Apparel Online India Magazine July 2nd Issue 2018 | Page 21

COVER STORY
between January and May this year
in nine production hubs across India,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia
and Cambodia that proves gender-
based violence taking place in H&M,
Walmart and GAP Inc. apparel
supplying factories. The AFWA
has presented the results of its
investigation to ILO (International
Labour Organisation).
H&M reportedly spoke on the issue,
and said, “The company believes
that violence against women is one
of the most rampant human rights
violations; this investigation clearly
suggests the need of continuously
addressing such situations. We will
go through every section of the report
and follow up on factory-level with our
local teams based in each production
country,” the retailer maintained.
On similar lines, both Gap and
Walmart have also committed to look
into the matter and have ensured
that such practices will be strictly
dealt with. Gap’s official release
said, “We are deeply concerned by
the allegations raised in this report,
and our Global Sustainability team is
currently conducting additional due
diligence to investigate and address the
allegations raised within it. Further,
we have initiated a dialogue with some
of our key implementing partners,
among them CARE, ILO Better Work,
and Verité, to discuss how our industry
can accelerate its effort to address this
global, systemic issue.”
Walmart’s statement mentioned:
“The allegations in the report are
concerning, and we welcome the
opportunity to identify areas for
improvement. Walmart is committed to
supporting our suppliers, advocating
for workers in the supply chain and
helping lead the effort to combat forced
labour and human trafficking.”
Markedly, AFWA’s investigation in
India included factory workers from
four cities – Bangalore, Gurgaon,
Tirupur and Haryana, the key apparel
clusters in the country. Anannya
Bhattacharjee, International
Coordinator, AFWA reportedly said
that the multi-billion dollar companies
have failed their workers, employers
and consumers. Anannya and her
team have been criticised many times
for what the industry perceives as
anti-industry activities.
Governments need
to look deeply into
transparency and
other mandatory
human rights
processes in an
apparel company’s
supply chain. Only
they can impose
penalties on non-
compliant companies,
and only they can
set enforceable
standards that truly
level the playing
field for businesses
and workers.
It remains to be seen, how ILO and
all the three respective brands
act on this issue that is constantly
tarnishing the image of the industry.
The Clean Clothes Campaign,
a campaign that aims towards
improving the working conditions
and empowerment of workers in
the global apparel industry, has
also expressed its concern over the
matter and said that these reports
are not just a worrying sign for the
three mentioned brands but it is
also a reality-check for the whole
garment industry.
There needs to be a balance between
NGO activities and the improvement
monitoring systems, so that real
progress can happen on worker
issues. No one is denying that
problems exist, but these issues
can only be addressed by working
together for collective identification
of problems and brainstorming on
solutions, and not by pointing fingers
and making individual points to score
over each other!
www.apparelresources.com | JULY 16-31, 2018 | Apparel Online India
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