In January 2021, Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 20-year-old Dalit woman, was found dead on arable land near her family home after finishing a shift at Natchi Apparel, a H&M garment factory in Kaithian Kottai, Tamil Nadu. Her boss reportedly confessed to her murder and is awaiting trial. Her family also claims that she was raped before she was killed and that she was sexually harassed and bullied at work in the months before her death, but felt powerless to prevent the abuse. The supervisor of Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 20-year-old Dalit clothing worker at Natchi Apparel, allegedly confessed to her murder. Photo: Brochure An independent inquiry into the Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC) last year, which has not yet been made public, heard testimonies from other workers about widespread gender-based violence at Natchi Apparel, and H&M and Eastman Exports then began talks with Tamil Ναντού. Textiles and the Common Labor Union (TTCU), as well as regional and international labor rights groups. The resulting legally binding agreement is only the second of its kind in the fashion industry and the first time a brand has signed an initiative to address gender-based violence in Asia’s garment industry, where a predominantly poor women workforce is in the millions. clothes for the main streets of the United Kingdom every year. Under the terms of the agreement, all workers, bosses and executives should be trained in gender-based violence and the TTCU will recruit and train female workers as “observers” to ensure that women are protected. from verbal harassment and sexual bullying. The agreement also revises Natchi’s internal grievance committees, a mechanism required by Indian law in all workplaces but which has failed for decades to protect women from male violence in Natchi factories. Women will now be able to report sexual harassment anonymously to an independent commission that will have the power to dismiss perpetrators and seek financial compensation for victims and their families. Subhash Tiwari, CEO of Eastman Exports, said: “It is our highest priority to ensure that the women in our stores are safe and to make sure that women can be seen and heard and empowered to report if something goes wrong. wrong. “We will not allow any breach of the terms of this agreement. “This is not just zero tolerance, what we want is the complete elimination of harassment and all forms of violence against our female employees.” Thivya Rakini, president of the TTCU state, said the deal was a victory for women in the workplace. “We believe that this has the power to change things and it means that something good came from the terrible tragedy of Jeyasre’s death. “This has shown the power of a Dalit woman in the workforce to seek justice and we look forward to working with the factory management.” The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) and the Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), which also co-sign the agreement, said it should be seen as a turning point for the fashion industry. Anannya Bhattacharjee, International Coordinator at AFWA, said: “We are confident that this agreement can be a model of change in the global apparel industry, where gender-based violence is endemic and is still largely ignored and largely ignored.” Jennifer Rosenbaum, of the GLJ-ILRF, said: “This enforceable agreement is a model of how to bring about real change through collaboration between brands, suppliers, trade unions and global partners.” In a statement, H&M said Jeyasre Kathiravel’s death was a tragedy and the company’s thoughts were with her family. “The H&M Group wants to do everything in its power to contribute to the systemic and positive change in the industry and therefore has signed an agreement to work with stakeholders to address, prevent and address gender inequality. violence and sexual harassment, “said one spokesman. “We expect this agreement to contribute to a broader industry-wide initiative in the future.” In 2019, US brands Levi Strauss, Wrangler Jeans and The Children’s Place signed the Lesotho Agreement, the first industrial agreement to address gender-based violence following a WRC investigation revealing systematic sexual assault on more than 120 women in three factories jeans in Lesotho.
