'Sexual and reproductive health of garment workers must be ensured'

Two-thirds of Bangladesh's 4 million garment workers are women, earning 3 billion US dollars in foreign exchange annually. But they do not have enough knowledge about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Therefore, with the aim of giving special importance to the sexual and reproductive health of garment workers, the latest knowledge must be compiled, disseminated and practised. Speakers reched this conclusion at a seminar, 'A Comprehensive Approach to SRHR', organized by RedOrange Communications at a hotel in the capital Tuesday, 29 November, said a press release.

Saiful Hasan Badal, secretary of medical education and family welfare department, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, spoke as the chief guest at the event. The seminar was presided over by the director general (Grade-1) of the Directorate General of Family Planning, Shahan Ara Banu.

“The STITCH project has done a great job based on evidence-based research to address sexual and reproductive health rights for garment workers in an innovative way," said Saiful Hasan Badal, adding, "It is our solemn responsibility to ensure the safety and rights of garment workers, especially their sexual and reproductive health rights. We need to provide a caring and humane environment that ultimately leads to greater productivity for them. I request all concerned government, semi-government, non-governmental and international organizations to continue to support such inclusive and holistic initiatives.”

Shahan Ara Banu thanked the organisers for such a meaningful event for the women garment workers and said that, “We all need to come forward with commitment so that our women in garments can be aware of their sexual and reproductive health and rights. And that they speak out against all forms of sexual harassment.” 

Arnob Chakrabarty, the moderator of the seminar and managing director of RedOrange Communications, said in his speech, “The garment workers are contributing to our economy and yet they are invisible. We usually don’t hear their voice in our mainstream media. The women workers in our garment industry are not aware of their reproductive health and rights. So we provided training on SRHR at 387 garment factories under the STITCH project. We have also created specialised training modules for them, which they can easily access from STITCH 's digital learning platform.

Also speaking at the seminar were Ellen W. Bal, Vrije University Amsterdam's STITCH project director; Laila Karim of Ayat Skill Development Center (Focal Person-STITCH); president of Indigenous Peoples Development Service (IPDS) Sanjeeb Drong; Vrije University Amsterdam’s STITCH (Stitch) Project Manager, Esther Den Hartog and many others.

The STITCH project involves the Directorate General of Family Planning, RedOrange Communications, Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Ayat Skill Development Center and IPDS working together under the overall supervision of Vrije University Amsterdam and developed a comprehensive curriculum. A training toolkit has also been developed for women workers in the garment industry. Also, two modules of DGFP, one module of ASDC and one module of IPDS, were inaugurated at the seminar.