Made By Children - A study of the elimination of child labour in Bangladesh’s textile industry

Abstract: In the stitches of our clothes one can often find traces of child labour. The garment industry in Bangladesh is the country’s largest export sector. It is also a sector where sever human rights violations take place on a daily basis in relation to child labour. Accidents in textile factories in the country causing numerous deaths relatively recently brought the situation of working conditions to the forefront of the world’s attention. But the matter of child labour in the Bangladesh garment industry has been a subject of global attention for some time. Child labour occurs in all regions and sectors in the world. In 2012, ILO estimated that 168 million children were trapped in such working conditions. It also is relatively common in Bangladesh where about 3.2 million children are trapped in child labour. The garment industry is for many States, including Bangladesh, the fundamental pillar of the country’s economy. The industry provides millions of farmers, families and children with a financial income as well as it enriches the country with foreign exchange from export. The garment industry, including its local supply chain is extremely labour intense and children have frequently been carrying out work which is harmful to their socioeconomic development and health. Children in this sector are often used to weave, or perform other tasks that are related to the industry. The work most commonly takes place indoors under strict surveillance. Many international legal documents acknowledging and regulating the prohibition of child labour and children’s working conditions have developed over a relatively long time-span, but today there is adequate legislation regulating this matter. That international legislation is adopted and incorporated in national laws is important to eliminate child labour and recognizing the rights of the child in this regard. International pressure and actions has been taken to make Bangladesh comply with international standards, adopt national laws on child labour and especially to reduce the numbers of child laborers in the formal garment industry. The formal garment industry in Bangladesh has recently been declared child labour free. But this has not been the reality for a long time. Therefore how this came to happen will be explored in this thesis. This thesis will analyze the events leading to the fact that Bangladesh’s formal garment industry is today child labour free. On the basis of this, Bangladesh can be considered as one of the big global tests. If the battle against child labour can be won in the garment industry in this country, there is hope for this to occur in other industries, sectors and countries in similar situations as well. Therefore it is important to look at the concrete actions taken and assess whether international obligations and pressure have had any impact on the national developments including legislation, actions, and the reduction of child laborers in the garment sector.