After over a year’s fight by mostly Dalit women-led trade union Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU) to end gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) at their garment factory, the Justice for Jeyasre campaign saw victory on April 1, 2022.

In a historic development, H&M Group and its India supplier, Eastman Exports Global Clothing Pvt. Ltd. (Eastman Exports) signed a legally-binding agreement with TTCU union, and international labor rights organizations, Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) and Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) to take steps to eliminate GBVH on the factory floor. The Dindigul Agreement to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment is the first of its kind in the Asian garment industry. U.S. companies Gap Inc. and PVH also signed similar agreements later in 2022.

Download: Dindigul Agreement Fact Sheet | Read in Khmer

• TTCU begins organizing against gender-based violence and harassment in Tamil Nadu
• Jeyasre Kathiravel is killed – Case Summary Report (JANUARY 2021)
• Criminal cases & retaliation against community members from Jeyasre’s village are leveraged by Eastman Exports (JANUARY 2021)
• Justice for Jeyasre campaign lays out its demands
• Campaign launches globally with a letter from 90+ international unions, labor groups, women’s organizations, and other allies calling on H&M, Gap, PVH and their supplier Eastman Exports to sign a binding agreement to end gender-based violence (FEBRUARY 2021)
• Justice for Jeyasre Campaign wins coverage in the Guardian (FEBRUARY & MARCH 2021)
• Mutually agreeable compensation is reached (MARCH 2021)
• Justice for Jeyasre Global Vigil is held (APRIL 2021)
• Speaking Tour Launches (AUGUST 2021)
• The landmark Dindigul Agreement to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment is signed by Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labor Union, Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum, Asia Floor Wage Alliance as well as Eastman Exports and H&M (APRIL 2022)