Women Garment Workers Face Huge Inequities in Global Supply Chain Factories Made Worse by COVID-19

• Published in: New solutions Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 113 - 124
• Main Author: Brown, Garrett D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-08-2021; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Aggression; Clothing industry; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Factories; Gender inequality; Gender-based violence; Harassment; Human dignity; Medical personnel; Occupational health; Occupational safety; Pandemics; Professional associations; Social conditions; Social conditions & trends; Social programs; Social responsibility; Supply chains; Textile industry; Women; Womens rights; Workers; Working conditions; Workplaces; COVID-19 impact; global supply chains; women workers; gender issues; structural inequalities
• ISSN: 1048-2911; 1541-3772
• DOI: 10.1177/10482911211011605

Women make up the large majority of workers in global supply chains, especially factories in the apparel supply chain. These workers face significant inequalities in wages, workplace hazards, and a special burden of gender-based violence and harassment. These “normal” conditions have been compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated long-standing structural inequities. Decades of well-financed “corporate social responsibility” programs have failed because they do not address the underlying causes of illegal and abusive working conditions. New initiatives in the past half-decade offer promise in putting the needs and rights of workers front and center. Occupational health and safety professionals can assist in the global effort to improve working and social conditions, and respect for the rights and dignity of women workers, through advocacy and action on the job, in their professional associations, and in society at large.