According to Labour Behind the Label, a nonprofit advocating workers’ rights, 80 percent of garment workers in Bangladesh say they have experienced or witnessed sexual violence and harassment on the job.

Last year, garment workers staged widespread protests over a minimum wage that is currently 8,000 taka, or $94 per month, for the lowest of seven skill grades. Union membership remains small, in part because of intimidation and fear of reprisals.

“Cheap clothes are not cheap” said Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity. “Someone always has to pay for them. And that someone is a worker. ”

The country also has thousands of factories that are subcontractors, or do not supply Western brands at all, and so are not held to account by any of the safety agreements; they largely produce for local fast fashion brands, or for retailers from India and China.

A crumbling old bazaar in the center of Dhaka — far from some of the newer factories on the city outskirts — has been turned into a cottage factory for companies in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

On a recent visit, wires dangled from the ceilings, and dark, filthy passageways were loaded with rubbish and stacks of merchandise. The windowless rooms were stiflingly hot, and children as young as 9 sat snipping threads off pairs of pants on the floor. How many people these types of workshops employ, and under what conditions, is hard to quantify.

“Bangladesh workers outside factories tracked by safety groups don’t have a voice at all,” said Peter McAllister, the executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, based in London.