A survey of the Chinese working women's reproductive health and rights in the garment sector

After new China was founded, a social welfare system was put in place based on the administrative separation of city and country. Under this system, the reproductive health and rights of women workers in the cities were protected through their work unit. This document outlines the results of a sample survey carried out in the garment industry in China’s Pearl River Delta. This survey sought to better understand the situation of women workers’ reproductive health and rights, analyze several different factors affecting these rights, and make recommendations for further action.

The document provides the results for areas including pregnancy and sexual health, sexual activity and contraception and workplace hazards. The results indicate that there are still gaps in the protection of women’s reproductive health and rights. Their special needs at work are ignored, particularly during their menstrual period. Work and childbirth are both normal parts of life, but as far as many women garment workers are concerned, these two things are major contradictions in their lives. Two main recommendations are provided:

• the government must fulfill its responsibility, and urge employers to buy maternity insurance for their female employees
• women should receive more information and training about their reproductive health and rights