H&M has signed a legally binding agreement to end sexual violence and harassment against women workers at one of its largest Indian suppliers, following the murder of a female garment worker last year.

In January 2021, Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 20-year-old Dalit woman, was found dead on farmland near her family home after finishing a shift at Natchi Apparel, a factory making clothes for H&M in Kaithian Kottai, Tamil Nadu. 

An independent investigation conducted last year by the Workers' Rights Consortium (WRC), which has not yet been released, heard testimony from other female workers of widespread gender-based violence at Natchi Apparel, and H&M and Eastman Exports.

The agreement is the first time a brand has ever signed up to an initiative to tackle gender-based violence in Asia’s garment industry, where a workforce of primarily poor women make millions of tons of clothing for high streets every year.

“H&M Group wants to do our utmost to contribute to systemic and positive change in the industry and have therefore signed an agreement to work together with industry stakeholders to address, prevent and remedy gender-based violence and sexual harassment,” said Julia Bakutis, industrial relations expert at H&M Global Social Sustainability team.

Under the terms of the agreement, all workers, supervisors and executives will have to undergo gender-based violence training, and the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU) will recruit and train female workers as “shopfloor monitors”. They will ensure that women are protected from verbal harassment and sexual intimidation. 

The agreement also overhauls Natchi’s internal complaints committees, a mechanism required under Indian law in all workplaces but which has failed for decades to protect women from male violence at the Natchi factories.

Women will now be able to report sexual harassment anonymously to an independent panel that will have the power to dismiss perpetrators and seek financial compensation for victims and their families. 

“It is our top priority to make sure that women on our shopfloors are safe and to do that women must be able to be seen and heard and feel empowered to report if something goes wrong,” said Eastman Exports Director Subhash Tiwari.

"We will not allow any kind of infraction of the terms of this agreement. This is not just zero tolerance, what we want is a complete elimination of harassment and all forms of violence against our female employees."

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) and international labour rights group Global Labour Justice-International Labour Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) also signed the agreement.

H&M expects the agreement to contribute to a broader industry-wide initiative going forward so that every worker should feel safe working in the industry, whether they are employed by H&M suppliers or not.