September 30, 2025
DHAKA – An icddr,b study has found that two in three female garment workers were married before turning 18, and nearly 65 percent had their first pregnancy before that age.
One-third of the participants reported at least one unintended pregnancy, while one in four had experienced abortion, icddr,b said in a press release.
The organisation presented the findings of its 24-month study on women working in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector at a seminar at its auditorium yesterday.
The research was conducted between August 2022 and December 2024 in areas under icddr,b’s Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System, specifically in the Korail and Mirpur slums of Dhaka and a slum in Gazipur’s Tongi.
Surveys were carried out every six months with 778 garment factory workers aged 15–27 years. The study was conducted by AdSearch of icddr,b with support from Global Affairs Canada, the press release said.
Ruchira Tabassum Naved, emeritus scientist at icddr,b and principal investigator of the study, said, “Despite being relatively economically advanced, the sexual and reproductive health status of female workers in Bangladesh’s garment industry is worse than that of other women.”
She stressed the need for detailed research and called on the government, development organisations, and partners to take collective initiative.
The study found a significant rise in awareness of long-acting family planning methods among workers, from 49 percent at the start to 70 percent after two years.
Knowledge about emergency contraceptive pills also increased, from 15 percent to 39 percent, while positive attitudes towards gender equality in family planning rose from 54 percent to 71 percent, it also found.
However, the study revealed that violence by husbands against female workers was very high in the past 12 months, and all forms of violence — except sexual violence — increased over the two years.
The prevalence of psychological violence in the workplace also rose, from 48 percent of workers at the start to 55 percent after two years.
Meanwhile, almost none of the women who experienced violence sought formal help. Those who sought informal help from family or friends dropped from 35 percent to 21 percent in two years, said the study.
In cases of workplace violence, only one in five women reported incidents to authorities, a figure that did not change over time, it added.