What moves the needle on gender equality in the garment sector?

17 March 2022, Mumbai:

Dialogue, men’s involvement, good legislation and time.

A new report from ILO identifies these and other ingredients of successful actions to eliminate gender inequality in Asia’s garment sector.

The garment sector offers jobs and opportunities to millions of women across Asia. Yet despite forming the backbone of the industry’s workforce, gender inequality is still common throughout the sector.

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Women are paid less than men, have fewer opportunities for advancement, suffer workplace violence, harassment, and discrimination, as well as lack voice and influence at decision-making levels.

At home, women also bear the burden of unpaid care work which affects their opportunities.

These issues are by no means new, with wide-ranging efforts taking place over the years to address many of them.

But of all of the actions carried out, what has really made a difference? In July 2020, the International Labour Organization (ILO’s) Decent Work in Garment Supply Chains Asia project, funded by the Swedish international development agency (Sida), launched a public call to identify promising practices.

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A number of industry stakeholders responded, sharing lessons from their initiatives working to tackle gender inequality in the sector.

An analysis of the submissions was conducted and common themes drawn out.

The results have now been published in a new report entitled ‘Promising practices, experiences and lessons learned in eliminating gender inequality in the garment sector in Asia.’

The report aims to help build a shared knowledge base of “what works” in the garment sector and to identify key actions towards addressing gender gaps.

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