The world of work has not recovered yet from the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the ILO, the pandemic was not just a public health threat but also caused economic and social disruptions that affected the long-term livelihood and wellbeing of millions of people. COVID-19 will continue to exacerbate the burdens on those countries, particularly developing countries, that are already vulnerable to social and economic hardships. Global garment workers were among the hardest hit by COVID-19 with factory closures and reduction in new contracts leading to mass layoffs, wage cuts, and increased wage disparities. This has aggravated the already existing social disruptions on the work and life front of workers, especially women workers, through increased gender inequities, and gender-based violence and harassment. The ILO sees the promotion of employment and decent work as an opportunity to combat the rising inequalities, enhance inclusion, and strengthen the social protection systems.
Safe work environment is one of the ten substantive elements corresponding to the strategic pillars of decent work agenda. Sexual harassment and gender-based violence (GBV) are pressing issues in the global garment industry, perhaps more so during the pandemic when people are facing increased economic and social hardship. According to the World Health Organisation estimates, 1 in 3 women globally experience GBV and women, especially young women, are most affected by this violence and harassment when they work at the bottom of the global supply chain. According to ILO Convention 190, violence and harassment at work can constitute a human rights violation or abuse and such harassment and violence is a threat to equal opportunities, is unacceptable and incompatible with decent work. As noted in the ILO Working Paper No. 47, sexual harassment and verbal absue is leading to decent work deficit.
Better Work – a collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – brings together garment industry stakeholders to improve working conditions without negatively impacting supplier competitiveness. Through targeted and systemic approaches to sexual harassment awareness, prevention and remediation, Better Work (BW)-facilitated trainings on sexual harassment prevention have been introduced and are an important intervention in workplace GBV across BW’s country programs. BW’s industry-wide and multi-stakeholder approach to sexual harassment mitigation through workplace trainings has the potential to elevate standards across the entire garment sector, without negatively impacting competitiveness both longitudinally across the international supply chain, and within individual supplier countries.
This special session presents findings from three separate but related international research studies examining Better Work’s current and potential impact on addressing sexual harassment and other gendered challenges in garment factories. Broadly speaking, they include an evaluation of both traditional and virtual reality training on sexual harassment prevention, as well as an exploration of the gendered challenges for women’s work. In addition to the three presentations, there will be a discussant from Better Work participating in the session.
The first study examines Better Work’s Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) trainings in Nicaragua, Indonesia, Jordan and Vietnam. The broad objective of the study is to gather country-specific information about sexual harassment trainings and their factory-level impacts in order to compare dynamics and program effectiveness across the different countries. The evaluation focuses on four broad areas: understanding of sexual harassment and gender equality, awareness of existing sexual harassment policies, incidents and reporting of sexual harassment, and grievance and resolution procedures.
The second study focuses on a virtual reality training pilot in Indonesia. The study explores how training interventions using VR technology can facilitate attitude and behavior changes positively among workers that can predict expected future outcomes including better reporting and interventions leading to prevention of sexual harassment on factory floors. With the typical dynamic and complex nature of work at the bottom level of the global supply chain in the garment sector, it is important to use advanced and effective training methodolgies that can facilitate behavioural changes among the workers.
The third study explores the gendered challenges for women’s work in the Egyptian Garment Industry. The study analyses how social norms can shape gendered workplace outcomes, mapping out the specific challenges reported by workers, with recommendations for Better Work Egypt.
