Social Awareness and Voluntary Education, a human rights organization based in Tirupur is giving training in garment factories across the state aimed at reducing workplace violence, sexual harassment. The NGO is a part of an innovative project focused on the garment supply chain that is led by the Netherlands-based NGO Fair Wear Foundation, in partnership with garment factories in India, Bangladesh, European clothing brands, Governments, civil society organizations and trade unions in Europe and Asia. Women workers claim that there are only few effective mechanisms exist for them to report any kind of grievances. According to studies by Fair Wear Foundation, violence against women is widespread in India’s garment factories. Violence ranges from verbal and physical abuse to sexual harassment. As part of the initiative, the Preventing Workplace Violence project, which is supported by the UN Trust Fund to end violence against women, 3,500 workers in India and Bangladesh have received direct training in 24 factories, while another 15,000 workers have been trained via peer-to-peer education.
