Female workers will not be benefited if there are no equal measures in reproductive health protection inside and outside the factory. They will be empowered to protect their reproductive health if they are given due respect and opportunities including appointment to higher positions in the management structure.
At a garment factory in the country, a female worker was diagnosed with an illness. If not treated in time, it can lead to complications, said the doctor. When the factory authorities wanted to talk to the worker's family about his illness, she begged them not to say anything. Asked why, she said if her family found out she was ill, her husband and in-laws would start abusing her. The husband will even go for a divorce.
On the one hand, due to low-income female workers are not being able to take care of their health and on the other hand, many female workers in the garment factory keep their illness hidden out for fear of not getting support from their families. As a result, they are deprived of protection from various diseases including reproductive health and maternal health.
Speakers who participated in the virtual discussion on 3 December 2020 organised by SNV-Prothom Alo emphasised on raising awareness on the health protection of female workers inside and outside the factory. To this end, the speakers recommended taking long-term measures for health insurance and health cards.
With the funding support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Working with Women Project-II of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in Bangladesh and Prothom Alo have organised a 6-episode ‘Media Café: Reproductive Health Services in the RMG Sector. Earlier, the fourth episode took place on 25 November 2020, the third episode was held on 11 November 2020, the second episode was held on 21 October 2020, and the first episode was held on 8 October 2020.
The woman mentioned referred to is an employee of the garment factory Auko-Tex Group. Highlighting the incident at the meeting, Abdus Sobhan, managing director of the company, said that there is a good quality clinic inside his factory to provide health check-ups and medical services. There are doctors. Together, they were able to make the husband and mother-in-law aware of the treatment of the female worker. According to him, there is no alternative but to raise awareness on the health protection of women workers in the factories, families, and government and non-government organisations at every level.
Deputy Inspector General (Health) of the Department of Factory and Establishment Inspection Matiur Rahman told that woman workers would not benefit if there was no equal measure in reproductive health protection inside and outside the factory. A guideline can be given from the factory about what services can be provided locally to female workers who leave the village during childbirth. Factory authorities may also provide maternity leave to workers who have given birth by caesarean section, if necessary.
Matiur Rahman said that for the workers to be able to take insurance facility from a proper insurer and save their hard-earned money in a trustworthy entity, we have to take joint initiative. He proposed that instead of running multiple development projects in a single factory by development organisations or NGOs, we need to think about how can we include more factories for their workers' health facilities. He added that although there are 35 types of posts in the factories, female work only works in 12 to 15 posts. Of these, 60 per cent are female operators. Female workers will be empowered to protect their reproductive health if they are given due respect and opportunities including appointment to higher-level posts.
Khwaja Badruddoza Modern Hospital provides medical services to garment factory workers. The hospital's managing director and public health expert Md Bakhtiyar said most of the female staff came for antenatal care. Besides, women who work long hours tend to have painful menstrual periods, pregnancy complications, miscarriages, severe abdominal pain, infertility, frequent urination, and skin problems. He said many workers from health-conscious factories are not so conscious outside the factory. Many workers refuse to wear a mask when they come to the hospital. Moreover, with more than one family member they increase the hospital crowd more often.
Md. Bakhtiyar said workers need to be vigilant so that the money allocated for treatment from the factory is spent properly. If the health care of the workers is brought under insurance, the money for treatment will not be wasted elsewhere.
Sirajul Islam Rony, president of the Bangladesh National Garment Workers' League, said the government, employers, buyers and workers should contribute a portion of their income to make healthcare sustainable through health insurance or health cards. It has the consent of the workers. The workers want to pay a part of the salary to protect their health and their family members. He said the workers would not be seriously ill if measures were taken in advance. Now there is a crowd of workers in the designated clinics on holidays. Many factories do not have proper measures to protect the health of the workers. There are also cases of suing for maternity allowance. He said long-term measures should be taken to improve the quality of life of workers outside the workplace, to ensure food-nutrition & proper reproductive health. He recommended the introduction of industrial zone-based healthcare with priority to garment factories.
Abdus Sobhan, said, "Everyone should work consciously to protect the reproductive health of women workers out of a sense of humanity."