abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Report

14 Feb 2019

Author:
Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch: Audits insufficient to address rife sexual harassment in garment industry; Urges brands to take action

"Combating Sexual Harassment in the Garment Industry", 12 February 2019

...sexual harassment is... a pervasive and serious problem in garment factories... 59 countries do not have any specific legal remedies for sexual harassment at work....

...many brands rely heavily on social audits to monitor conditions in the factories...These, however, are not equipped to capture and address sexual harassment or other forms of gender-based violence at work... Social audits are not designed to provide a safe environment to victims who experience sexual harassment....a majority of the audits reviewed by Human Rights Watch... barely included any discussion of the issue...

Recommendations to Global Apparel and Footwear Companies

  • Publicly support the drive towards a binding ILO convention to tackle violence and harassment at work.
  • Publish the company’s global factory lists in accordance with the Transparency Pledge.
  • Design brand-level grievance redress mechanisms with the participation of workers, unions, and labor advocates, ensuring that these mechanisms are also equipped to tackle sexual harassment at work.
  • Carry out periodic studies to examine gender-based violence and harassment at work in every production country...
  • Take steps to examine and redress brands’ purchasing practices to prevent and mitigate risks of abusive practices in the supply chain. In particular, examine all practices that reduce a factory’s time available for bulk production...

Privacy information

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies. You can set your privacy choices below. Changes will take effect immediately.

For more information on our use of web storage, please refer to our Data Usage and Cookies Policy

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

Analytics cookie

ON
OFF

When you access our website we use Google Analytics to collect information on your visit. Accepting this cookie will allow us to understand more details about your journey, and improve how we surface information. All analytics information is anonymous and we do not use it to identify you. Google provides a Google Analytics opt-out add on for all popular browsers.

Promotional cookies

ON
OFF

We share news and updates on business and human rights through third party platforms, including social media and search engines. These cookies help us to understand the performance of these promotions.

Your privacy choices for this site

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies to enhance your experience beyond necessary core functionality.