Gender equality remains a key challenge in the global textile industry. Female workers in particular are repeatedly confronted with various forms of discrimination – whether based on their gender, gender identity, ethnic or religious affiliation, migration status or disability. Often, it is not just one but several forms of marginalisation that interact and reinforce discrimination. In their everyday working lives, many women repeatedly experience gender-based violence, such as sexual harassment, unequal pay, discrimination in career advancement, and discrimination during and after pregnancy. Added to this is the unequal distribution of housework and childcare, which many women have to shoulder in addition to their everyday work.

However, gender equality is a prerequisite and fundamental condition for ensuring that the economy and the world of work are fair, sustainable and fit for the future, forming part of the PST’s vision of a dignified, safe and healthy working environment, free from discrimination and violence.

In order to effectively address these issues, the Textiles Partnership and its members have been working on the implementation of various measures as part of the Partnership Initiative Advancing Worker Led Agreements on Gender Justice, the Partnership Initiative Gender Data Gap and through a new cooperation project with the Ethical Trading Initiative. 

Further information on the focus topic can be found on the website of the Textiles Partnership: Focus topic: Gender equality – Partnership for Sustainable Textiles 

The Partnership Initiative Advancing Worker Led Agreements on Gender Justice is committed to eliminating gender-based violence in the workplace and strengthening women’s participation in decision-making in the textile industry in India. As part of the initiative, the Textiles Partnership is negotiating separate, legally binding agreements with interested brand companies and their suppliers, modelled on the Dindigul Agreement. This is accompanied by comprehensive capacity-building measures that strengthen both local communities and female workers in factories in terms of freedom of association. These include training for higher positions, the deployment and qualification of internal complaints committees and factory observers, and the establishment of a gender-sensitive grievance mechanism.

Women should be encouraged and empowered to organise themselves into unions, have a say in decision-making and report sexual harassment, abuse or discrimination effectively and without fear of reprisals through the gender-sensitive mechanism. This requires the establishment of relationships between suppliers and female workers, as well as strong commitment from brand companies.

 In November 2024, FEMNET and the Partnership Secretariat visited Tamil Nadu to discuss the progress and challenges after two years of implementation with the worker representatives of the Dindigul Agreement, to hear first-hand from female workers what union organisation means to them, to learn how union organisation works, and to plan the further process with the local organisation implementing the agreement, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance.

These members and partners took part in the Partnership Initiative Advancing Worker Led Agreements on Gender Justice

Civil Society Actors
FEMNET e.V. 

Other Cooperation Partners:
Society for Labour and Development (SLD), Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) und Global-Labour Justice – International Labour Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) 

The extent of gender-based discrimination has been difficult to determine and does not manifest itself equally everywhere. One of the main reasons for this is the so-called ‘gender data gap’, the lack of transparent data in this area, as well as a generally low reporting rate. These data gaps are also reflected in the current inadequate method of data collection, for example through audits. The Partnership Initiative Gender Data Gap addresses precisely this issue in order to minimise this gap in data collection, effectively combat gender-based discrimination and thus improve working conditions for women in the textile industry in the long term.

As part of the initiative, significant progress was made this year in developing an ‘Assessment & Action Guide’. To better understand gender-based discrimination, the guide was developed as a tool for collecting data on discrimination. It was then piloted and tested in two Tunisian supplier companies, and the data collected was subsequently evaluated. Based on the results, appropriate measures were identified and implemented with the local production sites to counteract gender-based discrimination and evaluate the effectiveness of the tool.

The project participants came together for a central workshop in Bonn in July 2024 to jointly coordinate and define measures and focal points. This was followed in December by a final trip to Tunisia, where the participating supplier companies were visited and a further workshop was held to reflect on the impact of the project on the ground. The perspectives of those involved were directly incorporated into the further development of the project results. On this basis, the ‚Assessment & Action Guide‘ and a comprehensive questionnaire with an evaluation tool and action plan were finalised.

