Deep Dive

Women Workers Organizing to End Gender Based Violence & Harassment (GBVH) in Garment Global Supply Chains

ORGANIZED BY

Asia Floor Wage Alliance, Commercial and Industrial Workers’ Union, HomeNet International

14-Sep

13:15-14:00

Conference Room 4

Addressing GBVH in garment global supply chains requires deep, systemic change and collaboration between key stakeholders. Through practical examples and interactive discussion, this session will spotlight women workers’ initiatives to create safe workplaces and explore how brands, governments, suppliers, trade unions, and civil society organizations can drive and sustain change together.

Topic in Focus

What are women workers and their organizations doing to address GBVH in garment global supply chains and what roles should governments, brands, suppliers, trade unions, women's rights organizations, and civil society play to support and scale this action?

Overview

This participatory deep dive session will spotlight how women workers and their organizations are leading the fight against gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in garment global supply chains—from practical examples such as the Central Java Agreement, to women trade union leaders’ cross-border collective action, to home-based workers mobilizing for the ratification of ILO Convention 190. Participants will examine the systemic drivers of GBVH, why worker and union-led approaches succeed in addressing it, and the barriers they face. Through facilitated group discussions and plenary dialogue, participants will explore barriers to reporting and remediation, clarify how governments, brands, suppliers, and civil society can converge around and scale these efforts, and develop practical recommendations to strengthen prevention, accountability, and industry-wide collaboration.

Why it matters

GBVH in global supply chains is a systemic issue rooted in unequal power dynamics, harmful social norms, weak workplace systems, and legal barriers. Women workers and their organizations are leading the response—but effectively addressing GBVH requires sustained commitment and collaboration across governments, brands, suppliers, trade unions, worker organizations, and women’s rights groups. Through practical examples and interactive discussion, this session will explore how key stakeholders can drive and sustain change together.

Who should attend?

Brands, suppliers, trade unions, NGOs, CSOs who are working in the global garment supply chain

What participants will gain

Practical lessons from union-led approaches preventing and addressing GBVH in garment factories.
Insight into extending protections to home-based workers and strategies for C190 ratification.
Clear actions each stakeholder can take to converge around and scale worker-led efforts for industry-wide impact.

Sarbani Kattel

Programme Coordinator, Homenet International

Sarbani Kattel is the Programme Coordinator at HomeNet International, where she oversees programmes, monitoring, learning and evaluation. She has over 8 years of experience working with the home-based workers movement, including on supply chains, decent work and economic empowerment. She brings over 15 years of experience in research and project management, with a focus on labour rights, informal work, business ethics and women’s empowerment. She holds a PhD from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Mia Juniya Fida

Head of the Women Workers’ Struggle Department, SBDK-KASBI at Batang Apparel Indonesia

Mia Juniya Fida is a garment worker in Batang Apparel Indonesia. In the factory she works in the ironing department. She is also a trade unionist and women workers’ rights activist with SBDK KASBI. In her union, she currently serves as Head of the Women Workers’ Struggle Department, focusing on strengthening the union’s work and advocacy for women workers’ rights. Under the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice (CJA), she supports workers' education and awareness-raising on gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), gender equality, and prevention mechanisms. Through these roles, she connects CJA commitments with practical action at the factory level, strengthening women workers' leadership and collective mechanisms to prevent and eliminate GBVH. Her broader work focuses on women workers' organizing, workers' education, and gender justice within the trade union movement.

Swasthika Arulingham

President, Commercial and Industrial Workers' Union (CIWU)

Swasthika Arulingham plays a key role in advocating for workers' rights in Sri Lanka. In addition to her role as President of the Commercial and Industrial Workers Union (CIWU), she is a lawyer and human rights activist whi has been at the forefront of workers' struggles in Sri Lanka. She is also a members of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance Women's Leadership Committee (AFWA-WLC), contributing to regional efforts to combat gender-based violence and harassment and promote fair wages for workers.