About 40 per cent of Bangladesh’s female workers in its garment industry suffer depression, affecting their productivity at factories, as per the study conducted by International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).
The study titled ‘Measuring the Effect of HER Respect: An Intervention Addressing Violence Against Female Garment Workers in Four Factories of Bangladesh’ blamed domestic violence as the primary cause behind depression amongst the workers.
The report was published at a programme held in Dhaka on January 15, 2018.
Funded by UK Aid, the study said, 53 per cent of Bangladesh’s female garment workers suffers torture in the hands of their husbands. This, in turn, reflects 40 per cent of the female garment workers suffering depression.
Dr Ruchira Tabassum, a researcher at icddr,b, said, “The women who spoke of being tortured by husband had the symptoms of depression. This depression affects their productivity.”
The study has been conducted on a sample of 800 female garment workers from right different factories. It says that the depression spirals with the torture inflicted by husband at home and the pressure at work. The report added that 60 per cent of female garment workers has seen some form of violence at their workplaces.
It is to be noted that Bangladesh’s nearly US $ 30 billion apparel industry currently employs over 3.6 million workers. The majority of the workforce is women.
