The right to work safely is part of the right to health. If corporations are to profit from women s work it is incumbent upon them to provide safe and healthy conditions in which to do so. The internationalisation of capital has provided a strong incentive for increasingly impoverished rural folk to pursue work in the industrial sector. In some countries, growth in the female participation rate has outstripped that of men. Women in this burgeoning sector have been subject to an alarming and dizzying number of new processes and materials, some toxic, some not.
Local owners tend to purchase cheaper and more toxic products to increase profits.
For instance, fabric dyes and glues from other industrialising countries such as China are not only toxic but poorly labeled, so that workers can be unaware of necessary health and safety measures. In addition, women more than men tend to be denied literacy, so most of the mainstream forms of information are not in fact available to women. Many women in the Majority World already have poor health profiles, suffering anemia, chronic chest infections, worm infestations or gynecological disturbances. Occupational factors can exaggerate or add to existing illness. In addition, women are the bearers of children.