This Women's Day, Let's Talk About the Women Workers Behind Fashion

International Women's Day is right around the corner, coming up on March 8, Sunday. You will see brands posting pink graphics, discount codes, and messages about empowerment. Yes to empowerment on Women's Day and throughout the year. But for a second, look at the clothes in your wardrobe. If there is a garment from a random purchase, there is a chance it was made by women whose lives look nothing like those campaigns. Take a moment today to read this, because this is about them.

The invisible workforce that keeps fashion alive

Around 80% of garment workers globally are women, according to the International Labour Organization and the Clean Clothes Campaign. Countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India rely heavily on female labour in garment factories, and the reason is diabolical and far past the unfairness scale, because women are perceived as more "manageable," less likely to unionize, and willing to accept lower wages due to limited employment alternatives.

The Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013, which killed more than 1,100 workers, mostly women, exposed this reality to the world. Many of those workers were young women who had migrated from rural areas to support their families. Their stories are rarely part of fashion conversations now, even though the system that created those conditions still exists.

Why women are disproportionately exploited in fast fashion

You might wonder why women specifically dominate these jobs, and the obvious answer is structural inequality.

In many manufacturing regions, women have less access to education, land ownership, financial independence, and formal employment opportunities. Garment factories become one of the few available income sources, which creates a power imbalance that employers can exploit. Women workers face wage theft, unsafe conditions, forced overtime, and harassment, with limited ability to report abuse safely.

For example, investigations by organizations like Human Rights Watch and Labour Behind the Label have documented cases where women garment workers were denied bathroom breaks, fired for pregnancy, or pressured into excessive overtime during peak production seasons.

These days, there is almost zero emotional connection between the consumer and the maker.

You do not need to become a completely ethical consumer overnight.

You can support brands that publish transparent supply chains or fair wage commitments, or smaller artisan-led labels that prioritize worker welfare.

You can buy fewer items, choose quality, repair and rewear clothes longer.

You can ask questions about who made your clothes.

It is 2026, and women are still fighting for basic workplace rights as if we are living in medieval times. And no, this cannot be about one day of awareness.

There must be a chain reaction strong enough to break cycles of exploitation, trauma, and the countless stories of garment workers that remain undocumented and unheard. This International Women’s Day should include her too, because fashion does not exist without women's labour.