A hammer and sickle with a small stele in memory of the victims and behind it, where until ten years ago there was an eight-story building, there is an uncultivated field. This is what physically remains of Rana Plaza, the building that collapsed on the morning of April 24, 2013, killing 1,129 people and injuring more than two thousand workers. A mass of designated victims forced to work on the upper floors, despite the complaint in the previous days of obvious signs of failure which had led to the closure of the activities on the lower floors.
The lawn where Rana Plaza once stood
17 days, that’s how long it took to extract all the bodies from the rubble, a time also necessary to bring out the inhumane dynamics inside the Bengali factories to the incredulous eyes of public opinion. Here with starvation wages and unaffordable working hours, some of the main international brands were supplied by a skilled workforce at negligible costs. “We must remember – says Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh on the field in the hours following the collapse – that what happened could have been avoided”. What has been called “the deadliest structural collapse in modern history” left hundreds of survivors on the ground. In 80% of cases they are young women who, ten years later, are still dealing with that tragedy.
The memory of those long days transpires in the streets of Savar, an industrial district of Dhaka, where for decades the garment industry was one of the few sources of income for its citizens and which left behind two of the main catastrophes in the sector : Rana Plaza and the fire 5 months earlier that killed 117 people at Tazreen Fashion, another textile factory.
AND TESTIMONY
I have a shop nearby, when I heard the collapse I walked over and couldn’t believe my eyes. We’ve been pulling people out for days
– Mohammad –
I was driving my taxi when I saw the dust and heard the screams. I transported dozens of people to the hospital that night
– Amir –
That night changed our lives forever. Here in Savar we have lost more than a thousand people, but something good has come out of that tragedy
– Hasan –
The collapse was like a fuse. Starting from Bangladesh, passing through Canada up to the Vatican: thousands of people took to the streets to demand justice and shine a light on the exploitation of workers that Pope Francis himself defined as “modern slavery”. “Initially – continues Kabir – the brands did not want to assume any responsibility, but they were forced by the great social push. So something has changed. Today there really are those who want to improve, but the road is still long”. The road is long due to the irreconcilability between respect for workers (and the environment) and the maximization of profits intrinsic to mass production. Driven by the global climate, some of the brands involved in the massacre have sat down with the government to define a compensation system. Derisory sums for the clothing giants. And then the curtain fell and barring the help of some NGOs, the majority of survivors were left alone to heal a wounded body and often a compromised mind.
According to the report of ActionAid Bangladesh published these days, the former workers of Rana Plaza suffer from back pain, leg pain and chronic headaches. This often results in the impossibility of finding a job or keeping it for long. The aspect that remains most in the shadows is that relating to mental health. Constant fear, anxious states, nightmares and mood disorders are the most common ailments among those who risked their lives in Rana Plaza with a huge impact on their ability to survive. The victims, in fact, come from the most fragile sections of society with dependent families, in which in many cases there are more victims among members of the same family unit. As in Rana Plaza, even today more than 75% of the workforce employed in the textile sector is female. It is women who drive this sector.
Discriminated for their gender, over the years female workers have been the first to pay the price for an economy based on their exploitation. It is difficult to define at which point of the production chain the vicious circle is created, but even admitting the good intentions of the owners of the companies, they collide with orders from abroad which impose the reduction of wages and the increase of working hours. A dynamic that, especially during and following the Coronavirus pandemic, fell completely on the already tired shoulders of the workers.
Long and grueling working hours have added to the decrease in wages due to the cancellation of orders or cost negotiations by the big brands. The “Money Heist” report of the Asia
floor wage gives a detailed account of the impact that the policies of the big brands have had on the lives of individual workers in the main producing countries where, according to scholars, the multinationals have transferred the business risk by safeguarding their business. “The danger – concludes Kabir – is intrinsic and a consequence of the capitalist and colonial system that we are trying to overcome. Workers and owners are very distant and do not trust each other. When the big brands arrive in Bangladesh they are looking for cheaper products, they want to produce at minimum costs and this affects the workers”.
“Not all the guidelines and recommendations signed by experts and actors involved have been followed – concludes Kabir – But ten years later we must recognize that the Rana Plaza tragedy has led to an increase in standards and more accountability on the part of governments and brands . But that’s still not enough.” Now it’s up to the “rich” countries to equip themselves with tools to protect the rights of those who work at every step of the production chain. Precisely in the days of the tenth anniversary, the Directive born from the campaign will be voted on in the Legal Affairs Commission, then examined by the European Parliament “Justice is everybody’s business” which calls for the international commitment of companies and countries to respect the rights of people and the environment. A further step along the path on which Rana Plaza turned on a light that has never been extinguished ten years ago.
When the home and the factory are not safe places, a place to meet can become a driving force for even unexpected ideas and changes. Or simply a corner where to move aside the Sari and talk a little about yourself
Space and gender-based violence are inversely proportional. As the data on domestic violence during the lockdown period demonstrates, as the former decreases, the latter increases. And in one of the most densely populated countries in the world, even safety is measured in square meters.
This is why having a place where you can meet becomes the only way to escape violence, but above all to get to know each other, form a group and share, breaking the wall of loneliness that isolates women and workers. In Dhaka, in the Mirpur district, there is a small cafe born with this aim. They call it “The women’s café” and it is an ActionAid project dedicated to female textile workers who meet, play and discuss their experiences here, on the second floor of a building among the clothing factories. “This is our coffee – explains Kazi Dipa, one of the project managers – Our “customers” need a safe place where they can meet and talk since in many factories it is still forbidden to form unions. Here we provide guidance, legal assistance and small training courses. In addition to the work problem, most of the girls who come here also suffer domestic violence”. The line between physical and economic violence is very thin in these two rooms where many stories speak of abusive husbands who commandeer their wives’ wages to manage them according to their priorities. And then there are women with a past between poverty and violence who were left after giving birth and left to fend for themselves. “I arrived in Dhaka when I was 14 when my father died and I had to look after my 6 sisters – says Fatemi Khatun who is now 32 – and I have been working in the textile industry ever since. We have daily goals that are sometimes really impossible but if you don’t reach them the boss insults and humiliates you. My husband left me when I was six months pregnant, I haven’t heard from him for 13 years.”
Violence inside and outside the home, already deeply rooted at a social level, has increased during the Coronavirus pandemic. “During the lockdown there was a sharp increase in domestic violence – says Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh – In addition, many people lost their jobs and were forced to live in very confined spaces for several weeks. Another consequence was the increase in child brides because once the schools closed, the poorest families had an extra weight on their shoulders”. But fighting centuries of repression requires a journey that often leaves many casualties along the way.
Sometimes just tilting the axis slightly is enough to trigger the change. And this was done by Shuki Akter, a 25-year-old worker who, after years of abuse, has gained awareness and the strength to raise her voice thanks to the support of the Women’s café. “My husband and I both work in factories and I have a six-year-old son. I started working as a worker at 13, but now that I know what my rights are, I’m no longer afraid to speak up. They often ask me who taught me these things and threaten me not to give this information to my colleagues. No one wants workers to raise their voices and be aware.” Now she can take her son to work and in a few days she will leave for Jordan where they have offered her an advantageous position.
“We strongly believe – concludes Kabir – that women need safe places. Something has changed over the years, but we still see forms of abuse that are accepted and tolerated by a part of society. Gender-based violence is very present in our society and is also reflected in factories, but in addition to safe spaces, it is necessary to increase women’s awareness of taking care of themselves and helping them to claim their rights”.