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Writer's pictureManushya Foundation
Apr 27, 2023

♀️If it isn't intersectional, it isn't feminism!


#IntersectionalFeminism ✊🏼 On this World Day for Safety and Health at Work, let's smash the patriarchy and white middle-class liberal feminism putting women's health at risk!


The textile industry is a prime example of how capitalist norms exploit marginalized women - poor women, migrant women, women of color, LBTI women, women with disabilities, indigenous and ethnic women - making it imperative to put an end to this gender injustice!


#CorporateAccountability ⚖️ Unequal wages undermine our ability to access healthcare and safe working conditions. It's time for equal pay and #GenderJustice! On this day and every day, we urge governments to regulate the garment sector to get its working conditions right, in line with international human rights standards!


Why? The garment industry generates an enormous profit and employs over 94 million people worldwide. However, this success has come at a terrible cost, with marginalized populations, including women, being exploited and forced to work under inhumane conditions for extremely low wages.


Some key facts ⤵️

  • Garment workers are routinely forced to toil for 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week, including working late into the night during the peak season to meet the demands of fashion brands. Despite this grueling schedule, wages are so low that workers are compelled to work overtime, sometimes without compensation. These practices must end now!

  • Migrant workers endure unsafe conditions, discrimination, and limited protection in all industries, especially construction. The harm they suffer can be devastating.

  • The garment industry is a glaring example of gender inequality, with women making up the majority of its workforce and being paid less than their male counterparts, as the average gender pay gap in the garment and footwear sectors is up to 18.5% across Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

  • This wage gap perpetuates the cycle of poverty for women workers and makes it hard for them to advocate for better working conditions due to their lack of economic power.

  • Moreover, women workers in the garment sector are often subjected to sexual harassment and assault, yet these cases are grossly underreported and they are left without adequate protection.

Patriarchal oppression comes in many different shapes and sizes and only an intersectional approach to feminism allows us to take all of our differences into account to fight back for all women!


#WeAreManusyhan ♾️ Equal Human Beings


✊ On this World Day for Safety and Health at Work, Manushya Foundation calls on companies - including those in the garment sector - to prioritize international human rights standards, including applying a gender lens to the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises. Let's end the gender pay gap and corporate exploitative abuses. Together, we can create a safer and more equitable world for all.


👉 Join us this year in our crucial work to make human rights for EVERYONE a reality! ✊


👉 Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our events and newest campaigns.


🎨 Amazing illustration by Odile Bree



While you are here:

Read more about our work fighting for real corporate accountability:

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