H&M pledges to end shopfloor sexual violence in India after worker killed
Source: The Guardian
H&M pledges to end shopfloor sexual violence in India after worker killed
Landmark agreement to protect garment workers from violence follows last year’s murder of Jeyasre Kathiravel, a Dalit woman
Annie Kelly
Fri 1 Apr 2022 07.45 BST
H&M has signed a legally binding agreement to end sexual violence and harassment against women workers at one of its largest Indian suppliers, following the murder of a young garment worker by her supervisor last year.
In January 2021, Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 20-year-old Dalit woman, was found dead on farmland near her family home after finishing a shift at Natchi Apparel, a factory making clothes for H&M in Kaithian Kottai, Tamil Nadu.
Her supervisor reportedly confessed to her murder and is awaiting trial. Her family also allege that she was raped before she was killed, and had suffered sexual harassment and intimidation at work in the months before her death, but felt powerless to prevent the abuse.
An independent investigation last year by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), which has not yet been made public, heard testimony from other female workers of widespread gender-based violence at Natchi Apparel, and H&M and Eastman Exports then began talks with the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU), as well as regional and international labour rights groups.
The legally binding agreement that resulted is only the second of its kind in the fashion industry, ...
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/apr/01/hm-pledges-to-end-shopfloor-sexual-violence-in-india-after-worker-killed-jeyasre-kathiravel