Many women from Sri Lanka have emigrated far from their homeland to find work with which to support themselves and their families. According to the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights (IGLHR), female workers at the Classic Fashion Apparel Industry in Jordan are working in harrowing conditions, enduring rape and degradation from a well connected factory supervisor. The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights reports as follows.
“After incarcerating Anil Santha on Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19, to face charges of rape and torture of a young woman guest worker at the Classic factory, he was suddenly and inexplicably freed. [He] went right back to work at Classic, patrolling the shop floor as if nothing had happened. This was devastating to the workers, and the Jordanian authorities have made a terrible mistake,” read the report.
The Sri Lankan women face three different problems in defending their rights when they work at Classic Fashion. The first problem is that they are navigating a criminal justice system in a foreign country, which is hard for them to navigate as foreigners who do not speak Arabic.
The second problem the women face is that the Sri Lankan government wants workers to send money from abroad for the good of the Sri Lankan economy. It is for this reason that the Sri Lankan government has been remiss in its duties to protect its citizens abroad.
What makes it especially difficult for the Sri Lankan women at Classic Fashion to defend themselves is the terrible stigma endured by victims of sexual assault in Sri Lanka. The victims are faced with the double indignity of their rapist going free and being considered “damaged goods” in Sri Lanka.
Classic Fashion supplies Walmart, Target and Hanes with finished goods for sale in the United States. The court of last resort for the women at Classic Fashion is the consumer. If customers of stores that are supplied by Classic Fashion Apparel Industry in Jordan ask tough questions, that could have an influence on how the employees of subcontractors are treated.
A quick way to voice one’s outrage is to sign a petition against Classic Fashion in Jordan that is summarised as follows.
Please tell Wal-Mart, Hanes, Target, Macy’s, Lands’ End, Kohl’s and Jones Group to immediately end the sexual abuse, rape, torture, and beatings of young women guest workers at the Classic factory in Jordan.
We demand that the companies:
1) Immediately remove all serial rapists, especially Anil Santha and Priyantha, from the Classic factory;
2) Pay significant compensation to the rape victims for the damages done them;
3) Ensure that independent and highly respected non-governmental women’s rights organizations from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have complete access to monitor factory conditions;
4) Guarantee that there will be no retaliation against any worker for speaking the truth about factory conditions;
5) Ensure that the false charges against the internationally respected human rights advocate, Mr. Rafiq Alam, must be immediately dropped;
6) If Classic refuses to strictly enforce the worker’s rights laws in the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, their sweatshop garments should be prohibited from entering the U.S.
When shopping at any of the stores that are supplied by Classic Fashion Apparel Industry, one should not purchase any clothing with a tag indicating that it is made in Jordan until the abusive work conditions at Classic Fashion Apparel Industry have been corrected.
It is likely to be a permanent feature of the American economy that our clothing and electronics are made abroad. We have a moral obligation to care how workers who make our clothing, toys and electronics are treated. This is a matter of common decency.
Links to other articles on this subject
Testimony of Bangladeshi woman
