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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:41 am
Time: 11:41 am
Results for sexual assault, workers (jordan)
1 results foundAuthor: Kernaghan, Charles Title: Sexual Predators and Serial Rapists Run Wild at Wal-Mart Supplier in Jordan. Young women workers raped, tortured and beaten at the Classic Factory Summary: According to witnesses who work at Classic Fashion, scores of young Sri Lankan women sewing clothing for Wal-Mart and Hanes have suffered routine sexual abuse and repeated rapes, and in some cases even torture. One young rape victim at the Classic factory in Jordan told us her assailant, a manager, bit her, leaving scars all over her body. Women who become pregnant are forcibly deported and returned to Sri Lanka. Women who refuse the sexual advances of Classic's managers are also beaten and deported. Classic, the largest garment export factory in Jordan, sews clothing for Wal-Mart, Hanes, Kohl's, Target and Macy's. The garments enter the U.S. duty-free under the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement. On the weekly holiday, the alleged serial rapist general manager, Anil Santha, sends a van to bring four or five young women to his hotel, where he abuses them. The lives of the young Sri Lankan rape victims are completely shattered, as in their culture, virginity is highly prized and critical for a good marriage. In October 2010, 2,400 Sri Lankan and Indian workers went on strike demanding the removal of the alleged rapist, Anil. Classic's owner, Sanal Kumar, sent Anil away, but he returned after one month. Through the Institute/National Labor Committee's reports, the Ministry of Labor has been made aware of the sexual abuse as early as 2007, but has done nothing. The standard shift at Classic is 13 hours a day, six and seven days a week, with some 18 ½ hour shifts before the clothing must be shipped to the U.S. According to witness testimonies, workers are routinely cursed at, hit and shortchanged of their wages for failing to reach their mandatory production goals. To press the women to work faster, managers grope and fondle them. The workers - who are from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Egypt, earn a take-home wage of just 61 cents an hour. The workers are housed in primitive dorms lacking heat or hot water, but which are infested with bed bugs. The women have extremely limited freedom of movement and are allowed to leave the factory compound just one day a week for six hours. When they are forced to work through their weekly holiday, they may be allowed out just once or twice a month. The minimal efforts of Wal-Mart, Hanes and the other labels to monitor factory conditions at Classic have failed completely. Workers are threatened by management and forced to say that conditions are good. We are strongly urging representatives of the labels to join us in Jordan on Friday, June 17 for a large meeting with the Classic workers. It is our intention, along with the United Steelworkers and our women's rights colleagues in Sri Lanka, to rescue the women who have been victimized and return them safely home to their families. We expect Wal-Mart, Hanes and the other labels to pay significant compensation to the rape victims to restore some dignity to their lives. This is the least they can do. The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement has also failed over the last ten years to protect the basic rights of the 30,000 foreign guest workers sewing garments for export to the U.S. One Bangladeshi worker recently deported from the Classic factory told us today that, "all the workers of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh...everybody will testify that Anil raped the Sri Lankan women. Everybody knows. In a safe place, the workers will testify." Preface Details: Pittsburgh, PA: Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2011. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 2, 2011 at: http://www.globallabourrights.org/admin/reports/files/Content-Classic-0607-final.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Jordan URL: http://www.globallabourrights.org/admin/reports/files/Content-Classic-0607-final.pdf Shelf Number: 122251 Keywords: Female VictimsRapeSexual AbuseSexual Assault, Workers (Jordan) |