| Title |
Work, gender roles, and health: neglected mental health issues among female workers in the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
International Journal of Women's Health, August 2017
|
| DOI | 10.2147/ijwh.s137250 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Sadika Akhter, Shannon Rutherford, Feroza Akhter Kumkum, David Bromwich, Iqbal Anwar, Aminur Rahman, Cordia Chu |
| Abstract |
Traditionally, women in Bangladesh stayed at home in their role as daughter, wife, or mother. In the 1980s, economic reforms created a job market for poor, uneducated rural women in the ready-made garment industry, mostly located in urban areas. This increased participation in paid work has changed the gender roles of these women. Women's earnings support their family, but they are also separated from their children, with impacts on their mental health and well-being. This study explores the lived experience of women in Bangladesh working in the ready-made garment industry as they strive to be mothers and family providers, often in high-stress conditions. The study was conducted in two industrial areas of Dhaka over 8 months. Data collection included a literature review, 20 in-depth interviews with married female garment workers, and 14 key-informant interviews with officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, health-service providers within the garment factories, factory managers, and representatives of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. The data collected were analyzed thematically. Poverty was a key motivating factor for female migrant workers to move from rural areas. Their children stay in their village with their grandparents, because of their mothers' work conditions and the lack of childcare. The women reported stress, anxiety, restlessness, and thoughts of suicide, due to the double burden of work and separation from their children and family support. Further, they cannot easily access government hospital services due to their long work hours, and the limited medical services provided in the workplace do not meet their needs. In order to improve the health and well-being of female garment workers, steps should be taken to develop health interventions to meet the needs of this important group of workers who are contributing significantly to the economic development of the country. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 8 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 1 | 13% |
| Australia | 1 | 13% |
| Korea, Republic of | 1 | 13% |
| United States | 1 | 13% |
| Bangladesh | 1 | 13% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 13% |
| Unknown | 2 | 25% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 4 | 50% |
| Scientists | 2 | 25% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 25% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 194 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 194 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 20 | 10% |
| Student > Bachelor | 19 | 10% |
| Student > Master | 18 | 9% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 13 | 7% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 12 | 6% |
| Other | 28 | 14% |
| Unknown | 84 | 43% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 24 | 12% |
| Social Sciences | 24 | 12% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 21 | 11% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 12 | 6% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 5 | 3% |
| Other | 18 | 9% |
| Unknown | 90 | 46% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 54. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 December 2023.
All research outputs
#787,846
of 25,584,565 outputs
Outputs from International Journal of Women's Health
#53
of 850 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#16,194
of 328,005 outputs
Outputs of similar age from International Journal of Women's Health
#2
of 23 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,584,565 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 850 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 23 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.