Human Rights Violations in the Garment Industry of Bangladesh

In the span of a few decades, Bangladesh has risen to become the second largest garment exporter in the world as a result of liberalized trade policies that have attracted large scale foreign investment. The growing industry has provided the country with much needed capital to curb distressing poverty rates by giving employment to millions of young women from rural areas, while international apparel retailers have gained access to virtually unlimited cheap and low-skilled labour ideal for the production of fast-fashion items. However it’s an unsurprising consequence that many fundamental human rights, acknowledged both in international human rights law and established in Bangladesh’s national legislation, have been inadequately enforced so as not to interfere with the hugely profitable industry. This thesis brings forward the most widespread human rights abuses in Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry: restrictions on the union rights of workers, forced labour, discrimination, child labour, lack of criminal justice, insufficient wages that amount to living in poverty and safety hazards at work. Despite the fact that Bangladesh has ratified most fundamental human rights treaties and conventions that have been designed to safeguard the rights of people globally, violations persist. Recent accidents in inspected and certified garment factories show that current social compliance initiatives and CSR efforts that are essentially voluntary in nature have been insufficient to overcome the various safety and labour issues that occur in the factories that produce clothes for Western retailers. The inability of the human rights regime to protect individual rights from economic impacts as well as shortcomings in legal regulation and corporate accountability call for alternative measures which will be presented as a solution to the ongoing labour violations. Various initiatives developed by international actors that aim to address and improve labour conditions will be evaluated as well as different socio-economic factors behind the poor realization of rights