It is an easy step to join a petition, but do these petitions have much effect. I argue that they are of little value as a way to get meaningful change, but I appreciate that the issues around which] petitions are organized are very important. Accordingly, we (TVM) wants to use them as a starting point for other meaningful actions. Big corporations have to change their behavior, and they will' only do that when profits are becoming compromised.

Target's rape factory

Dear Peter,

Thousands of Change.org members have already spoken out against abuses at what's becoming known as the 'rape factory' in Jordan.

“We only went to Jordan to earn money to help our families; we had no idea that factory managers would rape so many of us young girls,” said a young woman who goes by the name Nazma to protect her identity.

Nazma is one of the dozens of Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi young women who have been sexually assaulted by supervisors at Classic Factory in northern Jordan, which makes clothes for American brands like Walmart, Target, and Macy's.

Leading up to next week’s trial against a Classic supervisor charged with rape -- the first such trial -- managers are escalating abuses. Supervisors are locking victims and witnesses in the factory, threatening and intimidating them to ensure they will not testify.

And although the Jordanian government promised that Anil Santha, the manager accused of rape, would not be allowed to return before the trial, he's back on the factory floor.

Despite global outcry over Classic’s abuses and the tactics they’re using to dodge justice, international customers like Walmart, Target, and Macy's are still buying Classic clothing.

Given the critical situation on the ground, Classic Factory workers, consumers, and human rights organizations, are urgently calling on these high-profile companies to immediately condemn human rights abuses and force change. Click here to sign the petition now.

Target and Macy's have claimed that they are investigating conditions at the factory, but they're deferring to the Jordanian Ministry of Economy and Labor -- which claims there is no evidence of sexual abuse.

Instead, conditions are getting worse. In addition to imprisoning women inside the factory, managers are removing all the males workers -- in some cases even deporting them -- cutting the staff to older male supervisors and vulnerable young women.

At Classic's urging, the government also arrested the leader of an outside human rights NGO and took his passport to prevent him from intervening to protect the women at the factory.

“All we can do is cry,” Nazma said. “We ask the people who buy our garments, please end this abuse and torture we face. We should be able to work without fear of sexual assault.”

Now is a critical moment for action. Outside pressure and attention can ensure that victims and witnesses are freed and can testify against their rapists -- and that Classic Factory reforms its policies and practices.

Otherwise, the manager and supervisors will continue to imprison, assault, and rape girls and women with renewed impunity.

Sign now to urge Walmart, Target, and Macy's to force Classic Factory to free imprisoned victims and witnesses -- and end its human rights abuses against women:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-walmart-to-stop-rape-and-torture-of-young-women-in-its-factories

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Patrick and the Change.org team

Please tell Wal-Mart, Hanes, Target, Macy’s, Lands’ End, Kohl’s and Jones Group to immediately end the sexual abuse, rape, torture, and beatings of young women guest workers at the Classic factory in Jordan.

We demand that the companies:

1) Immediately remove all serial rapists, especially Anil Santha and Priyantha, from the Classic factory;

2) Pay significant compensation to the rape victims for the damages done them;

3) Ensure that independent and highly respected non-governmental women’s rights organizations from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have complete access to monitor factory conditions;

4) Guarantee that there will be no retaliation against any worker for speaking the truth about factory conditions;

5) Ensure that the false charges against the internationally respected human rights advocate, Mr. Rafiq Alam, must be immediately dropped;

6) If Classic refuses to strictly enforce the worker’s rights laws in the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, their sweatshop garments should be prohibited from entering the U.S.