In Cambodia, female garment workers slave away for hours on end to make fast fashion for brands like H&M and Gap. But their problems don't end when they leave the factory.
It's the end of a long work day and dozens of garment workers are squeezed onto the back of a flatbed truck—the kind more suited for goods or livestock. As they hurtle through the darkness of Kampong Speu province, a couple of hours' drive outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, some send messages and emojis on their mobiles. A couple of women murmur a Khmer pop ballad. Ton Pol, 36, talks on the phone. She's desperate to get home to her four-year-old son. Next to her, Reoun Sinoun, a slight 27-year-old from the same village, looks out at the road. "Mostly, I just listen to people and try to calm myself," she says quietly.
This is the most dangerous part of a Cambodian garment worker's day. When she finishes a shift, she can't just pass out, exhausted after 12 hours stitching clothes for brands like Zara, Gap, and H&M for a basic monthly wage of $140 plus overtime. Instead, she endures a sometimes multiple-hour commute standing on the back of a truck or in an overloaded minibus. On a good day, there's just the dizziness—induced by crazy driving, compounded by malnourishment—and searing heat of the April summer or a rainy season downpour to contend with. On a bad day, there's a crash.
From Vice