Witnesses who worked at Classic Fashion, a factory employing around 4,900 mainly female South Asian workers, claimed that scores of young Sri Lankan women working there suffered routine sexual abuse and repeated rapes, in some cases even torture.
In October 2010, 2,400 workers had gone on strike demanding the removal of the alleged rapist, Anil. Classic‘s owner sent Anil away, but he returned after one month. A September report stated that a Jordanian human rights group found no evidence to support the rape allegations.
According to worker testimonies, the standard shift at Classic Fashion was 13 hours a day, six and seven days a week, with some 18 ½ hour shifts. Workers were routinely cursed at, hit and short-changed of their wages for failing to reach mandatory production goals; they were housed in primitive dormitories without heat or hot water; they had extremely limited freedom of movement and were allowed to leave the factory compound just one day a week for six hours. Workers were threatened by management and forced to say that conditions were good.
In August, dozens of workers from Classic Fashion sought assistance claiming management was punishing them for taking part in a work stoppage in July. They reported that their contracts with Classic had ended and they had been transferred to a new employer who paid them less with longer working hours.