In 2010, a striking photo series exposed the everyday struggles of women in Bengaluru’s garment factory. Despite growing scrutiny and promises of reform, their working lives are still defined by low wages, long hours and invisibility. 

Photojournalist Mike Byrne, in 2010, captured a poignant moment outside a garment factory in Bengaluru: a pregnant woman, weary after a long shift, holding her young child close. Her face had the weight of long hours spent stitching clothes she could never afford to wear. Fourteen years later, the conditions behind that image remain unsettlingly familiar.

Despite being a major supplier to global fashion brands, India’s garment industry still relies on the poorly paid, overworked labour of women. From 2022 to 2024, Cividep India studied the lives of 184 women garment workers across 13 factories in Bengaluru and Mysuru.

The findings, published in The Home and The World of Work, echo much of what Byrne’s lens captured years ago: cycles of financial insecurity, systemic exploitation, and the heavy double burden of factory and domestic labour persist.

These factories in Bengaluru supply some of the world’s best-known brands. Yet behind the seams women still face long hours, verbal abuse, forced overtime, and limited access to benefits. On the top of this, many shoulder the full weight of  household responsibilities, often without support.

Nearly 69% of workers report that balancing factory work and domestic chores is exhausting. Eight of the ten interviewed say their most draining hours are spent inside the factory. These invisible burdens are rarely recognised, yet they are integral to the global garment supply chain, says the report.

Byrne’s 2010 photo series included one especially distressing account of a pregnant woman who was denied permission to leave the factory. She went into labour just outside the factory gates, without support from management. Her baby did not survive.

“Maternity leave is every worker’s right. No worker should suffer such rights violations. Her life would have been good if she had received timely permission from the factory to go to the hospital,” recalls Yashodhamma PH, General Secretary of Munnade Social Organisation, Cividep’s grassroots partner. 

In another case, a woman who had faced persistent sexual harassment from her supervisor died by suicide. She left behind two young children in her mother’s care.

These are not isolated cases. Cividep’s study revealed that all surveyed workers reported verbal abuse at work; 61% faced physical abuse, and 39% experienced sexual harassment.

While some reforms have been introduced in recent years, the deeper issues remain unresolved.

In 2024, Cividep’s documentary Garment Kelsa: Women and Work captured the voices of 5 women in Bengaluru’s garment industry. Among them is Nirmala, a 60-year-old industry veteran who single-handedly supported her family for decades, and younger workers like Rozina and Gayatri, struggling to survive on meagre wages.

Their stories expose a cycle of low pay, unsafe conditions, and limited rights.

“A secure society can be built only if the wages are fair,” says Yashodhamma. Karnataka’s proposed minimum wage hike to ₹20,000 per month offers a glimmer of hope. But will working conditions improve to match?

(To understand the resilience of garment workers, read The Home and The World of Work (link) and watch Garment Kelsa: Women and Work at the next screening (link). Support Cividep’s work to push for lasting change: (donate link).

[Photographs by Mike Byrne]