DHAKA: A new film offering a glimpse into the lives of garment workers in Bangladesh is challenging stereotypes about women by showing them driving the economy and fighting for justice in factories. “Made in Bangladesh” is based on the life of Daliya Akter, a garment worker who escaped child marriage and went on to lead a trade union fighting for workers’ rights in the capital Dhaka.
Akter’s story — securing pay for her co-workers despite a concerned husband and threats from her bosses — puts a rare spotlight on female triumph over adversity in conservative Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest garment exporter.
Nearly 80% of the 4 million people working in the sector that produces clothes for companies including H&M and NEXT are women who work long hours for minimal pay.
Still, stereotypes of women workers as passive and powerless persist.
“There is a narrative that garment workers are always oppressed. But while working on the film I realized that these women fight back strongly and are empowered,” director Rubaiyat Hossain told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
“These workers... need to be heard. It is because of them that our economy is improving and we have to acknowledge them.”
Bangladesh’s apparel industry has come under pressure to improve factory conditions and workers’ rights, particularly after the collapse of Rana Plaza complex in Bangladesh more than six years ago, when 1,136 garment workers were killed.
LOW WAGES
The disaster led to more factory inspections, the closing down of dozens of factories deemed unsafe, and government labor reforms.
But low wages and a declining number of female union leaders remain key challenges.
’Made in Bangladesh’ premiered in the United States on Dec.6 and Akter, who is played by actor Rikita Shimu, said she hopes the film will encourage garment workers to speak up when it screens in Bangladesh next year.
“There are a lot more unions today than in 2013 but there still are workers who are afraid to voice their concerns and the film will help them,” said Akter.
Akter began working with internationally acclaimed film-maker Rubaiyat Hossain in 2016 after the factory she worked at closed after losing international contracts.
Akter later joined the thousands of Bangladeshi workers who travel to the Middle East each year in search of work, arriving in Jordan’s port city of Aqaba in 2018 to work as a machine operator in a factory producing trousers and skirts.
She returned to Bangladesh months later after falling ill.
Despite her trials, Akter plans to continue fighting for workers’ rights.
“I don’t know for how long I will live, but I know that I will fight for workers’ rights till my last breath,” she said.
Film on Bangladesh’s garment workers spotlights women driving change
https://arab.news/pxkeb
Film on Bangladesh’s garment workers spotlights women driving change
- Nearly 80% of the 4 million people working in the garment sector are women who work long hours
- Low wages and a declining number of female union leaders remain key challenges
Mini op-ed: Recognising a shift in how people relate to wellness, self-care
DUBAI: I have spent nearly a decade working in the beauty industry in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Ramadan always has a way of prompting change; in habits, in priorities, and in the routines people have been carrying without question. Speaking from my own corner of the industry, one of these habits is often hair removal.
Saudi Arabia’s beauty and personal care market was valued at about $7.56 billion in 2025 and is set to grow to an estimated $8.03 billion in 2026. Within that growth, personal care encompassing the daily (sometimes unglamorous) routines hold the largest share. But market size alone does not tell the full story. A study conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, found that three quarters of Saudi women experienced complications from temporary hair removal methods, including skin irritation, in-grown hairs and hyperpigmentation. A separate 2025 study published in the Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences found that laser hair removal was both the most considered and most commonly undergone cosmetic procedure among Saudi respondents, yet dissatisfaction with cosmetic procedure outcomes was reported by nearly half of all participants. The numbers point to a gap not in demand, but in results.
When I launched a specialized electrolysis practice in the UAE in 2016, it was with a clear gap in mind; safe, regulated, permanent hair removal for the region’s specific needs. The range of hair types here and the prevalence of conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, demanded a method that works across all of them. Electrolysis is the only method recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration and American Marketing Association as achieving true permanent results, regardless of hair color or type.
Despite this, awareness in Saudi Arabia remains limited. Part of this is familiarity, laser has dominated the conversation for years, and electrolysis, which requires more sessions and a licensed electrologist’s precision, has struggled to break through. Part of it is education. Many clients who come to us have never heard of electrolysis; they come because they have exhausted everything else.
Right now, Saudi Arabia is in the middle of a genuine transformation in how people relate to wellness and self-care. The beauty market is maturing, consumers are asking harder questions of the brands they choose and Vision 2030 has not just shaped the economy, it has shaped how Saudis are showing up in their own lives. In that context, the idea of choosing permanence over repetition lands differently.
Mariela Marcantetti is a beauty industry entrepreneur based between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
