We are IWDA, and we are STANDING WITH women to END this blatant abuse of power.
Women around the world are exploited at work. In Cambodia it is particularly bad.
Did you know that 7 in 10 Cambodian women are in vulnerable employment where their basic human rights are routinely denied?
Women employed in the garment industry are expected to work long hours, in terrible work environments, for pitiful pay.
They’re being exploited, and are often without representation, leadership, and their voices are ignored.
Women’s basic human rights are being denied.
Exploitation of women in Cambodia’s garment factories.
Know Your Facts:
90% of garment workers in Cambodia are women, who have no choice but to accept these jobs because the unemployment rate in Cambodia is so high.
20% of these women have experienced violence in the workplace.
Work days are normally longer than 12 hours, and they are often denied toilet or lunch breaks.
We CANNOT allow this cycle to continue.
IWDA is Working with Partners to Break the Cycle.
IWDA’s goal is to create a world where women and girls are equal. But to achieve gender equality, we need to stamp out the rampant abuse, violence, disrespect and exploitation of women.
United Sisterhood Alliance, an IWDA partner, supports women to realise their rights and voices collectively. With support from IWDA, they do this by operating 5 drop-in centres that reach over 1600 garment workers to provide:
- A safe space
- Labour law education
- Legal assistance
- Health education
- Workers’ rights training
- English classes
- Peer networks
The drop-in centres provide a much-needed space for women who work in the garment factories to come together to build knowledge, confidence, and power.
Women like Sophea are STRONG, but they are NOT indestructible.
Sophea* is one of 840,000 garment workers**, mostly young women, who are in the multi-billion-dollar garment industry in Cambodia.
Sophea is constantly exhausted from working more than 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Working conditions in the factory are shocking. Sophea has few breaks and lives in constant fear of physical and emotional abuse if she makes any mistakes.
Because of her low pay, Sophea and the other garment workers also have to endure horrific living conditions, sharing crowded rooms in a complex next to the factory.
She lives in a row of tiny, dark, humid rooms with no windows. It’s common for three to four women to share a room not much bigger than a queen-size bed.
Garment workers like Sophia have little choice but to accept excessive overtime hours, and quickly become trapped in a cycle of exploitation.
The Drop-In Centre Changed Sophea’s Life.
Sophea received support to complete her high school certificate.
“At times I almost gave up on this dream because I didn’t have enough time. But I read my textbooks out loud at night and recorded it. Then I listened to it while I worked in the factory the next day.”
“I used my break time to review the lessons, and I went to school on Sundays,” Sophea said.
Now she can understand her pay slip and see if she is being paid correctly for the hours worked. She can also support her co-workers to do this as well.
We want to support more women like Sophea
We want to continue working with organisations that support women to fight for their working rights. But in order to do this we urgently need donations. Will you join us in stepping UP for women’s rights, by giving a tax-deductible donation today? Your gift will make a difference to the thousands of women in Cambodia who are still living and working in these horrific conditions.
Thanks to people like you.
IWDA’s goal is to create a world where women and girls are equal.
We are supporting women to use their power and stand up for their rights. Women like Sophea are STRONG but they are NOT indestructible.
With your help IWDA can continue to resource women’s rights organizations to break the cycle of exploitation and achieve gender equality. Thank you for being part of the movement!
**2019 data supplied by United Sisterhood Alliance