Bangladesh is the 6th largest apparel exporter in the world to the U.S., and the 5th largest to the European union. Forty-nine percent of Bangladeshi apparel exports goes to the U.S., while 51 percent goes to Europe. Only 23 percent of the women workers even know what the legal minimum wage is. At least 40 percent are not paid the legal minimum wage in Bangladesh, which, at 8 cents an hour, is already well below subsistence. Fifty percent of the children in Bangladesh are chronically malnourished.
Bangladeshi women report extreme sexual harassment in the factories.
Asked what a bare subsistence level wage would be, one just sufficient to meet the most basic family needs and climb out of misery, some women responded, at least 39 cents an hour . There are only 11 government Labor Ministry inspectors to enforce the law for the entire Dhaka area, where there are over 1 million garment workers. An estimated 10,000 to 30,000 children still work in Bangladesh's garment factories.