Film Puts Spotlight on Female Factory Workers in Bangladesh

A new film about the garment industry in Bangladesh is defying stereotypes that assume women workers are powerless – instead putting them on a rare spotlight as fighters for workers’ rights in the conservative country.

“Made in Bangladesh” tells the story of garment worker Daliya Akter, who escaped child marriage and became a trade union leader advocating justice for workers in Dhaka. Despite the obstacles that came from her bosses, Akter committed to securing pay for her coworkers.

“There is a narrative that garment workers are always oppressed. But while working on the film I realised that these women fight back strongly and are empowered,” says director Rubaiyat Hossain to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “These workers… need to be heard. It is because of them that our economy is improving and we have to acknowledge them.”

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment producer with around 4 million workers, 80% of whom are women who work long hours for minimal pay.