The questionnaire focused on key challenges for women in the textile industry, including occupational safety for pregnant women, opportunities for women to advance their careers, and psychological and physical violence in the workplace. The results of the survey provided valuable insights into ways of improving the situation on the ground. Based on these findings, the project partners worked together to develop specific measures and recommendations. These measures include, above all, the introduction of specific guidelines to promote gender equality, as well as targeted training to raise awareness, combat discrimination, and build capacity to address gender-specific challenges in the workplace and strengthen knowledge of individual rights.

Following pilot testing of the tool at production sites in Tunisia, the ‘Assessment & Action Guide’ is now available to other partnership members and the general public. The guide is also designed to be adaptable to the contexts of different countries, available in many relevant languages, and usable by various stakeholders.

These members and partners took part in the Partnership Initiative Gender Data Gap

Companies:
Hess Natur-Textilien GmbH & Co. KG, GERRY WEBER International GmbH, Global Standard gemeinnützige GmbH (GOTS) 

Civil Society Actors:
FEMNET e. V.

Implementation Partners:
Hessnatur Stiftung 

In April 2024, the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles launched a new cooperation project with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) to strengthen suppliers’ capacities to collect and use gender-disaggregated data on the supply chain.  

Since 2020, the PST has been working with its members on the topic of gender-specific data with the aim of implementing due diligence in a more gender-equitable manner. The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) also launched its Gender Data Initiative in 2021 to develop an understanding of why the collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data is necessary for effective human rights due diligence. In March 2022, ETI and the Textiles Partnership, together with the partner organisations Business Social Responsibility (BSR), Fair Wear Foundation, the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textiles, and Sedex, published joint guidelines for gender-specific data. This guide shows how gender-disaggregated data can be collected along the supply chain based on BSR’s Gender Data and Impact (GDI) Framework and Tool.

A key piece of feedback from working with fashion brands on the guidelines: many suppliers are not yet able to collect reliable gender-specific data. This makes it difficult to carry out thorough due diligence processes and hinders progress in improving working conditions for women. Suppliers also lack the incentive to collect this data, the so-called ‘business case’.

The joint cooperation project between ETI and the Textiles Partnership addresses this problem in a targeted manner. In 2024, capacity-building measures were implemented in Indian supplier companies of Partnership members Hugo Boss and KiK, as well as ETI members The Very Group and Morrisons. These include needs analyses, training programmes and the development of practical guidelines and learning products. Thanks to these targeted capacity-building measures and the development of a business case for gender-specific data collection, suppliers will be better equipped to collect, evaluate and correctly classify gender-specific data in the future. The cooperation project is also in close contact with the Gender Data Gap Partnership Initiative in order to benefit from synergies and learn from its findings.

The development of an e-learning course addressing the intersection between gender-based discrimination and the inclusion of people with disabilities began in 2023. The challenges faced by people with disabilities are exacerbated in particular by gender-specific inequalities. Women and girls with disabilities are often discriminated against on the basis of their gender and disability. They may have even less access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities than men with disabilities.

The private sector plays a crucial role in breaking down barriers and inequalities. Companies must not only ensure that their own internal practices and strategies are gender-equitable and inclusive, but also that their suppliers and business partners share the same values. This requires systematic collaboration along the entire supply chain to identify and combat discrimination, unfair working conditions and labour exploitation.

The e-learning programme aims to raise awareness and provide practical strategies for promoting gender equality and the inclusion of people with disabilities in corporate networks, global supply chains and corporate structures. This is achieved by providing basic information on gender equality and the inclusion of people with disabilities, and by teaching practical strategies for promoting gender equality and the inclusion of people with disabilities in corporate networks, global supply chains and corporate structures, with the textile sector being one of the sectors covered.

In the course of 2024, the script for the e-learning course was completed, with Textiles Partnership members also involved in brainstorming workshops to make the e-learning course relevant and interesting for the target group. Towards the end of the year, the final script was handed over to the technical service provider for implementation as a digital course on the atingi platform.