
factory conditions or unionizing the women are at risk of physical abuse, imprisonment, verbal
assault or sometimes they may lose their job. The country Bangladesh has deliberated as one of
the major tainted republics in the global level due to which the socio-economic development of
the country negatively affected (Hess, 2017). Every individual think about their own profit and
highly ignore the rights of the human. In the current years, the fast development of the
manufacturing of retail clothing within the country has caused in additional augmented demand
that is envisioned for actual multistory building. One of the cases has been occurred in
Bangladesh in which the company with the name of Rana Plaza was collapsed in the year 2013.
The harshly packed clothing workshop Rana Plaza that are located in borders of the capital
Dhaka distorted as well as exterminated approximately 1,138 textiles worker as well as injured
2000 individual. It has been estimated that more than 150 international brands was connected
with Rana Plaza and also signed accord upon the fire and Building Safety with the Bangladesh.
Such situation was occurred due to the reason of unethical practices adopted by the company the
main unethical reasons on for building the issues were firstly, the building was constructed
deprived of any appropriate notification and engraved approval from the anxious expert
(Reinecke and Donaghey, 2016). Second, the conversation took place from the use of marketable
to the industrial uses. Third, the company has constructed extra three bottoms within the
assessment of the unique document. Fourth, the company has used inferior substantial for
building the structure that in realism was the massive motive for breakdown as well as also tip
near the problem on the construction of building that were motivated by the vibrations of the
generators as well as numerous other weighty and stirring equipment with different tools. It
represent that the company has adopted unethical manner to continue their business due to which
the labors of the company suffered from such situation as the authorities of Bangladesh was
failed to meet the obligations towards protecting the interest and human rights of the employees
(Barua and Ansary, 2017).
The social factors influencing the human rights as well as worldwide sustainability that are
frequently intensely entrenched as well as can take even year and decades of correct. In the

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 3
situation when government cannot or will not provide the services to their public then it poses a
risk to the citizen as well as their rights. Such environment is far likelier to experience the
hurdles such as conflicts as well as instability that are less probable to defend and impose the
privileges of the people. At the time when the privileges of the citizen are not pragmatic, it
creates lack of participation among the society and feed to the unjust cycle. The business in
Bangladesh decided to expand their business globally by compromising with the rights of human
such as forcing adolescent worker or utilizing factories with unsafe employed circumstances that
do not pay the labors a civilized wages, such commercial are the major accountable for the
defilement of human rights. Therefore, it affects the sustainability level of the state at greater
level (Siddiqui and Uddin, 2016).
The ethical sourcing is one of the process in which the individual are ensure that their products
are being sourced are obtained in a sustainable as well as responsible manner that the worker
involved in making them are safe as well as treated them fairly as well as that environmental
with social impact are taken into the consideration during the process of sourcing. In the recent it
has been analyzed that the consumers evade erudition in what way or where a products was
obtained. Moreover, another current learning by Journal of Consumer Psychology represent that
more than 85% of the people did to selected to absorb about the moral obtaining efforts behind
the different brands of jeans. Such carelessness among the consumers provoke the companies to
snatched the rights of their employees as no one care about their volition that forces the human
violation to be adopted by the companies (Backer, 2016).
In the recent, the Darfur conflicts is one of the major human rights violation due to the reason the
government of Sudanese is abolishing the communities of African Muslims for the reason that
amongst them some of them have dared strict rules of Khartoum, as a outcome more than 4 lakhs
citizens have been exterminated as well as approximately 2.5 million individuals are expatriate
from their home. The additional violation include discrimination, the Rwandan genocide as well
as the cultural purgative in Kosovo in the year 1990s are one of the famous example of some of
the violations of human rights that have been transpired in the past. It is projected that in such
violation at least 60 million of individuals have croaked in wars as well as misuses of human
rights since the year 1945. Such countries fail to take the action that will represent as an increase
in the ratio of death due to human right violation. Such cases represent that not only people of

