// A year on from the death of a 20 year old garment factory worker in India, H&M has pledged to end shopfloor sexual violence in the country
// H&M said Jeyasre Kathiravel’s death was a tragedy, and the company’s thoughts were with her family
Following the death of a 20 year old Dalit woman Jeyasre Kathiravel, who was found dead near her family home after finishing a shift at Natchi Apparel, a factory making clothes for H&M in Kaithian Kottai, Tamil Nadu, the retailer has pledged to end shop floor sexual violence.
The fashion giant has now signed a legally binding agreement with one of its largest Indian clothing suppliers that pledges to end sexual violence and harassment against women on the factory floor following the murder which happened in January last year.
Her supervisor reportedly confessed to her murder and is awaiting trial and her family also allege that she was raped before she was killed, and had suffered sexual harassment and intimidation at work in the months before her death, but felt powerless to prevent the abuse.
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The legally binding agreement is only the second of its kind in the fashion industry, and the first time a retailer has ever signed up to an initiative to tackle gender-based violence in Asia’s garment industry.
In a statement, H&M said Jeyasre Kathiravel’s death was a tragedy, and the retailer’s thoughts were with her family.
“H&M Group wants to do our utmost to contribute to systemic and positive change in the industry and have therefore signed an agreement to work together with industry stakeholders to address, prevent and remedy gender-based violence and sexual harassment,” a spokesperson said.
“We expect this agreement to contribute to a broader industry-wide initiative going forward.”
Under the terms of the new agreement, all factory workers, supervisors and executives must now participate in gender-based violence training.
The Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union will also recruit and train female workers as “shopfloor monitors” who will make sure that women working will be protected from any verbal harassment and sexual intimidation.
The agreement will overhaul Natchi’s internal complaints committees, a mechanism which is required under Indian law in all workplaces but that has failed for decades to protect women from male violence at the Natchi factories.
The overhaul will ensure that women can report sexual harassment anonymously to an independent panel that will have the power to dismiss perpetrators and seek financial compensation for both the victims and their families.
Thivya Rakini, state president of the TTCU, said the agreement was a victory for women in the workplace.
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