Financial Times

By Dlshani Samaraweera

The Board of Investment (BOI) said last week it was taking action to protect women workers from the ‘zipper’ men and other sexual harassment around the Biyagama and Katunayake Free Trade Zones (FTZs).

At least three “zipper” men have been caught by police, women’s groups said.
This follows a recent public protest by hundreds of women workers – mainly from garment factories – sexual harassment on roads and in public places, around the Katunayake trade zone.

“We have already taken action on this. We have informed the zone management and also the police, about this,” BOI Chairman Lakshman Watawala said.

Women’s groups at the Katunayake and Biyagama export processing zones earlier complained of widespread sexual harassment of women workers. Over 80 percent of the workers at the two export processing zones are young women between 18 to 25 years.

These workers who keep Sri Lanka’s number one export earner – the ready made garment business – ticking, have complained of incessant sexual harassment on the roads and public places, like the railway station and bus stands, in the FTZ neighbourhood.

Despite Sri Lanka’s outwardly conservative culture, sexual harassment is so common at the two zones, the working girls even coined a generic term for these abusers. The girls called them ‘zipper’ men because many of them would stand in dark corners with their trouser zips open.

Women workers also complained of high crime rates where molesters and thieves would destroy street lights, to rob working girls returning home after dark. The BOI says it is also taking action to improve transit safety for workers.

“We are trying to make sure the roads well lit, so that there is no darkness. We have asked the police to patrol the roads during factory closing hours. We also have our own vehicles doing the rounds, to give the workers more safety,” said Watawala.

However, women’s groups say stronger, more widespread measures are needed to ensure better working conditions for women workers at Sri Lanka’s export processing zones. A coalition of 15 women’s rights groups - the Mothers and Daughters of Lanka - is requesting that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Human Rights Commission work with the police and the BOI to improve life for FTZ workers.

Women’s groups are asking for better lighting for roads around export processing zones – particularly in small by-lanes where boarding houses are located - and a better bus service.

“Only a few factories give transport for factory floor workers and after about 9.30 in the night, there are fewer buses on the roads. So girls have difficulty going back home,” says Padmini Weerasuriya from the Women’s Centre – a local NGO.
“It is the responsibility of both the government and the companies to make sure workers can go back home after night. It is not fair to just use them for work and throw them out afterwards,” says Ms Weerasuriya. “So they have to put a regular bus service until after the night shift is over,” she says.

Women’s groups also suggest permanent, regular police patrols at night, to make sure workers have safe passage home after working the night shift.

Another area that needs urgent attention - particularly in Katunayake - say women’s groups, is better quality accommodation. “Katunayake is very crowded. The Katunayake trade zone has around 50,000 workers. Most of them come from outstation and are living in boarding houses,” says Ms Weerasuriya.

“Quite a few of these boarding houses are not built to any kind of standard. Although the Municipal regulations say a room must be 10 feet by 12, rooms are actually 8 feet by 10 and sometime 7 or 8 girls are living in one room,” she said.

Poor sanitary facilities at these FTZ lodgings are also a health hazard to the entire neighbourhood.

“The well, or the tube well, is located right next to the toilet. So by using this water people get all kinds of illnesses. Some of the roads and drains where these hostels are located are also in very poor condition, so they breed mosquitoes and diseases,” says Ms. Weerasuriya.

Women’s groups are also asking for legal action against abusers and want the women and children’s desk at police stations to be more woman-and-child friendly.

“At the moment people who commit sexual harassment are just given a warning and released. This is not a good enough deterrent. The police must take legal action against sexual harassment,” says Kumudini Samuel, Director of the Women and Media Collective.