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 4
Bangladesh suffer from human violation but other countries also cover in such situation that
made the condition of the individual’s worst (Bustamante, 2017).
The apparel industry slowly react on that situation, some of the companies took initiatives
towards such violation such a Wal-Mart had blocked an efforts to have the retailers pay more for
apparel from Bangladesh factories in order to aid them in enhancing the electrical as well as fire
safety in the plants. In the year 2012, the company H&M asked the other suppliers to join their
efforts to set up democratic committees that could help in negotiating towards the better wages
as and the working conditions of the garment workers in Bangladesh. The company has visited
more than 1000 unannounced factory in Bangladesh in order to check that such factories meeting
with their codes of conduct or not. Disney also took initiatives in such process as the factory
workers that supplied the garments of Disney appealed to Disney asking for the raise of their
pays. The company has also announced that they will no more continuing their business with
Bangladesh.
The globalization provide a platform for the companies to expand their business in global market
that increase their process of production however, in the competitive market, the companies are
forced to sell their products at minimal prices to target their consumers they need to control over
their cost. Thus, Bangladesh are provided huge market in the international market but they need
to sell their products at reasonable prices that forces the factories to adopt unethical mean of
production due to which the human rights violated by them (Islam, 2015).
The government can created law for including the training programs for the selected trade
leaders that would help them in making as a better trade union representatives. The safety policy
formulation should be developed by the government to build safety measures and the inspection
should be done by the inspector time to time to avoid any incident like Rana Plaza. to prevent
any more incidents like Rana Plaza, the BSR took initiatives in remodeling the supply chain
management practices that establish the rights of the human commission group that build a
project as well as can establish a center for the sustainable procurement.
From the above analyses it can be concluded that human rights play a vital role in growth and
development of the individual as well as countries. Bangladesh is one of the states that violated
the rights of the human at greater level. The women are being sexually harassed and abused as

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 5
well as the men also treated like a slave than made their standard of living low. Most of the
companies has taken the initiates but still the outcome was not positive therefore, it is highly
required to take some attract action towards the human right violation to protect the interest of
individuals. The companies should adopt fair trade practices that would help in creating
sustainable supply chain in the state. Moreover, other companies can also contribute in such
activities by making bonds with those factories those who does not follow security for their
employees that will bound them to follow rules and regulation.

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 6
References
Ansary, M.A. and Barua, U. (2015) Workplace safety compliance of RMG industry in
Bangladesh: Structural assessment of RMG factory buildings. International Journal of Disaster
Risk Reduction, 14, pp.424-437.
Backer, L.C. (2016) Are supply chains transnational legal orders: What we can learn from the
Rana Plaza factory building collapse. UC Irvine J. Int'l Transnat'l & Comp. L., 1, p.11.
Barua, U. and Ansary, M.A. (2017) Workplace safety in Bangladesh ready-made garment
sector: 3 years after the Rana Plaza collapse. International Journal of Occupational Safety and
Ergonomics, 23(4), pp.578-583.
Bunch, C. (2018) Transforming human rights from a feminist perspective. In Women's rights,
human rights. London: Routledge.
Bustamante, J.A. (2017) Extreme vulnerability of migrants: The cases of the United States and
Mexico. Migraciones Internacionales, 6(20), pp.97-118.
Cho, H.K. (2017) A critical perspective on strengthening legal protection of fashion
designs. Northeast Asian Law Review, 11, pp.95-113.
Hess, D. (2017) Business, Corruption, and Human Rights: Towards a New Responsibility for
Corporations to Combat Corruption. Wis. L. Rev., p.641.
Islam, M. (2015) A Human Right to Water: Challenges and Opportunities for Ensuring This
Right in Bangladesh. Australian Journal of Asian Law, 15(2).
Jacobs, B., Simpson, L.H., Nelson, S.O. and Karpova, E.E. (2016) Matching Sourcing
Destination with Fashion Brands’ Business Model: Comparative Advantages of Bangladesh and
Vietnam Apparel Industries. Fashion, Industry and Education, 14(2), p.11.
Pedersen, E.R.G., Gwozdz, W. and Hvass, K.K. (2018) Exploring the relationship between
business model innovation, corporate sustainability, and organisational values within the fashion
industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 149(2), pp.267-284.

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH 7
Reinecke, J. and Donaghey, J. (2015) After Rana Plaza: Building coalitional power for labour
rights between unions and (consumption-based) social movement
organisations. Organization, 22(5), pp.720-740.
Sharif, A.M., Hasan, M., Hossain, D., Mia, S. and Rahman, M.R. (2018) Current Status of
Industrial Relations in Fashion Houses of Bangladesh: A Study on Dorjibari. International
Journal of Entrepreneurship and Development Studies, 5(3), pp.225-238.
Siddiqui, J. and Uddin, S (2016) Human rights disasters, corporate accountability and the state:
Lessons learned from Rana Plaza. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 29(4),
pp.679-704.