20-year-old Indian H&M supplier worker killed after months of sexual harassment by abuser

Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 20-year-old worker at H&M factory supplier Natchi Apparels in Tamil Nadu, India, was found dead on 5 January. Her immediate supervisor at the factory, Thangadurai, has reportedly confessed to the authorities of her abduction and murder. According to the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU), seven women workers at Natchi Apparels have testified that Jeyasre was sexually harassed, including name-calling, slut-shaming, bullying, beating and assault, multiple times by her supervisor over the last few months before her murder.

On 29 January, Jeyasre’s family said they have been harassed by a mob of 50 men from Eastman Exports Global, the owner of Natchi Apparels factory and supplier to Western brands, such as H&M, Gap and PVH. The mob forced their way into the home and coerced Ms. Kathiravel, the victim’s mother, to sign documents releasing the company from responsibility for Jeyasre’s death and to accept a cheque of INR 500,000 ($6,850).

The TTCU calls on H&M to negotiate a binding agreement to end systematic gender-based violence in supplier factories. The TTCU demands a sit-down with H&M and other brands, as well as Eastman Exports Global, to create an agreement that covers monitoring, remediation and prevention of gender-based violence and barriers to freedom of union in Eastman Exports Global. 

An H&M spokesperson said trade unions have explicitly asked H&M not to terminate the business relationship with the supplier in question, and instead to actively work to strengthen the workplace safety.

Other international labour rights groups, such as the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) and the Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), have repeatedly pushed H&M to use its power as a foreign power to eradicate violence and ensure fair wages across its supply chain. A 2018 report by GLJ-ILRF has shed light on multiple cases of gender-based violence in H&M’s supply chain. Yet, there were no significant responses from the brand.