PEOPLE

Promoting equal opportunities for women

We’ve committed to strengthening the positions of women in our supply chain through skills development, in addition to addressing their barriers to progression.

Feb 6, 2025

Tackling the root causes of gender inequality

Our experience shows us that some systemic barriers around gender equality exist in some of our sourcing countries.

Changing this experience for women begins with changing attitudes. We want to start the conversations with men and women in our supply chain to start challenging those long-held beliefs.

Powering Her Up

When women progress at work, they can earn higher wages. The problem is that many women can’t access adequate training to improve their skills. So we’re stepping in to give people in our supply chain the opportunity to learn and develop.

We run a number of training programs that teach women technical skills like sewing, and softer skills like communications and problem solving. It’s about giving women the range of skills they need to feel empowered to take on more responsibility and leadership positions.

Read more about the impact of our upskilling program, Sudokkho.

Starting conversations to spark change

Gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) is a reality for many women in the garment industry. It’s a complex and deeply rooted issue. So we’re working with experts to understand where it stems from and the best ways we can support women.

We’ve learned that many workers don’t feel they can safely raise issues related to GBVH. Grievance mechanisms are a key part of workers’ rights, which is why they're an integral requirement under our Supplier Code of Conduct. We want to give people more confidence in speaking up, so we’re also working with partners to give women more ways to talk to someone confidentially.

We’re also exploring different ways to change mindsets around GBVH. So far, our partners have run training and interactive sessions that bring real-life scenarios to the forefront. These sessions are an effective way for people to question behaviors and talk about ways they could help stop them.

Read more about our programs improving health and wellbeing in our supply chain

Drama for Change, Vietnam

Drama for Change is a program run in partnership with the Atelier Théâtre et Art, which has held improvisational theater workshops in factories to build understand among workers of GBVH. We used these interactive sessions to spark conversations and help workers and management break down stereotypes together, building trust so that people feel more comfortable about reporting GBVH through grievance mechanisms. Following the workshops, our suppliers said there was greater worker awareness and trust, improved skills and confidence among those handling grievances, in addition to stronger policies and procedures. You can read more here.

Maitri, India

The Maitri program in India seeks to prevent and address GBVH in the workplace through peer-based interventions. The program was developed by our team in India with St. John's Medical College, and was implemented in six factories in 2024. Trained "maitris" – meaning "friends" in Sanskrit – provide support to women workers, and trained gender champions act as workplace changemakers promoting dignity and respect.

My Life, India

Many of our supplier factories in India are concentrated in areas that poorer and less-educated people move to for work. In 2017, in partnership with the international NGO Women Win and the Naz Foundation, we launched My Life to build life skills among vulnerable workers in India.

The program equips workers with essential life skills in three key areas: communication skills, knowledge of worker rights and workplace health practices.

Training is delivered through a play-based approach, which uses interactive activities such as games to help workers engage and learn. It is now offered in four languages, and trainers have also introduced Google’s Text To Speech feature so workers can listen to and understand contracts that aren’t written in their native language.

Our partner 60 Decibels published a report on the impact of My Life. The findings revealed that the program has positively impacted workers’ communication skills and has provided workers with a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities. For example, 95% of respondents stated that their communications skills had either "very much improved" or "slightly improved". When disaggregating the results between migrant workers and non-migrant workers, the results show bigger improvements for migrant workers. For example, 70% of migrant workers reported their communications skills had "very much improved" compared to 50% of non-migrant workers. More information can be found here.

Respectful Workplaces, Vietnam

The Respectful Workplaces program is run in partnership with the International Finance Corporation. In 2024, we rolled out training in 14 factories through the program to build capacity and skills for preventing and addressing GBVH in the workplace.

Sudokkho, Bangladesh

The Sudokkho program is helping improve skills development for women in our supply chain in Bangladesh. It's designed to equip women with the technical skills they need to progress faster in their roles. It's now running in 28 factories we work with in Bangladesh. Sudokkho’s “train the trainer” model helps factories develop their own skilled teams by training sewing operators to advance in their workplace; these trainees then can pass on their knowledge to others. This creates a more efficient, adaptable workforce. You can read more here.